Should we stay or should we go?
@writerightmom (148)
United States
January 27, 2007 8:23pm CST
My husband and I have been going nuts for the past 5 or so months. We bought our first home in March of '05 and ever since we moved in, it's been one nightmare after the other. First, the plumbing overflowed during the first three weeks! We had the sewer snaked out, then it happened again a week later and at that time we were told that the entire sewer had collaped and it would cost $2000 to $12000 to dig up the yard and repair it! Needless to say, we were broke as heck after closing and couldn't afford even $200! We applied for and was denied all types of assistance until we finally applied for a home improvement loan with the county, which we were approved for. That took about one month and a half for all the paperwork, etc. During that month and a half we couldn't use our dishwasher, washing machine or put toilet paper in the toilet! Imagine trying to get a 5-year-old to remember not to put his toilet paper in the toilet, but in a bag instead! Anyway, we were just about to close on our home improvement loan when we found out that the second mortgage that the previous owner provided for us was claimed to be about $11000 more than what we thought, meaning that we didn't have enough equity for the loan. I called the seller and threatened court or he could fix the PREEXISTING plumbing problem himself, and he then contacted the county and said that he'd made a mistake, that I was right. So we get our plumbing fixed, plus some other nice stuff done to the house, then bam! My husband loses his high-paying job. He had to wait nearly 6 weeks before receiving his unemployment check, making us get behind on our mortgage. It's currently nearly 4 months behind and we want to catch up, but when we called HUD, they said that we don't have enough income to even get help! The electric company had only been estimating out bill and when they came to do an actual reading, the difference was $1300! So my husband was offered a job in SC, which would be close to NC, where he's from originally. It's a great opportunity, but we can't just leave our house. We don't want to be irresponsible and just let it go into foreclosure, but I'm developing weird allergies to everything and all this stress and worrying is making my immune system even lower. The market is really bad to sell a home in Michigan right now and we've tried but everyone wants to pay way less than what we owe! Would you go? Why or why not?
5 people like this
35 responses
@Savingsibes (175)
• United States
28 Jan 07
Wow. I feel terribly for you. I am so sorry. You know, even with homes that have had inspections done etc, you never plan for anything catastrophic to happen.
Let me give you my opinion and you can take it for what it is worth. My husband is in the Mortgage Business so I know a little bit that I hope will help you make a decision. Right now, you are technically in a position to have your home foreclosed on. In this market obviously banks are trying very hard to give everyone more time, options etc, so they don't have to foreclose. Realistically if you were to even attempt to sell your home, you would need an agent or try a For Sale By Owner. You would need to disclose all the known problems with the home, and then after you pay for commissions etc, your even worse off then you were.
Bankrupsy is not an easy alternative and should be taken very seriously, but it sounds like you are running out of options. Other than borrowing enough money to both pay 4 months of back mortgage payments plus the electric bill, I am uncertain if you have any other way out of this. Here is what I personally think. Having a foreclosure and a collection from the electric company is almost as bad as going Chapter 7. You can try to file Chapter 13 if you think that your husband can find another job where you currently are and you can buy an enormous amount of time by doing so. You can pay back the arrearages on the mortgage, and try to get energy assistance for the electric bill.(Have you tried that yet?)
Lastly, on Monday morning to at the very least call the bank and ask what the process is to obtain a forebearance agreement (if they will allow one). Explain your situation and they may be able to help you.
I guess my last thoughts are, if you do move to S.C. would you then rent from someone? I would hate to think your credit is marred by this and an apartment complex etc could potentially deny your application for residence.
I say a prayer for you tonight. Good Luck!
@ashumit02 (818)
• United States
28 Jan 07
Well the meanings to stay have no matter.as you have not get instead of that.so i think to go.
@ianpaulbeatingo (81)
• United States
28 Jan 07
WOW!. That's really tough. One problem after the other and getting worse. As you said, you only have two choices, stay or leave and there are pros and cons for both. If I was in your position, I would leave and start anew somewhere else. It would make me feel better since I would not be thinking about the house problems and start working on how to pay up the debt. We all make mistakes and maybe you just made a bad investment with your house. Just my 2 cents...in the end, you still decide what to do.
@writerightmom (148)
• United States
28 Jan 07
You're very right! It is a bad investment and the only reason why I agreed to buy it is because my husband went nuts over the heated garage with the built-in workshop! It's way too small for us (it's 790 sq feet and we have two kids) and we feel like sardines in a can! I want to start new someplace else and I would really light the milder winters in SC, but I panic at the thought of leaving our home to foreclose...I don't want to have bad credit for the next 10 years.
@mkirby624 (1598)
• United States
28 Jan 07
Definitely sell it at a loss before foreclosing. That will stay on your credit for years and it will NOT look good. You'll also have a LOT of trouble finding a place to live in SC considering you would have just "lost" your home. No one's going to give you a loan for a new house if your credit shows you couldn't keep up with the first one for even a year. Unfortunately, loan/mortgage officers don't give a rat's butt about whether your husband lost his job and all the trouble you went through. They just care about the numbers, and with a foreclosure, the numbers will be stacked against you.
