Keep house or not

[nmtechie]

I am in a quandry and need some impartial opinions.

I am going to be converting my chapter 13 bk to chapter 7 by the end of the month. I have essentially decided my attorney is an idiot and that I will file pro se since I can find the research and info I need on the web. Also save me at least $500.

My assets included in the 13 were 2 cars and a house. I decided to surrender the car that has 190,000 miles on it and is 13 years old. I will reaffirm the note on the other car.

Here is my dilemma. I was behind 2 months prior to filing the 13 and the mortgage company is willing to extend the term of the loan by 2 months and change the payment date through a reaffirmation agreement. My mortgage payment is $640.00 which includes insurance and taxes which is 25% of my monthly income.

This house was bought as a slight fixer upper. It is worth 87,000-90,000 right now as is, (I owe $75,833.40). If I spent about $2,000 and did a lot of the repairs (roof repair, plumbing repair, painting) myself, I have been told by an appraiser that the home would appraise at 110,000 in my area.

Should I reaffirm the house, fix it up, and refinance it next year after 12 on-time payments, or surrender the house, and find another one that doesn't need any work.

I am torn -- one day I want to keep it, next day I want to surrender it.

Opinions?

[SinkingFast]

Eeewww!! Tough Call for sure!!

If this was Old Law, I'd say reaffirm at the last possible minute, then withdraw it after discharge within the 60 days. But we can't do that now under New Law.

New Law, if you reaffirm, you're stuck.

Definite profit potential IF it will bring the price. And that's the rub. IF!

We went on the market $10K lower than the Realtors said it should sell for hoping we'd get a quick sale and get out. That was months ago. Since then, we've dropped the price $40K. We're to the point we're at break even on mortgage pay-off and costs to sell. And I'm not talking "dog of a neighborhood". Our market is HOT, HOT, HOT!! Houses selling all the time, and quick. Desireable area. Great schools. Location. Location. Location. All the perks that drive Real Estate prices. Not working for our house.

I guess my point here is,......... What they tell you it should sell for, and what it actually will sell for are not always one and the same thing.

One question I would ask,...........

Has the house been a driving force behind your debt?? Did your mortgage payments, utilities, repair costs, insurance costs all totalled together cause you to charge things you would have paid cash for before buying the house??

Been there done that. House cost so much we took on a 2nd within 5 years. Then 5 years later, we did a total refi on a hugely inflated appraisal. 80% first with a HELOC to 100%.

If the answer is Yes, then let the house go.

[friend-of-faith]

Hope I can help....

Hi nmtechie, I don't think I can convince to do one thing or the other, but if you decide to surrender the house, PM me. I will be looking forward to hearing from you. God Bless.