The strain on every homeowner's pocketbook is showing up in all the usual places.

The typical indicators of homeowner financial stress -- mortgage delinquencies and foreclosure filings -- are rising across the land. Late payments across all credit tiers -- auto loans, credit cards, personal loans -- are increasing, too, even among the most creditworthy.

So what should a homeowner do to save their house when they land in dire financial straits?

For starters, don't hold your head in the sand, hoping that your lender won't discover you've missed a payment or two. The company will notice -- and will move quickly to protect its investment.

As soon as you think you might fall behind on payments, be proactive and call your lender. Most people don't.

"The biggest problem we have is that people don't call," says Dana Federspiel of ICE Mortgage Technology. "There are tons of ways to communicate with a lender, but most people don't use them."

Allen Price of BFI Financial Services, which manages loans on behalf of lenders, agrees. "When borrowers are more than 30 days late, they're afraid to even answer the phone," he says.

Price's advice: "Be communicative; be proactive."

But before you contact your lender, have your ducks lined up in a row. "Be prepared to explain your hardship," Federspiel advises. "You don't need to go into deep detail: just something like you're having health issues, or you lost your job."

Be able to document your monthly income, assets and expenses, including car loan payments, cable bills, telephone and utilities. You won't need to tell your lender how many cars you own or how much you spend at Starbucks, but the more complete your list, the better.

Working with your lender is beneficial to both parties. Lenders don't want you to lose your home any more than you do. It's expensive to take back a house, make it marketable and then sell it, so they'll work to figure out how to keep you in the house -- and as a customer.

There are numerous ways lenders can help you work through your difficulties, so explore all your options and ask lots of questions. "If you don't ask," Federspiel says, "you'll never know."

Depending on your situation, you may qualify for a forbearance plan, in which the lender can pause or reduce your monthly payment for several months.

There is no one type of forbearance plan; the length and term are based on your circumstances. But when the forbearance period ends, you'll be required to either pay back what you owe in one lump sum, extend the term of the loan to cover what you owe, or divide what you owe over a certain time period and pay it back in monthly installments.

If you experienced a permanent or long-term hardship and can no longer afford your mortgage, you may be eligible to have the loan modified. If so, your monthly payment could be cut by as much as 20%. Modifications can include a lower interest rate, extending the loan's term or reducing the principal balance.

A third choice is to repay the missed payments, either a portion at a time or over a set period of time, typically alongside your regular payment. And a fourth option is to renegotiate the terms entirely.

Everyone wants to save the roof over their heads. But the unfortunate reality is that sometimes you can't. Your financial burdens may be so heavy that no matter what you try to do, you are going to have to walk away.

Federspiel advises that you're probably overextended if you pay more than a third of your monthly income toward your mortgage. That's why it's important to consider your exit strategies -- the best ways to get out from under your debt with the least amount of damage to your credit and your family.

Generally, there are two ways to depart somewhat gracefully. One is to sell the house; the other, to deed the place back to your lender. Either way, you're pretty much controlling your own destiny rather than losing the place to foreclosure.

If you sell and make enough to pay off the loan, you can pocket any profit and move on. If you can't cover what you owe -- what's known as a "short sale" -- you'll need the lender to agree to accept the lower amount as payment in full.

If you just want out as cleanly as possible, you can simply sign the house over to the lender -- again, though, with the lender's permission. In return, the lender will forgive what you owe, and you can move on.

In discussing these choices, both of which will ding your credit record, try to do a little horse trading. Sometimes the lender will pay you to hand over your keys. In other cases, the lender may be willing to pay the cost to relocate your family to new digs.

Most homebuyers know that the key to obtaining a lower mortgage rate is a good credit score. But new research has also found a direct link between credit scores and insurance premiums.

In a report released in August, the Consumer Federation of America and the Climate and Community Institute found that having a low credit score (around 630) drove up consumers' premiums to more than double what they’d be with a high score (around 820). All told, those with a low score spend nearly $2,000 more per year on insurance premiums.