1 person likes this
@Goranimal (315)
• United States
28 Jan 07
This is not only a very bad situation but a tough one. first let me get this out of the way, let this be a lesson, next home you buy get a professional inspection done, most are less the 400.00 and you know what your buying into.
All the problems that exist in the home need to be fixed before you sell it, or you can list as is with a full disclosure on all thats wrong, of course you will loose a lot of money.
At the very least try to break even and get out of there!
If all fails for selling then rent it out, unless your paying a huge amount for your monthly payments. you can make it a section 8 home and the government will pay every month on the 1st so you will always have your payments made, do this for a few years until you have some decent equity built up again. you can still move out of state and have a family member or friend keep an eye on the home for you.
I wish you the best of luck.
1 person likes this
@dmajkc (196)
• United States
28 Jan 07
I would sell it at a loss before I would foreclose on it.
One of the main reasons is if you move to SC, you don't want your past history on this to haunt you if you try to
buy a new home.
Was this an existing home that you purchased or was it from
a private seller? Did you have a home inspection? Was the inspection done by an independent inspector or was it one paid for by the Realtor?
I m not an attorney but I did read somewhere that if it was a faulty inspection paid for by the Realtor, and they purposely hid defects with the house, you could hold them liable in court.
If it has a mold problem, and the house is unlivable, you can file a claim on your Homeowners Insurance unless there is a clause that specifically states Mold Damage is not
included in the policy.
Good luck..Get some legal advice though
1 person likes this
@writerightmom (148)
• United States
28 Jan 07
Thanks so much for your advice. The realtor was a total crook! I believe that she was in cahoots with the seller to say that we owe that extra $11,000. Anyway, the realtor told me that the house had been recently been inspected by the city that we live in and after the sewer trouble, I called the city and they said that it hadn't been inspected! She totally lied to us and took advantage because she knew that we weren't familiar with the process, etc!
@dreamsncharms (1340)
• United States
28 Jan 07
I'm so sorry for your nightmare. I hope that you decide to do what is best for you. If he was offered a great job in SC, If I were in your shoes I would want to pack up and go. I'd want to get rid of that house too. If the plumbing went. Who knows what could go next? Plus with your allergies. I'm not sure what is causing them, but all of those things that have happened to you and your family seem to me like a sign to move now. I wish you lots of luck.
@mnrmkr (75)
• India
28 Jan 07
I feel that whenever a person buys a house he or she is emotionally attached.when u brought the house u never thought so many problems u will face. If the problems or going out of control,then u have to think of selling the house and moving to the right place,good luck to u and ur family.
@7nicole1 (1633)
• Canada
28 Jan 07
If you cant make it there and are stuggling I thik you guys really have no choice then. If oyu want to keep putting money into that house you'll never be able to get what you put into it but never the less I wish your husband and you all the luck in making your decision.
1 person likes this
@sanjaypatel250174 (250)
• India
28 Jan 07
I feel you should leav this house at once.See i dont beleive in suoerstitions but it seems that you have only had problems in this new house.So atleast for your peae of mind you should change house.Wish you good luck and hope your worries come to an end soon.
1 person likes this
@chertsy (3798)
• United States
28 Jan 07
For a minute there, I thought you might have bought a home in Tennessee. We bought our home brand new. According to other people that bought homes from the same contractor. We got screwed. Other people worse than us, but still the same.
For you, what sucks is that your going to have to pay for a inspector to come out. If your house has mold, you will have to fix that. Best thing to do is talk to your mortage company. To see what you can do. Explain to them that you are needing to sell your home because of a new job relocation. You be amazed how understanding your mortage company can be. You can look around for places that will buy your home with problems and all. Look in the phone book and online.
Good Luck on selling your home, and good luck to hubby with the new job.
1 person likes this
@kareng (54680)
• United States
28 Jan 07
I see you already have some excellent advice so I'm just going to add that I wish you all the luck in resolving this!
@creavin007 (131)
• India
28 Jan 07
|If the house is bad luck for you |I think the frist owner cheated you. But I think you sell as close to your expected price that will be your loss but that is only option.
Because here after anything happen to the house you will more money and time that will be your more loss to you.
Look for good customer and sell it
@michele609 (1687)
• United States
28 Jan 07
If you have the money to leave I think that I would consider it it is so much drama but the bad thing is that you put so much money into it. I would really have to sit down and think about it and talk it over with my hiusband but this is a scafice that you would have to make and you would be losing alot of money!
@meeshee1 (188)
• United States
20 Feb 07
I am so sorry this is happening to you. I really hope things work out. sometimes a short sale with the bank is easier than dealing with foreclosure. In the meantime you guys can always rent in the other state or live in a hotel until you find something else, then at least you'll be out of the house, and yes it's always better to sell for less than to foreclose. I hope you guys are doing ok!!
@coderedgirl (7)
• United States
28 Jan 07
i think that you should get the heck out of there!!! that seems like it would be a big pain in the butt to do all that work i dont think it sounds easy to deal wiht all of that but you can give it a try
