Forclose or Not to Forclose?

If the choice is between renting it out and foreclosing, I would choose trying to rent it out. Are there any colleges, or hospitals close by? They always have visiting doctors, professors and grad students that need a place to stay.

M.

Are you working with a realtor or just the person working on the short sale or both? What city/town do you live in? Helpful to know the location. I have a list of investors who look for opportunities to buy/sell/rent/finance/ etc. Just need more info.

My parents recently had a similar issue. They were transfered, choose to sell their house instead of the company doing it, it didn't sell for over 8 months. They finally rented it for two years. They didn't make money on it but they didn't lose any either. They found all the papers they needed to make up a legal contract online. Put up posters to rent it and all went well. When the lady stopped making payments they followed proper protecal, evicted her and put another for sale sign up. Within 2 months they got a bid and sold. The difference the second time around? They were willing to just get rid of it and took a lose on it. They say they were actually better off renting it out if they would have found another renter because they were breaking even and really could have made money on it.
I think if I had to choose between forclosure and rent I would hands down choose rent. Why ruin your credit when it can be avoided?
PS my parents were two hours away. They still had family in town. No one checked on the house but my parents, who were in town once a month or every other and stopped in to do the work that was needed.

Talk to your mortgage company about a short sale. That is what my husband and I did to avoid foreclosure. It's worth a try.

Jules,
Rent or lease, many people is in the same situation.
Repair those things by yourself and your husband; repair those things that need to be D. for safety, and for the house to look better. Keep the house very clean and maintain it that way.
Also, in the future, you may want to find a realtor who is interested in earning a reasonable monthly amount to take care of your house if you decide to move out.
I read that your husband's job is 2 and half hours away, perhaps for now is a good idea to stay where you are until things get better;sometimes we have to sacrifice one thing for others.
Good Luck!!!!!
Ale

Talk to the bank that own's the house and just be honest. They are going to ask a lot of questions related to your financial situation, but it may get you out from under the mortage. If you do a short sale the bank has to agree to the selling price, and you have to include in the terms of the sale that they will not litigate you in the future for the loss onthe property..

Maybe try selling it with a land contract?

I have been told that if you decide to foreclose on a property it is best to do a bankruptcy to clear you legally. Before you make any decision, contact a bankruptcy attorney, your real estate agent (or yet another one for a second opinion), and anyone else who knows LEGALLY what you should do.

You may find someone to rent the house from you. SO MANY people have lost their homes to foreclosure that they need a place to rent. Look on Craigslist to see if your house would be comparable to others with similar size for to rent for the cost of your mortgage. Maybe you can rent it out cheaper to someone who is willing to work on it and find a cheaper place to rent in the other state?

Don't wreck your credit unless you HAVE to. At least your husband is working and only 2.5 hours away. He isn't deployed over seas for months on end (neither is mine...but I just think your situation could be worse). It sucks...and I get that. Best wishes to you.

Hi Jules,

It's a real pain to be separated from Daddy/hubby, isn't it? I read your profile and am guessing your youngest is 3 and a half? though it looks like 32......just trying to figure out if you could work to make money for the repairs. I'd start with repairs that are about safety, and keeping the house from deteriorating (you didn't say what repairs are needed), and save any "cosmetic" ones for later (or for a buyer to do, if possible!).

could you watch another child in your home? even if it isn't every day this would still be helpful, and I know when I was considering going back to work, I realized that the only thing harder to find than "good childcare on a regular basis" was "good childcare on an irregular basis".

Could you work in a child care facility? sometimes you can take your child there for free while you work (trying to find you a job where you don't have to pay for child care) and your 7 yo could come there after school (again, maybe free or reduced rate). In our district some childcare places arrange transportaion for the school age kids before and after school.

Could you run errands, cook, clean house for elderly/disabled neighbors? you could take your kids along.

I am a little confused by your sentence "we don't want to rent because the cost would be too much......" Do you mean you don't want to rent a house/apartment in the new city or you don't want to rent out the home you and the kids are currently living in? Is your current home not rent-able because it needs repairs? I would think if it is good enough for you to live in it should be good enough to rent out, but I have never rented out a home so I don't know what the rules are. See if your city has a landlord/tenant department that could give you advice.

