Mortgage readjustment issues

[Kerfuffle]

Tater, I feel ya. Mind you, I am no expert on this situation, so take what I say with a grain of salt.



You may just have to take the hit. You won't be able to sell right now even if you wanted to. Mortgage companies will not help unless you are looking for a hand out or are way behind. Even then, they won't really help. You're credit will take a hit and it will be gut wrenching.



Beastkeeper and I are underwater by about 30k or so. That's not terrible compared to some, but it still sucks, as we are throwing good money after bad. I would suggest contest you property taxes. That may help in the long run. It won't help now, but in the future it may lower your mortgage payment overall.



I never understood the government programs out there. All they did was delay the inevitable. If someone was laid off, and can't get another job because no one is hiring and the economy is in the throne, how is modifying their loan gonna help? They could modify it till the cows come home, if that person isn't earning money, they can't afford to pay it anyhow.



How do you like that ray of sunshine?

Upside down on a mortgage isn't that bad - as long as you're not behind in your payments consider yourself lucky. Everyone lost equity in their homes in the downfall. But if you can make the payments it will recover in time.

 

[MassHavoc]

(no comments out of you AssHavok)

Boooo you take all the fun out of misery.

 

[Tater]

Hey guys, thank you so much for the helpful ideas. I will check into NACA.com and some of the other options you guys put out there.

Much appreciated and it always helps to vent a little.

 

[Kerfuffle]

Hey guys, thank you so much for the helpful ideas. I will check into NACA.com and some of the other options you guys put out there.

Much appreciated and it always helps to vent a little.

Tater, also if you have season tickets you can sell the STH party tix as well to get some money. I get $60 a piece on average. So if you have a pair of tickets that's $120 for you and would cover almost half the shortage you have ($300) for another month. Just wanted to share another creative idea that may help you. Good luck!

 

[MassHavoc]

Good Luck Tater, let us know how things play out.

 

[Tater]

Tater, also if you have season tickets you can sell the STH party tix as well to get some money. I get $60 a piece on average. So if you have a pair of tickets that's $120 for you and would cover almost half the shortage you have ($300) for another month. Just wanted to share another creative idea that may help you. Good luck!

Season tix?!?!?!? I can't even afford a single game!

 

[Kerfuffle]

Season tix?!?!?!? I can't even afford a single game!

Okay wasn't sure. Just trying to think of another item to use from the toolbelt to generate cash for you.

 

[LarmersOneTimer]

Wait a minute, I tought our government had all the answers and was taking care of situations like this!?

 

[stu]

According to Zillow a few days ago, we are underwater by $150,000.00!



Just last month the value dropped $4,500.00. And it's bound to get worse, our neighbor next door just lost their house to foreclosure.



No one will even look at refinancing us...which sucks big time.

 

[jakobeast]

According to Zillow a few days ago, we are underwater by $150,000.00!



Just last month the value dropped $4,500.00. And it's bound to get worse, our neighbor next door just lost their house to foreclosure.



No one will even look at refinancing us...which sucks big time.

Zillow is by no means the truth when it comes to real estate. If you want, Beastkeeper may be able to tell you better.



It sucks balls Stu. You will not be able to refi anytime soon. Like I said, contest your property tax. It isn't gonna be a a huge drop in your mortgage if it gets adjusted, but it will help a bit. We got our taxes adjusted and i think starting next near lowered our mortgage by about 100 bucks or so. Again, may not be much, but itll help. Also, Lake county isn't taking into account all the foreclosures and short sales and such that majorly effect property values. Maybe next year they will, as there is no way the government can avoid that. When that happens, we can drop it a bit more.

 

[bri]

Hun, I don't know anything about mortgages, but I know plenty about being poor. Do you have anything that you can sell on ebay to make extra money? People will buy anything especially stupid stuff. I was in a major pinch a while back and made about $300 selling old Soap Opera magazines I had that were from 1998 to 2003. One guy paid me $16 for one issue.. I'm sure you have a lot better stuff than me to sell. You should look around for things that you are willing to part with. Hun, you could be sitting on a gold mine.







I just realized I better clarify that. I wasn't talking about your ass or anything. It was just a figure of speech.

 

[jakobeast]

Hun, I don't know anything about mortgages, but I know plenty about being poor. Do you have anything that you can sell on ebay to make extra money? People will buy anything especially stupid stuff. I was in a major pinch a while back and made about $300 selling old Soap Opera magazines I had that were from 1998 to 2003. One guy paid me $16 for one issue.. I'm sure you have a lot better stuff than me to sell. You should look around for things that you are willing to part with. Hun, you could be sitting on a gold mine.







I just realized I better clarify that. I wasn't talking about your ass or anything. It was just a figure of speech.

Don't listen to her tater. Sell your ass.

 

[MassHavoc]

Dibs

 

[winos5]

I read this thread and feel both guilty and blessed at the same time. I guess it just depends on where you live and the local real-estate market. I recently refinanced (over the last month or two), combining my mortgage and a home equity loan. My home value dropped @ 10%, but I'm still along way from being even in the water, even with the re-finance. I will say that it seemed to take a hell of alot longer to get the paperwork done this time.

 

[MassHavoc]

So. I don't want to derail the thread. But I was hoping to start the home buying process in the next year or so.... Bad idea? Or is this only effecting people who's had the bottoms drop out of their home value? I was under the assumption that this is still a good time to buy, but I also don't want to worry about something like this then happening to me?