For those with middle-of-the-road scores, say around 740, the average annual premium increased by $792.

The study also found that average premiums for homeowners with low credit scores who live in "low-risk" insurance areas (those less prone to natural disasters) were often higher than those for high-credit-score homeowners in "high-risk" communities.

Where do old blue jeans go? Some are recycled into insulation that is said to be as strong as the pink stuff, but with less of an impact of the environment.

The process works like this: Old denim is sent to a recycling center, where the zippers and buttons are removed and mechanical shredders grind the cotton into small pieces. Once it is in a fibrous state, the cotton is pressed into large mats that can be cut to fit into wall and floor cavities.

One producer of recycled denim insulation says the process diverts 20 million pounds of fabric from landfills annually, and recycles 500,000 pairs of jeans -- and 5 tons of zipper fragments -- every month. Best of all, there are no itchy fiberglass particles to aggravate installers and homeowners.

Have you reached out to your real estate agent lately? Most homeowners don’t, according to a survey by marketing firm 1000watt.

Nearly two-thirds of the buyers queried have not contacted their agents since buying their homes, the company found. Of the 31% who did, almost half were looking for a recommendation for a painter, plumber or some other service provider.

Slightly more than a third were seeking an update on their home’s current value, while 1 in 8 wanted to get the agent’s opinion on an upgrade, such as a new kitchen or landscaping.

These are all services your agent can -- and should -- provide.

Think mortgage rates are still too high? In October 1981, rates reached 18.45%, and people still purchased houses.

Jobs are still going unfilled on construction sites across the country, but houses these days are being built faster than at any time in the past two years.

On average, it takes 9.1 months from start to finish -- 1.4 months for government approval to start construction, and 7.6 more to build the place, according to Census Bureau data. Speedy as that seems, it's still almost two full months longer than it took in 2015.

The National Association of Home Builders says the turnaround is due mostly to the fact that builders have solved the supply chain challenges they faced during the pandemic. But construction is still taking longer than a decade ago because of the more stringent regulatory environment, elevated mortgage rates and a shortage of skilled labor, the trade group says.

Counterintuitively, it takes longer to build a small house than a big one, largely because half of such structures are being built for rent, and therefore must go through a lengthier approval process.

Going against the industry grain, KB Home is opting for transparent pricing, rather than using incentives like rate buydowns or upgrades to lure buyers.

“By advertising the true base price on our website, we let buyers know exactly what to expect before they ever visit a community,” Robert McGibney, the builder’s president and chief operating officer said during a recent earnings call. “It is a clear, upfront way of doing business.”

The company emphasizes built-to-order homes, with buyers picking the base model and price and then adding on whatever options they wish to make.

Phishing -- in which scammers send fraudulent messages designed to impersonate trusted parties, manipulating recipients into revealing sensitive information or authorizing financial transactions -- remains the No. 1 entry point for wire fraud in real estate. The practice is responsible for nearly half a billion dollars in annual losses.

But phishing doesn’t look like spam anymore, says Will Looney of CertifID. “Today’s attacks mimic lenders ... with frightening accuracy," he writes. "Fraudsters are studying real transactions, replicating branding and using AI to write emails that read exactly like the real thing. One misplaced click or rushed reply can move hundreds of thousands of dollars out of a closing account in seconds.”

The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants -- and on many people of color, regardless of immigration status -- could wreak havoc on the construction business. Hispanic workers make up nearly a third of that industry's labor force, per the 2023 American Community Survey. White workers account for 57% of construction industry workers; Hispanic workers make up 32%; and Black workers account for 5%.

The National Association of Home Builders calls the steady rise in Hispanic workers on construction sites "the most notable trend in construction labor." Between 2010 and 2023, their numbers in the industry increased from 2.5 million to almost 3.8 million.

