House is worth less than we owe

[tacomatom]

We filed chapter 7 and are just waiting for it to be finalized. The problem we are having is we hate our house but it is a house and it is OURS, but, we do hate it and dont want to rent an apt. and we cant really sell it as we lost alot of value in it in the last couple of years due to the economy. We owe about $200,000 and its worth maybe $175,000

What about maybe finding a seller contract or lease contract where we make a payment and a little of that payment goes to the down payment after 3 years or ? Are these contracts legit, safe?

Maybe rent to own?

We just dont know if there is any options for us. We are in a crappy neighborhood and my kid just started kindergarten where he is one of the only 2 english speaking kids in the class ugh! Well maybe they might speak english but how does a school in America only have 2 kids in a class from this country?

Anyway any ideas on how we can get out of this house and into one out of town a little bit.

BTW we are in washington state and we have not reaffirmed on either of our mortgages

[imoverit]

You can live there rent free while they foreclose or if you want out now you can just leave and go rent a house. You could try to short sale it but if you included it in your CH7 and have not reaffirmed then there is not really a point. We wanted out of our house too so we stopped paying, saved a for a few months and then left. We are renting a house now and are perfectly fine! Since you just filed CH7 you aren't going to be able to buy a house either way so unfortunately you are going to have to get over that. You just have to make the decision to stay or go. Sounds like you want to go but are afraid to take the first step...

BTW, I wouldn't bother with the rent to own or land contract...why mess with it? Just wave and say bye bye!

[tacomatom]

Why not bother with it just out of curiosity. If we found a place that we liked and got a contract for say 3 years. After that we would have to put it in our name or lose all the money. What are the issues with that situation. Also if we give up the house is it considered a forclosure? Can we stay in the house for how long? We dont want anymore neg stuff on our credit report after BK. Would that be worse than a short sale?

[danaf]

I know nothing about rent to own except that you need to make sure your interests are protected by having certain correct clauses in the contract and that you have to take depreciation into consideration. What happens if the value falls well below the agreed upon price? Or you cannot get financing when the option kicks in? These issues and the economy would make a rent to own situation scary to me. Just too many unknowns.

But why not rent for a while and then decide? If you don't reaffirm your home it will be a long while before the bank forecloses if you stop paying. You can use that time to save up some money. If the home is included in your bk, then leaving anytime after your bk is discharged won't further hurt your credit.

Or you can continue paying until you figure something out. The bank won't kick you out as long as they are getting paid, even without the reaffirmation.

good luck!

[HakunaMatata]

[imoverit]

To the OP, I thought you meant rent out the house you live in to someone else. Thats why I said don't bother...

If you want to rent to own, that is another story. I might consider it if it was the right person...but I don't think I would even bother with that these days. Who knows what the market will be like in a few years AND you are giving them extra and trusting them to do what they say they are going to do. I would imagine if they defaulted on the contract you could sue them, but would you have the means to pursue them? To many unknowns for my taste! But that is just me... Good luck!

[rontiss1]

My townhome is upside down

I HAVE A PICK A PAY MONTHLY PAYMENT WITH INDYMAC BANK. YOU CANT IMAGINE HOW HARD I HAVE TRIED TO REFI WITH THEM. I EVEN TRIED TO GET A LOAN MOD AND GOT BURNED FOR 2000.00 CASH! I OWE 320,000 AND THE VALUE OF THE TOWNHOME IS 220.000. I OWE 20,000 IN CREDIT CARD DEBT. I AM A 61 YR OLD GUY LIVES ALONE, MY INCOME IS 30,700 A YEAR. I LIVE ON A FIXED RETIREMENT INCOME. I AM LOOKING FOR WORK BUT I HAVE BEEN ILL FOR QUITE SOME TIME (3 YEARS). MY QUESTION IS, WHAT SHOULD I DO, GIVE THE KEYS BACK, DEED IN LIEU, WALK AWAY AND LOOK FOR AN APT TO LIVE IN? IVE LIVED HERE FOR 16 YEARS AND PAY HOMEOWNERS FEE OF 250 A MONTH ON TOP OF THE 1050 MIN PAYMENT THAT I PAY. THE 5 YEAR ARM AT 7.85 PERCENT WILL COME TO A HEAD IN OCTOBER 2012. I CALLED INDYMAC BANK AND THE REP TOLD ME EXACTLY "WELL YOU STILL HAVE UNTIL OCTOBER 2012" BEFORE ANY HAPPENS? WHAT THE HECK???? ANY INFO WILL HELP.
MR G.
MISSION HILLS, CALIFORNIA