Michael Russell recently appeared on the Millennial Debt Domination podcast with Katie Fatta. The episode was entitled  Breaking Into The Housing Market.  

Here’s a notable quote from Michael Russell during the podcast:  

“When we came out of that COVID period of time where interest rates were brought down to the lowest levels we’ve seen in decades. There was kind of a wall of fatigue for home buyers where they just could not believe that they were looking at a house six months ago where the payment would have been X and now they’re looking at them today and the payment is two or three times as much. That was very challenging and it put a lot of people on the sidelines.” 

For more, check out the full interview. 

Hope4Hardship Founder Michael Russell recently appeared on The Real in Real Estate podcast with Jean Mitchel in an episode entitled Let’s Get Real about Foreclosures. Here’s a short clip from his appearance:

“Home affordability has never been lower than it is today. The affordability index is something ridiculous like 48 percent. That means that only  48% of American households can afford the average home today, and that’s that’s a sad state of affairs. And so, so many of the people that we end up working with are sitting in what most fail to recognize is perhaps one of the most valuable things in America today: a home. Especially those sitting in a fixed rate, low interest, long term mortgage.”

To hear the entire podcast, play the video below.

Hope4Hardship’s counseling services for divorcing homeowners was recently featured in the Fall River Herald News. Check out the article by clicking the link below:

Dartmouth nonprofit is a lifeline for divorcing couples facing housing decisions. Here’s how

When happiness turns to hardship, couples on the verge of divorce – or struggling to decide who will remain in the family home – can turn to Mike Russell, founder of Hope4Hardship, for guidance and support.

Russell, president at CENTURY 21 Signature Properties, has owned his own real estate company since he was 19 years old. Throughout his journey he has faced numerous hardships, many of them tied to real estate and financial challenges, which have shaped his passion for helping others navigate similar struggles.

Read the rest…

This article also appeared in the New Bedford Standard-Times.

The Between Two Doors Podcast

Michael Russell recently appeared on the Between Two Doors podcast with Nate Carver. The episode was entitled “Avoid Foreclosure & Remain a Homeowner – Michael Russell Shares Hope for Boston Families. Here’s a notable quote:

“I got scalped pretty hard during the downturn in 08 or 09. And and that stuff always resonates with me. I witnessed a lot of foreclosures. I witnessed a lot of lockouts where families were literally locked out of their property because the bank was taking it over and I lost some properties to foreclosure. I ended up filing bankruptcy, both corporate personal. So I went through the ringer, you know, put my family through the ringer and created a lot of collateral damage that took me the better part of 10 years to remedy.  I did a pretty fair job of turning my life around and turning my circumstances around and so that’s why I created this nonprofit with the sole mission of just helping people remain homeowners.”

For more, check out the full interview.

The REI Agent Podcast

Michael Russell recently appeared on the REI Agent podcast with Mattias Clymer. The episode was entitled “From Crisis to Comeback to Saving Homes and Changing Lives with Michael Russell. Here’s a notable quote:

“In the last five years or so, I’ve been focusing on a nonprofit that I created called Hope4Hardship, which helps people who are facing imminent foreclosure in and around the New England area. It’s become my passion project. It’s something I enjoy doing because it resonates with me very personally because of my own struggles with those kinds of things.

There’s a whole bunch of real estate knowledge around in my head that makes it pretty simple for me to help people request assistance from the very entity that is threatening their housing—the bank. So it’s just pretty simple to me and so it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of effort. I’ve been doing that kind of thing my whole life and so I  figured the best thing I can do with that knowledge is pay it forward to the next man and woman.”

For more, check out the full interview.

Free Life Agents Podcast

Michael Russell recently appeared on the Free Life Agents podcast with Kobe Xin. The episode was entitled “How to Overcome Adversity – Real LIFE Riches to Rags to RICHES with Michael Russell of Hope4Hardship”. Here’s a notable quote:

“The how I got to where I am today is by making all the wrong decisions for the better part of 20 years. And I did that really through a selfish entitlement where I I wanted to be wealthy from a very young age. And I saw this company as an opportunity to become wealthy. And so I I lived in the moment for the better part of 20 years. I lived in the moment. Every dollar I consumed, I spent. I fell into the typical societal American male norms of what was important in life and I pursued those things like they were the most important thing in the world, and I exhausted every possible dollar I could. I didn’t have any idea about macroeconomics or politics or regulations or anything that went on in the real world. I lived in my own little bubble. And I foolishly believed that the money was not just going to keep coming in, but it would come in at an even higher clip, in perpetuity for the rest of my career in my life.”

For more, check out the full interview.

Radio Entrepreneurs Podcast

Michael Russell recently appeared on the Radio Entrepreneurs podcast with Jonathan Freedman of Mage, LLC.  The episode was entitled “Keeping Families in Their Homes” with Michael Russell of Hope4Hardship”. Here’s a notable quote:

“Between 2009 and 2012, I worked for Freddie Mac and we dispersed up, listed and sold more than 1000 foreclosed properties in and around southeastern Massachusetts. I got to witness lockouts where a family is greeted by a sheriff and two movers and a box truck. It’s heartbreaking.”

For more, check out the full interview

Never Lose a Deal Podcast

Michael Russell recently appeared on the Never Lose a Deal podcast with Lorillia Brown-Phillips. The episode was entitled “Real Estate Success after Bankruptcy & Foreclosure with Mike Russell”. Here’s a notable quote:

“By and large, this is, you know, pro bono therapy work trying to help people avoid the same ridiculous mistakes I made. And that’s the fair bargain that I made my life the last eight years has been a road of recovery in so many different ways. And the fair bargain that I’ve made is to give it freely to the next man or woman.”

For more, check out the full interview