wondering...

[LoveBubble5]

I am currently living in a home that is 958 square feet, the basement is not liveable due to huge (think chest level) cracks in the foundation. I filed BK July 2010 (discharged 10/10). Mortgage was included in the BK, but I continued to make payments until October 2011. I have not yet gotten any papers indicating I am being foreclosed upon, nor has a case been filed yet; HOWEVER, I have gotten the crisis paperwork, ect. to fill out and send to my mortgage carrier, as well as the "pay all right now" letters from the bank. I owe around $109k on my mortgage.

Ok, most of this might seem irrelevant, but I thought I'd tell you all anyway.

We want to move AND own our next house. I am ok with the idea of renting for awhile due to what I know about owning after foreclosing. However, there is a house listed for $33k that we have had our eye on for several months now. Previously the site had about 15 pictures to view, and it showed the basement without any damage (to the naked eye). The original description said, "...has basement. Needs work..." So, with that obvious grammatical period in mind, I am wondering if just maybe the rest of the house is in need of repairs, which again, it didn't show any obvious signs. We have not physically viewed the house, just what we saw online. Around October the listing was taken down and then put back up again, so it's showing as being on site since 11/5/11, but I know it's been on the site longer than that. The original price was $47,500, then it dropped to $45,000, then $40,000, and perhaps other amounts considering I haven't been on the site for several, several weeks now, but now it is listed at $33k.

When I think about it, that's the price of a car. In fact, in 2004 I bought two cars at the same time for around that price (two separate banks), and my monthly payments were about $650 total. If I were to seek any kind of loan, would I have to say it's for a house? I'm just thinking that with a "technical" existing mortgage, no bank will give me another mortgage loan. Also, I'm trying to beat the entire foreclosure process (get the house before this one is listed as being in foreclosure).

I know it seems foolish to "run into" a house that has problems, but in the condition of my current home, I'd rather owe less on the home so as to be able to pay for repairs... and if the damage isn't as significant as they are on my current home, then extra bonus IMO.

Any thought or ideas on this, PLEASE tell me. Thanks

[LoveBubble5]

Since I made the original post, I've read other posts here and looked things up, all along the lines of "buy and bail." I have absolutely NO intention of lying to a lender or trying to rent out my current home- mostly because the basement is not livable, so who in their right mind would want to rent here? I know I will not be able to sell it for what I owe, and though a short sale may not make a difference to my credit standing, I've read that a lender will not touch me based on a short-sale history.

I'm just wondering if, with what I can pull together here monetary-wise, if I should try and get this house. I don't have enough in my 401k to pay the house off in full, but with my impending tax return as well as what I might be able to borrow against my 401k, I'll at least be able to put 25% (if not more) toward the cost of this home. At 25% I would owe just under $25k, which still is about the same as a car payment. I know I said my car payments were around $650 for two cars, over a six year period. If I get a 15 year mortgage (makes more sense than a 30 year, unless taxes are so high or whatever, but I just don't see that with the location of this potential house).

Would I be able to get a personal loan for the intention of buying a house? The only collateral I'd have would be... the HOUSE, and then my vehicle.

[SPalin]

If they are having trouble selling for $33,000 and if you have say 10% down, contact the realtor and see if the owner will do a owner carried loan? Also, find out if there is foundation issues with the home? It doesn't cost anything to call and inquire, you might find your new hom, or at least have answers to your questions, and pass on that house and find something even better!

This September will be my 2 year mark for my foreclosure, so I'm in a saving mode and checking to see what is on the market, but knowing what seems like possiblities will no doubt be sold by then. I might even find a ower carried loan which would be great instaed of dealing with the banks again! Best of luck and post your updates!

[mountanddo]

$33,000 for a house? This house HAS to have some major damage or be in an unsellable area for it to be this cheap otherwise it would of sold by now. The cost of making repairs is going to be high I can only imagine. Just remember, you get what you pay for. You filed BK in 2010 and you can't file for 8 years. Think through what the ramifications would be if you purchase this house and say, 2 years from now it becomes unliveable. You now have another foreclosure on your record AND the debt won't be discharged. Is this something you are willing to live with? Unless the land with no house on it is worth at least 33k and you can be sure you can sell it, it would be insanity to put yourself in this situation.

[LoveBubble5]

The house I'm currently in needs a TON of work (foundation issues are the biggest). Although the pictures I saw several months ago of this $33k house do not indicate foundation issues, I'm not ruling that out. That basement looks a LOT better than my current basement, I will say that. I owe $109k on this house, and if I were able to get the $33k house, I'd have much smaller mortgage payments and would be able to afford fixing what needs fixing in the long run... I'm a little naive though as to what else there may be wrong with the house. It's on .7 of an acre of land, roomier than the house I live in right now (by about 300 sq ft... of course several months ago it was listed at $1500 sq ft, now it's listed at 1250 sq ft)... maybe asbestos? I don't know, and I wouldn't know how much it would cost to fix. Roof issues maybe... who knows.

The point I'm making with this is if the problems with the $33k house are very similar or the same to the problems with my current home, then why not have a smaller mortgage that I could possibly pay off in less than ten years?

