I am a victim of the housing crisis

[jgold47]

Originally Posted by a tailor

tell the mortgage holder you want a new one at 5.50% or they will have another house dumped on them. they have plenty of them already. and you dont know how long it will be till the house is sold.

If only it were that easy. No one would write that loan for me, and I have zero leverage with the bank.

 

[jgold47]

So I just got my old realtor on the phone to let her know that she was being replaced, and mind you, I have never had to 'fire' anyone (although I have dumped quite a few chicks), so I was a little 'nervous', but as soon as I told her she was being replaced, she got all whiney, then hung up on me. Glad I was working with a professional.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by jgold47

So I just got my old realtor on the phone to let her know that she was being replaced, and mind you, I have never had to 'fire' anyone (although I have dumped quite a few chicks), so I was a little 'nervous', but as soon as I told her she was being replaced, she got all whiney, then hung up on me. Glad I was working with a professional.
Good luck.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by JayJay

Good luck.

+1 & make sure you keep the new agent on a tight leash. Short contract, high incentives (I wouuld agree on a steep progressive scale for his commission)

 

[nate10184]

I understand your frustration but I have to go with those who are saying just sell the place at whatever price possible and take the loss. The future is way too uncertain to be carrying large amounts of debt right now.

If we are really hit with several years of deflation as many are predicting the real value of that debt will continue to grow and weigh you down more and more. I know conventional thinking is to wait a few years but that mentality shows a real lack of understanding for the larger macro trends at work right now. As others have said this isn't really a crisis, its a correction which you happen to be on the wrong side of. I would get out now while I still had the means if I were in your situation.

 

[tiecollector]

I had a friend whose family member got sick and she had to move cross country to take care of them and it made her not able to pay off their house anymore. She just took the easier way out and filed for bankruptcy like everyone else in the neighborhood. (This was in California and after a year the house didn't sell and the banks were still reluctant to do short sales) Her credit went from 800 to 500 something and she can no longer even get a credit card for the next 7 years but she makes it work by buying things through her mom because she makes decent money.

If you are only at a loss of $20k, then I'd take the peace of mind and just take that loss and pay it off in a year or two. If it is more than that, you can hire a mortgage company to oversee the property for you for around $100/month. If you'll be losing $500/month on it though, just sell it and use that $500/month to pay off the loss.

I just bought a house for $100k and the person across the street bought a very similar house 3 years ago for $300k. That's a difference of $200k! I feel sorry for my neighbors.

 

[a tailor]

Originally Posted by jgold47

If only it were that easy. No one would write that loan for me, and I have zero leverage with the bank.

HAVE YOU TRIED?

you have a good score, made payments on time?
your leverage is, they dont want another dead house on their books.
and you will still be making your payments till the house is sold.
tell them that you dont want to go belly up.

 

[jgold47]

Originally Posted by a tailor

HAVE YOU TRIED?

you have a good score, made payments on time?
your leverage is, they dont want another dead house on their books.
and you will still be making your payments till the house is sold.
tell them that you dont want to go belly up.

oh I have tried, back in the fall, its a lose lose for the home owner regardless, as anything short of a full price sale/satisfaction of the loan is a negative on the credit. See, its exactly the fact that I have a good score and never missed a payment that I have no leverage. Unless I am willing to put my credit score and potentially bankruptcy on the line, they will not respond. If what you said was the case, then everyone would be calling up with some BS story to get them to modify the loans. And as for taking back the houses its not consistent. Some days they want them all back, somedays they dont. my friends in the industry tell me they look at the number of houses in FC in the market, what the loss they would take, etc... before even considering it, and its still not consistent.

 

[stingray3]

A big reason why there are so many foreclosures is because many homeowners were able to take out loans without making a significant down payment. In the 80’s, most homeowners were required to put down 20%. If you couldn’t afford the down payment, then you couldn’t buy a home.

When some homeowners who didn’t put any money down are faced with declining prices or rising monthly payments, it’s an easy decision to walk away from the house. Sure, your credit score goes into gutter for a few years, but at least you don’t lose your life savings. In essence, these types of homeowners are renting from the bank.

I’m glad that you are trying to work this out rather than saying, “Screw it, let the bank worry about.” That’s more than can be said of a lot of former homeowners.

 

[jgold47]

for those of you who care, this is an email I got last night from my old realtor. I really wanted to respond but decided against it.

Subject: Re: bob

I gave your file to David Martin the week before you called . I told him he needed to take it since I could no longer deal with a person who is never happy no matter how much marketing was done and how many people and rental offers were given.

If you are interested in renting the proprety call david at 412-xxx-xxxx or email him david@xxxx
a C/B agent called today with 2 possible tenants . I exsplained your position and told him you would get the info. I called David and told him , he was to call you.

Sign is down and all deleted as of 2/6

 

[fredfred]

I say there's a 50% chance she's correct. Remember, you are a "victim". You expect everything should go your way if you do things "correctly", then you come on here and whine about it and say you are a "victim" when you don't get your way - they way they are "supposed" to go.

She probably worked her ass off trying to get your thing sold or rented... and since the market sucks she was unable to. I'm sure it's her fault your place didn't sell.

Your attitude and posts amazingly annoy me - I wouldn't want to work with you until you've grown up a bit. I don't like "whiney" people - to use your own close-at-hand word.

 

[newtrane]

jingle. now.

 

[PolePosition]

I've been managing rental properties for some relatives of mine for the past couple years (some that live in other states). I highly recommend renting out your house. Think about it. People can't afford to buy houses. But they have to live somewhere. It looks like multiple tenants have already been found for your house but you keep looking at get out quick options which will only hurt you. No one can predict what the housing market will be a year or so from now but in the meantime why not rent? The income will subsidize your expenditures on the house. Find you a good landlord, whether it be a management company or even some old man that just manages for extra income. Most only charge 10% of the rent as a fee, which really isn't much at all. I'm sure there are resources to locate landlords in your area.....I'm not a real estate guru by any means but in my opinion based on experience with and seeing situations like this, my recommendation is to rent it out.

 

[raphael]

You're a victim of high housing costs, not any housing crisis. A car driven off the lot falls 30% in price, why should housing be any different?

The expectation that a house is purchased and sold at a profit a year later is not realistic.

 

[jefe]

This thread fails.

Rent your house and own up to your mistake. Or write a whiny reply to your former realtor (who seems pretty reasonable in light of the situation.)

You're not the victim here. The victim might be the greater good that assumed you would own up to your debts.