Large-production homebuilders now account for nearly two-thirds of all new-home sales. But there are signs many of them, and even their smaller brethren, have gotten too far out over their skis.

According to one report based on U.S. Census Bureau data, the inventory of completed but unsold houses has more than doubled over the last decade, and now sits at a 16-year high. Some 124,000 finished houses are sitting there, empty -- and draining their builders’ balance sheets.

Not to point a finger at any particular builder, but the United Homes Group is a case in point. The company ended the third quarter with 264 homes in backlog and 413 “spec” homes under construction. Orders -- that is, signed contracts -- declined over the first nine months of this year, yet the builder started 66% more houses in the third quarter.

“Elevated new-home inventory levels continue to drive competition for new sales activity across our markets, and as a result we are not immune to the industry-wide pressures affecting other homebuilders,” said CEO Jack Micenko during a recent earnings call.

And therein lies an unprecedented opportunity for buyers to snap up brand-new houses at bargain prices.

As previously reported here, builders are doing practically anything to move product, from drastically cutting prices, sometimes by as much as $100,000, to offering incentives from cheaper mortgage rates to free upgrades. Some are even throwing in an automobile, a vacation package or a free golf cart.

Lennar, one of the country’s largest builders, has gone so far as to add a tab on its website to help investors find more than 2,000 of its houses that it considers rental-ready. The company says these “investment-friendly” properties are in 90-plus locations nationwide. The builder says they are attractive to seasoned investors as well as those new to the real estate market. Lennar promises investors “end-to-end purchasing support,” including pre-negotiated financing, property management, insurance and title services through its affiliates.

In another case, news and research site ResiClub is helping its members find investment properties. While there’s no definitive market-by-market breakdown of where the inventory exists, the company believes much of it is likely in the West and in the Sun Belt, particularly around the Gulf.

Members can look for county- or ZIP code-level markets in the Sun Belt, say, then drill down to specific locations where house prices are declining -- a sure sign of market softness. Then, the “Public Home Builders” tab will list which giant builders are active in members’ target markets.

“That’ll give you a starting point to figure out which homebuilders might be eager in those markets to discount in order to move (inventory),” the company says.

While giveaways may be enticing, bargain-hunting buyers should be careful which concessions they choose. Some are worth more than others. So you should ask questions -- lots of them.

Take “buydowns,” in which builders pay lenders a fee upfront to lower their rates. But how long does the lower rate last? A year? Two years? Obviously, the longer, the better, so ask -- and then try to get the builder to extend it a little longer. A few builders are going the whole nine yards by buying down the rate for the entire term of the mortgage.

Another popular but tricky concession category is free, or deeply discounted, options and upgrades. Some builders offer thousands of dollars' worth of upgraded appliances, countertops and cabinetry, for example. But are you really receiving as much value as you think?

Builders often mark up their extras, sometimes by as much as 100%. So if they say the refrigerator you are getting is worth, say, $4,000, it might have only cost them $2,500.

Here, try to get your builder to up the ante. Or at least ask what their cost was before you sign a contract. Another tactic would be to price out the upgraded kitchen cabinets on your own to see what kind of deal you are really getting.

In many large-scale communities, builders are offering free golf and swim club memberships. But again, for how long? A few years, or for as long as you own the house? It’s worth asking and trying to get the grace period extended. After all, memberships can be costly.

And speaking of memberships, find out what the monthly or quarterly dues are for the community’s owners association, and what services are covered. Landscaping? Golf? Snow Removal? Some utilities?

There’s nothing you can do about homeowners association dues other than to get the builder to pay them on your behalf for a period of time. Every buyer in the project has to join, whether they use the amenities or not. And the cost can eat you up.

Finally, some of the best deals are tied to completed houses, so you may not nail the lot of your choice. The houses with the best perks may be on the worst lots in the community. But it’s worth a shot to ask what the builder is willing to do for you on other sites. They already know you are interested, so they might be amenable to making a deal to keep you on the hook.