Distressed Avatar: “Behind-On-Payments Brenda” Who they are ● ● ● ●
30–60, owns a primary residence. Living paycheck-to-paycheck or recently hit by income shock. 30–120 days behind on mortgage or juggling multiple debts (cards, medical, car). Often has equity but no liquidity.
Trigger ● ● ● ● ●
Job loss / hours cut Divorce / separation Medical bills or personal crisis Rate reset / payment jump Behind on payments and getting letters / calls from lender
Dream outcome (their words) “I just want to get out from under this payment, protect my credit as much as possible, and walk away with some cash so I can reset, without getting taken advantage of.” Top priorities 1. Stop the bleeding (payments, collections, foreclosure threat). 2. Preserve as much credit and dignity as possible. 3. Get some cash out to start over. Main fears ● ● ● ●
“If I spend money fixing this place, I might lose it anyway.” “Contractors will blow the budget; I literally don’t have extra money.” “This will drag on and I’ll still end up in foreclosure.” “Some investor/agent will just lowball and profit off my misery.”
Decision circle ● Primary: homeowner.