Also, btw, this house is 40 miles away from Milwaukee one way, 40 miles from Madison the other way. And there are 24-hour Super Walmarts in between that are close enough... This house is kind of in the middle of no where (something we were looking for anyway). I would just commute to the same job I've had over the past ten years, and my husband is in the process of getting hired 40 minutes away from where we currently live right now as well (which should we move it will be 30 minutes away from that home).

Obviously I will not be jumping into this... I just thought wow, $33k, would be awesome to get it.

[mountanddo]

I'm a little naive though as to what else there may be wrong with the house. It's on .7 of an acre of land, roomier than the house I live in right now (by about 300 sq ft... of course several months ago it was listed at $1500 sq ft, now it's listed at 1250 sq ft)... maybe asbestos? I don't know, and I wouldn't know how much it would cost to fix. Roof issues maybe... who knows.

Obviously I will not be jumping into this... I just thought wow, $33k, would be awesome to get it.

If they are selling it for $33,000 I would imagine that there is a lot wrong with it. Just by your post you don't sound like you have experience in rehabing a house. The furnace could be ready to go, the roof might need total replacement, the foundaton deteriating, the water heater, appliances etc, etc, etc. There is no way in hell I would get myself into this situation but then I'm not known for taking a lot of chances. The house could have black mold and that makes it unliveable right there. I just think that getting yourself into a situation where you are stuck with it because you've already filed C7 is not very smart. You'd have to do quite a bit of research before you jump into this one with your eyes wide open.

Of course if you aren't worried about be able to make the repairs then the risk is all relative to the individual. I'd just hate to see you walk into a disaster just running the numbers and not looking at the whole picture and what problems you would run into after the mortgage is closed.

[NoMoreCards]

When I joined this site, I read about someone buying a house after BK for cash and I was amazed that this would be possible. Clearly I was happy for that person, but never considered doing it myself. I went ahead and filed my BK, did not reaffirm my mortgages. House had/has major mold problem, and is under water about 60K. I stayed and paid while I considered how to get out of the mess I was in.

I opened a account with Navy Federal Credit Union and they gave me a credit card with a 12K limit on it. (I know, my name is NoMoreCards, but read on and you will understand. Lol!) Once I got my credit card, I tried to do a cash advance for 11K (to see if I could basically) and it went through. I paid this money right back and paid a very small fee for my "experienent". Ok, so now I had 12K that I could use in case of emergency. Awesome!

At work, I got my 401k statement. Although there wasn't much left in there because I was one of the fools that borrowed against it to help to starve off BK, there was still a bit there. Retirement savings? In the financial mess I was in, retirement was just not in my distant near future and I am 48 years old. I figured I would work a few years after death. Lol! Anyhow, I found out I could take a hard ship withdrawal for a purchase of a primary residence that did not have to be paid back. Really? I looked at the numbers, and was able to pull 15K from there. Wow, that gives me access to 26K to 27K. No kidding??? Ok, where else can I scrape up money??

I stopped making the mortgage payment on my house. 1500 a month. It didn't take long to have 7K or so stashed. Wow, was this really happening??

I started looking at houses. Thankfully we have the ability to repair many things ourselves, so our options were open. I looked for about 3 months. Found a couple with issues (one was unable to sell due to being foreclosed on imppoperly, another had a property line dispute), however it only takes 1 perfect house.
Found a house 25 miles from my old one, good area, closer to work, 3 bedroom, 1 bath, fireplace, inside attics for storage, basement. 2 car garage. 1 acre of property. Built in 1901. The house had updated electrical, plumbing, roof, windows. This house was for sale for 1.5 years, however they could not sell it. They had plenty of nibbles, and no bites. The place needed work, and lots of it. The old plaster walls looked terrible from years of paint, house carpet smelled like a old cat box, yard was terribly overgrown and the bathroom was the worst room in the house. I would have rather used a hose. Lol!! We bought our house! PAID CASH!! And spent the entire summer and fall this past year working every single day on the newly purchased house. We moved in 4 days before Thanksgiving. Our house has a completely new bathroom, laminate flooring through out, and a updated bright kitchen, and many, many more updates. The house is beautiful.

Anyhow, the reason I am telling you this is you have options!! It is/was a tough time. Every penny went into the house. We still have plenty to do, but we do not have a mortgage so it makes any upcoming repairs easily done. Just because the price is 33K, does not mean it is beyond repair. Just expect to work. All of the houses we seen in this lower price range needed work. But if you aren't afraid to do it most things you can do yourself.

Our house which we paid 32K for in 2011, has been appraised at 110K in 2012. We worked our tails off, but we pulled it off. I do have a payment to NFCU for the cash advance, but that will be gone soon. Minimum payment is 240, but we are paying 500. So although I swore I would never have "no more cards", I am proud of the card I have today. It was worth it in the end.

Keep all your options open. There is owner financing available or be a bit creative. But you CAN get out of your under water house.

All the best, I am going back to my chair. I have been resting since we moved in, and probably will till spring. Lol!

[ugghh]

I figured I would work a few years after death. Lol!

That made me laugh! Congrats on your hard work!

[df04527]

Great story nomorecards.... Congrats and welcome to no more mortgage payments ever!