 

[FlaHawkFan]

So. I don't want to derail the thread. But I was hoping to start the home buying process in the next year or so.... Bad idea? Or is this only effecting people who's had the bottoms drop out of their home value? I was under the assumption that this is still a good time to buy, but I also don't want to worry about something like this then happening to me?

Mass, the next year (or three) will be an excellent time to buy -- it's just a horrible time for sellers. It took us three years from the time we moved away from Michigan to sell our house there, and we lost a third of what we paid for it. Wiped out our savings, and this month we'll finally pay off the loan we had to take out to sell our freaking house. But we were some of the fortunate few who were able to afford to sell a house that was completely upside-down mortgage-wise.



Tater, I have no answers but wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and your wife. And BHP, the same goes for you. I read this thread last week but had no good answers so I refrained from posting, but I've thought of both of you often since then and I hope you're both able to turn things around. I wish I could with the damb lottery to help you guys out. It's just not right that people who did everything right, who took out mortgages they could afford and who are trying their best to repay them, can't get the kind of help they need. And by that, I mean the banks holding the mortgages should negotiate some kind of reduced PRINCIPAL on the loan, and avoid the cost and loss of a foreclosure. it's imminently better for a lender to keep a paying customer in a house than to foreclose and lose even more than would be the case if the lender simply reduced the principal. But for some reason that doesn't seem to be a solution anyone is pursuing.

 

[Tater]

Mass, the next year (or three) will be an excellent time to buy -- it's just a horrible time for sellers. It took us three years from the time we moved away from Michigan to sell our house there, and we lost a third of what we paid for it. Wiped out our savings, and this month we'll finally pay off the loan we had to take out to sell our freaking house. But we were some of the fortunate few who were able to afford to sell a house that was completely upside-down mortgage-wise.



Tater, I have no answers but wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and your wife. And BHP, the same goes for you. I read this thread last week but had no good answers so I refrained from posting, but I've thought of both of you often since then and I hope you're both able to turn things around. I wish I could with the damb lottery to help you guys out. It's just not right that people who did everything right, who took out mortgages they could afford and who are trying their best to repay them, can't get the kind of help they need. And by that, I mean the banks holding the mortgages should negotiate some kind of reduced PRINCIPAL on the loan, and avoid the cost and loss of a foreclosure. it's imminently better for a lender to keep a paying customer in a house than to foreclose and lose even more than would be the case if the lender simply reduced the principal. But for some reason that doesn't seem to be a solution anyone is pursuing.

Thank you for the very nice thoughts.

After trying to deal with the bank I've come to the conclusion that they absolutely don't want to help at all. They just want to dump into the govt' H.A.M.P. which screws up your credit the same as if you just paid late.

At this point I'm likely going to transfer some of my pension over to Vanguard which will let me pull out 5k or whatever just to hold us over.

Of course that means paying the taxes on it plus a 10% penalty for taking it out early...

 

[Kerfuffle]

....And by that, I mean the banks holding the mortgages should negotiate some kind of reduced PRINCIPAL on the loan, and avoid the cost and loss of a foreclosure. it's imminently better for a lender to keep a paying customer in a house than to foreclose and lose even more than would be the case if the lender simply reduced the principal. But for some reason that doesn't seem to be a solution anyone is pursuing.

A couple thoughts here. You're confusing a paying customer with one behind in payments and how that translates to bank action / inaction. No bank or lender is going to do anything if you are still making the monthly payments - period. Even if you are paying a little late and paying the late fees the terms will stay the same. And banks will reduce principal, if the property is sold via short-sale to another party. Think about it - if the rules were changed and lenders said they would reduce principal for anyone that needs help what do you think would happen? It would be abused and suddenly everyone would say they have hardship and ask for a reduction in principal. The only way to really prove hardship is missing payments. Rather a better solution would be to allow refinancing under current rates @ 30 year fixed which would lower the monthly payments for many who suddenly find themselves in Tater's position being just a couple hundred bucks short each month. However, given the recent mortgage meltdown and difficulty getting financing, lenders have a tendency to run from this situation and refuse to refinance because the borrower is showing signs that problems may lay ahead. Bottom line - no easy solution and many borrowers like Tater find that the so-called government help programs are really worthless.

 

[FlaHawkFan]

Thank you for the very nice thoughts.

After trying to deal with the bank I've come to the conclusion that they absolutely don't want to help at all. They just want to dump into the govt' H.A.M.P. which screws up your credit the same as if you just paid late.

At this point I'm likely going to transfer some of my pension over to Vanguard which will let me pull out 5k or whatever just to hold us over.

Of course that means paying the taxes on it plus a 10% penalty for taking it out early...

You might want to ask about the taxes and penalty if you take $$ from your pension -- I think I recall there being some kind of hardship allowance that results in a waiver of the penalty, but I'm not sure. My brain holds a lot of information, some true and some imagined.

 

[Tater]

You might want to ask about the taxes and penalty if you take $ from your pension -- I think I recall there being some kind of hardship allowance that results in a waiver of the penalty, but I'm not sure. My brain holds a lot of information, some true and some imagined.

Ohhh, good point.

I will ask them about that.

I basically already explained the situation to my pension company (Putnam) so they do know the reason I need to transfer/pull out funds.

Maybe you have to specifically ask about a hardship allowance for them to offer it so it's worth a try.