Maybe what you make in rent would cover your mortgage; if not, you could pay the difference and it wouldn't be so bad.

I liked the advice of getting a friend/real estate agent to manage your current home as a rental property. 2.5 hours is not so far that you couldn't stop back and check on things from time to time. I'd also be real thorough in checking references for prospective tenants.

I'd talk to a lawyer who is familiar with foreclosures and bankruptcy law.

Meanwhile, you and hubby should try to save as much money as possible, for those repairs, and getting started in a new place. Could he share an apartment/house with someone in the same position? Could you rent out a spare bedroom?

Don't know if that helped at all, but thought I would put out a few things to get your thoughts going in additional directions.

Good luck!

K. Z.

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I was in the same dilemna and have been in short sale for over one year. I left the house as I could not afford it any longer. I say call them and try to do Deed in Lieu Of or simply do a foreclosure. Only pride is keeping you there, let it go. I have been blessed greatly by releasing the stress and unreasonable goal of keeping my house [I continue to ask the bank to set a court date to schedule the foreclosure, alas they have not--silly bank I guess]. The good news is it is happening to so many people due to this economy that banks will have to change the loan/mortgage/bankruptcy requirements and guidelines in order to sell anything to anyone going forward as so folks are in desperate and destitute times. Move and get your family together, the bank will be fine. Just be open and communicative for your own conscience and move on and reunite your family. You'll be amazed at how things will work out. Blessings.
A.

I like the posters suggestion of simply continuing to own the home, rent it out to somebody and move. You can hire workers to repair whatever needs doing and if you absolutely have to come back you are only 2 1/2 hours away. It's not on the other side of the world.
Good luck!

I think that you may get better answers to your question if you can say how many mortgages you have on your home.

If there is only one mortgage, if the property is foreclosed on there is a good chance they will not seek a deficiency on the property (meaning you will not owe them any money after the foreclosure is over). If there is more than one mortgage, you will very likely be responsible for the balance on the other mortgage(s). This is where a bankruptcy would be helpful.

There is also something called a "deed in lieu of foreclosure." Again, if there are two or more mortgages, it will not likely be helpful, but if you only have one, you can check with your lender. Basically you turn over the keys to your home to the lender and walk away.

I would suggest exploring a short sale, but if your property has been on the market a long time you have probably already thought about that.

Good luck :)

We rented our our house when we were in another state 300 miles away. It wasn't that big of a deal. If you choose to do so, now that we have the Internet, you have all the phone numbers of any repair service at your fingertips. It is cheaper to rent it out yourself. If it will keep you together and buy you some time, give it a shot.

There are a couple of other options you might be able to pursue. One may be to auction the house, and the other may be to contact someone that rents houses and see if they might want to buy yours as a rental. An auction gets you something and you know that it is sold and over. Depends on if you think it would bring enough to pay off the loan.

I will state first my husband worked 4 states away.He wasn't there during the Jr and Sr yrs of our youngest 4.He came home once every 8 wks for a weekend.We went to him when he couldn't come home.He was in a one room motel room.The 4 kids and one grandkid slept on the floor in sleeping bags when we went to him.

foreclosing will not necessarily mean you won't owe anything on this house.We lost our house in a foreclosure last yr.We not only have to pay federal,State and city taxes on the difference between what we owed and fair market value( which is usually lower than the appraisal value) BUT we also have to pay the difference between what we OWED and what they actually sold the house for.

I don't know what state you are in but check online for rules of bankruptcy for your local area.In our state there is a means test and if you don't "pass " it you have to file a chapter 13( slow pay) instead of Chapter 7 bankruptcy.Chapter 13 puts you on a COURT ORDERED budget and wages get GARNISHED to pay the debt.You might end up paying more with lawyer and court fees.

PLEASE look at all your options

a suggestions is do what I do and several friends do when working out of state.We stay at extended stays.It's not uncommon to find whole families litterally living here full time. No privacy for sure but at least you are all together. My parents put it to me that it was how they were raised.