I am a victim of the housing crisis

[gdl203]

Nice job. Now, I just heard today about this really great job that would be perfect for your qualifications. It's in Pittsburgh - would you minding moving?

 

[jgold47]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Nice job. Now, I just heard today about this really great job that would be perfect for your qualifications. It's in Pittsburgh - would you minding moving?

Haha, I almost would. That house was only 5 minutes to downtown, but it took 45 min with traffic. I would love to pick somewhere else to go!

 

[paraiso]

Originally Posted by jgold47

Before I really get into it, here are some facts

I am in my late 20's and not married

in september of 07 I moved to Pittsburgh and bought a house that had been listed at 149,999 for 127,000. I paid little down (was cash strapped), and I paid for that on my interest rate which is around 7.25%. I did a good old fashioned 30 year mortgage, nothing voodoo.

in july of 08, a combination of factors led me to move back to michigan. I currently rent an apt and continue to make payments on my house.

I make about 2.5x my age, and while I dont have a lot of debt, in order to make mortgage and rent payments, bills, WOL, I have started offloading some debt to credit cards.

I have a credit score in the upper 700's and have about 1,000X my age in the bank in 'cash'.


Here is my problem - my house still hasnt sold after 6 months. I am getting freaked out because I cant keep making these payments. I am pretty sure that part of the problem is the realtor I had been using, but I would also say that with the markets being what they are, and with the type of house (a good 'starter' house), its probably not been the easiest sale.

I have the house listed currently at a price that should allow me to break even (which is 100% ok with me). My realtor claims that this is a good price, and that its not the issue (she blames the market). a new realtor i am interviewing thinks that its a little high.

I had an opportunity to rent the house out for about 900/m. my mortgage payment is 1175/m, so I would be subsidising the house. I have never been a landlord, and I am having some serious reservations about it.

I have had this discussion with 100's of people in the last couple of days and I am still unsure what to do.

Should I rent the house, subsidze the rent, and try again in a year or

should I keep the house on the market, with a new realtor, a sell it ASAP, even if its at a financial loss ( I am willing to go into my savings to be done with it). I have a feeling that it wont appraise/sell for what I need,

I also think its bullshit that I did everything right - I bought a reasonably priced house, took a normal loan (my only sin was not putting much down, but thats irrelevant here). Bought within my means, and now I am forced to suffer for the sins of everyone else. I cant sell my house because 1) no one is buying and 2) I am going to get dinged no matter what because my house has given back almost 20K in value that I know of.

If I try for a short sale, the bank will likely tell me to get fucked as I have too much credit, income and assets. If I let the house get foreclosed I lose my excellent credit score. If I pay from my own pocket to cover the loss, then all the cushion I have worked so hard to build up goes away. Where is the protection for people like me? Baring a miracle, I will not be able to walk away from this unscathed. its not my fault the banks made ****** loans to ****** people. Its the people like me who would most certainly buy another house, go on a vacation, buy good and services, invest in property and other vehicles. But we get screwed.


There..... discuss.....

Your house will not be worth the 127,000 you paid for it for a long, long time. Forget your credit score. Let the house go into forclosure and save up. When you have enough money buy another house. Money talks.

 

[jgold47]

Originally Posted by paraiso

Your house will not be worth the 127,000 you paid for it for a long, long time. Forget your credit score. Let the house go into forclosure and save up. When you have enough money buy another house. Money talks.

Just sold it tuesday for 130K. So there.

 

[paraiso]

Originally Posted by jgold47

Just sold it tuesday for 130K. So there.

Nice. You made three grand and your credit score is intact. Good for you. Who was the sucker who bought the house?

 

[thekunk07]

130k?for a home? i though the ny housing market was ******