Thinking About Walking Away? (foreclosures, Mobile, upside, short sale)

[willdufauve]

I'm not walking away or having financial problems. We have a six figure income, are in a location with a stable housing market, and just went under agreement to sell with a full price offer.

What about a little compassion for people that have lost everything? I can afford it and I'm giving it.

The lady said they were responsible buyers but lost their jobs. Everyone knows there's parts of the country experiencing deep financial meltdowns. Some people get cancer, or become disabled in a work accident. We don't throw them in Dickensian debtor's prisons anymore. We give a fresh start.

Do what you have to do, mimberly, and good luck to you and your family in the future.

[mimberly]

Well Purple Princess we didn't buy what we couldn't afford or spend what we didn't have. We lost our jobs and out bills were based on that income. Also I didn't take vacations or anything else we were foster parents and took 45 kids over the last 6 years and we gave back even when we didn't have much to give. We took medically fragile children that others wouldn't take and drove all over taking them to hospitals. Because we made 60-70 thousand we should be fine even if we lost those jobs? If you lost your income and had to work f0r 8.00 a hour you couldn't make it either. We bought our home based on our jobs and had no idea that they wouldn't be secure.

[MotleyCrew]

I really do feel for the ones that try to hold on and value their home ownership. I do not feel badly for the ones we witnessed moving in the dark of night and laughing about it. The "investors" that helped create this nightmare should not receive a bailout. How do you separate them from the honest folks that lost jobs or suffered an illness. I chalk it up to "that is life" and we do get slammed with bad luck, but do the taxpayers need to fork up? We always bailed ourselves out and yes even whith layoffs and almost losing our first home, somehow we pulled through. That was our good fortune and our hard work. Things just don't always shake out the same for every homeowner. The one thing that is a guarantee in this country is that you will have ups and you will have downs and I don't think there are enough tax dollars available to make up for all the mistakes or misfortune people have.

[goodbyehollywood]

There's no such thing as job security anymore-- hasn't been for years. That's why lenders USED to make sure borrowers had at least six months of cash reserves to cover all their monthly expenses, including the mortgage. Most people are able to get back on their feet within six months, sell a burdensome property or at least find some way to muddle through a bit longer.

Many people are caught up in unfortunate situations and need temporary help getting back on their feet. There are safety nets for these people. It's the people who made poor choices and never had a reasonable expectation of making higher payments that are causing such controversy.

But there is no job security in the private sector and people should always plan for the worst and hope for the best these days. And probably from now on.

[Ron.]

WOW, you should be a minister because you sure know how to preach the truth!!!

AMEN!!!!!

Originally Posted by Purple_Princess

Three words people. Act your wage. Some people DO fall on hard times but get real. Its the mortgage WITH the two car payments, maxed out CC's, and the closet full of overpriced crap for the kids with the tags still on it that is causing the problem for most. Live below your means and buy the house you need and can easily afford. Heres a hint: You don't actually need, granite, slate, stainless steel, hardwood and two sinks in the bathroom. Im sick of this whiny baby "Its not my fault I signed up for a 1500/mo mortgage payment with two minimum wage earners in the house" garbage. Tuck in your shirt, pull up your socks, and handle your business DANG !!

[Fighter 1]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

WOW, you should be a minister because you sure know how to preach the truth!!!

AMEN!!!!!

We will rember your words when the world finds out that these things with the ups and down of the Real Estate industry didn't just happen they were planed by our own government to control the people.

[EdatGenesis]

I've seen this "disposable home" phenomenon over & over again here in Colorado ..Primary "culprits" being illegals who purchased homes fraudulently .. They get a 2 -3 arm & when it comes time to refi, they simply pack up & leave the house vacant - Being illegals & using bogus info, there's no accountabilty & they go out & do it again ..This has destroyed many Colorado neighborhoods!

To be fair, bad things happen to good people & sometimes they have no other option than to "walk away" ..They don't do that to hurt anyone or with malintent, circumstances demanded it & there was no other recourse -

Making good people "suffer" for years after having been through a financial crisis is not right ..If a person works hard to rebuild & restore their financial lives, the past should not be held against them for decades (as is our current system)

I am a mortgage broker & also own / operate a credit repair business & I've seen many case's where people's lives turned upside down for one reason or another (health, unemployment,divorce,etc) and genuinely want to reclaim their lives.. In all fairness, I've also been approached by loser's & "credit abusers" looking for a way to perpetuate their deceptive practices ..I will not work for people like that & anyone with any experience in finance can spot those "credit criminals" a mile off

Personally, I think the credit / credit scoring systems need overhauled & brought into the 21st century .. American justice is built on the premise of Innocent until proven guilty ..this should apply to peoples credit lives also

I've been there myself ..I was semi retired in 2000 & flat broke in 2002 due to circumstances beyond my control ..

Good people need an even break ..It's just not right to hold people down based on prejudice of past mistakes and / or problems

[Purple_Princess]

Originally Posted by mimberly

Well Purple Princess we didn't buy what we couldn't afford or spend what we didn't have. We lost our jobs and out bills were based on that income. Also I didn't take vacations or anything else we were foster parents and took 45 kids over the last 6 years and we gave back even when we didn't have much to give. We took medically fragile children that others wouldn't take and drove all over taking them to hospitals. Because we made 60-70 thousand we should be fine even if we lost those jobs? If you lost your income and had to work f0r 8.00 a hour you couldn't make it either. We bought our home based on our jobs and had no idea that they wouldn't be secure.

If I misunderstood and the combined income was 60k I can partly see your point. If you EACH made 60 I do not. My hubby and I have a combined income of about 120k which will go up to about 160k by the time we relocate to Texas and they approved us for a 425k home. Our cap for the home is 150-175k Why? To avoid being overextended. With a mortgage at around 1k we could actually both work for 8 bucks and squeak by if we had to. We are nurses and have almost 100% job security but it is still a bad idea to just buy today and hope that nothing will change. I applaud you all for taking in foster kids but they do pay you for that and I happen to know that they pay you EXTRA to take sick kids. I feel bad that you lost your jobs but it was still a combination of poor planning and overspending. I hope everything works out for you guys and you learn something from all of this.

[MotleyCrew]

I agree with Purple Princess. We have always lived a tad below our means. When finding our place in AZ we bought the home we could pay cash for and ignored the larger, luxury models. We have watched several of our neighbors lose their homes and they are all in the larger, luxury models. I can't help but wonder if they would have been able to hang on if they purchased the smaller model, gave up the new cars and boats. Life deals some pretty big blows.

[NorthernOne]

Originally Posted by Dd714

You should stress in your thread title the main theme of the article:

Thinking about walking away - EXPECT YEARS OF HURT!

That's a wake up call to the more than a handfull of threads here that are endorsing walking away. The loose credit and forgiveness policies of the current time may not be the policies of tommorrow. To be frank, I pay enough taxes for those truely in need, and I do that gladly because I know a society needs safety nets, I will provide for these safety nets. You will have a place to live, but this doesn't include living in a 2,500 plus square home.

I want those that walk away to suffer, to hurt. Go ahead and walk away, but I want them to know they will be stuck in an apartment, with noisy upstairs neighbors, for a very long time. I want them to know that future employees will review credit rating and they will not be trusted again for responsible positions. I want them to know that collectors will be harrasing them for years. I want them to never be trusted with even a WallMart credit card for a very very long time.

Do you realize that many of these people walking away just may be doing so due to job loss or a devastating illness? Have you heard the saying that we are all one paycheck away from being homeless? Yes some have been not been responsible, however I would just bet many have fallen on their luck. What you "want" for these folks - remember the saying "what goes around comes around."