Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I asked my lender (Countywide) about a loan mod since I am underwater now and they told me since I make payments on time, there is "nothing they can do".
Just another example of those who do what they are suppose to do getting screwed by Fuhrer Obama...
You hit the nail on the head: this will only encourage people to be late on their payments so they can get bailed out too ! Unless morals prevent them from doing so.
Well, it becomes your problem when the house goes into foreclosure and lowers YOUR property value with the low sale price.
That is why house prices are falling across the country (and with them, values). It is in ALL of our best interests to keep foreclosures at bay as much as possible.
My property value has probably lost 35% or more. This is the house that I had hoped to retire in. (not that this is going to happen anytime soon) There are 4 foreclosures ON MY BLOCK. Nothing to do with me. But, they are affecting me in the decline in my property value. I will not be able to sell my house, refinance nor get any form of an equity loan for improvements for at least 10 years to come. Add this to my 401k that has lost probably 80% of its value, and I am sunk. (I am 52 years old)
THAT IS WHY THIS IS YOUR PROBLEM.
Can we add another problem. DON'T BUY A HOUSE IN A CRAPPY NEW SUBDIVISION WHERE EVERY SINGLE NEIGHBOR HAS ALMOST THE EXACT SAME HOUSE AS YOU!!!
Govco has been giving us money for years...its called the mortgage deduction, Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, etc....
If the Obama administration really wanted to help, they could have reduced everybody's mortgage interest rate to 4% and/or they could have reduced taxes by x% across the board. That way, everybody could have benefited and billions wouldn't be wasted trying to figure out who deserves help and who doesn't-- and helping very few in the process.
The housing bill won't save housing any more than the stimulus will jumpstart spending. The $7.70 per week that some people get in tax cuts isn't going to inspire anybody to spend money. Of course, McDonald's stock might go up, since all the stimulus can really stimulate is the purchase of a Value Meal. So maybe there will be a few minimum wage jobs created at McDonald's.
Banks aren't loving this cram-down plan, either. It's ineffectual all around.
I'm underwater in my house; this bill from what I've read won't help me in the least.
We bought our first house (kind of forced into it) in 2003. We had a 3 year arm. My husband and I decided to move to TX and tried to sell our house (before the arm increase). It was on the market for a year and no offers. By this time my ARM had reset and we were up to 12% interest. We decided it was time to refinance. We were told a house had to be off the market for 90 days before anyone would refi us. Finally in July 2007 we refinanced into an 8.75% fixed rate. The value of our house has dropped considerably, but since our loan is for more than 5% over the market value, I can't try to refi into the lower rates that Obama's plan is talking about. I've been on disability for the last 8 months and we have blown through our savings and borrowing money from my mother. I'm hoping my doctor will allow me to return to work part-time in March, so that I might be able to stop borrowing from my mother, since she is working overtime to help us and it is hurting her health.
Once I return to work, we will continue to make our payments on time and wait for some of the forclosures in our neighborhood to be sold and lived in. Hopefully this will reraise the value on my house so that I can sell it for what I owe and we will be able to move for my health. I'm not holding my breathe though. I'm sure it will be at least 4-5 years before I can get to the point where I can sell my house.
That's terrible, I'm sorry you are having to go through all of this on top of having health problems.
Can I ask how you were forced into buying the house? I don't know how that would happen, but if it's something I could avoid, I'd like to learn from your experience with the situation.
That's terrible, I'm sorry you are having to go through all of this on top of having health problems.
Can I ask how you were forced into buying the house? I don't know how that would happen, but if it's something I could avoid, I'd like to learn from your experience with the situation.
It's real simple to avoid. Don't trust your step-father. I thought that maybe he had changed and really wanted to help my husband and me. He offered to let us move into his house and pay the mortgage payments so we could get out of our cramped studio. He was moving in with his new wife. As soon as we were all moved and had gotten out of out of our lease, he told us to buy it or get out. He even told me an ARM wasn't a bad option, because I could always refinance later. I was young and didn't know any better.
It was a tough lesson to learn, but I did come out better able to understand mortgages. Nothing stays bad forever, so things will get better eventually.
The point is that it's not just the fancy subdivisions getting hit...
I'm chiming in to add that I did not buy a cookie-cutter house in a fancy subdivision, but housing in my area was still apparently sucked into the boom... overvalued appraisals, etc., because I also got caught in the mess. I bought a house I can afford, had 20% down, have a fixed rate, and excellent credit. I had the opportunity to grab a 4.25% refinance, had my supporting documentation and income all verified and was just waiting on the appraisal...
oops! My appraisal came in DOWN 20% under the original from 2005. I've been throwing extra towards principal as much as possible, and so I actually (thankfully) owe LESS on the house than it's worth... but not enough to qualify for a loan with no PMI.... I would have to scrape up an entirely new 20% downpayment to refinance. That's not going to happen, since I've been throwing my extra toward paying it off early... and keeping a safety net. And yes, I can still afford... and will make... my payments...
I have no real hopes for this, but perhaps my situation (and the chicagocubs person in this thread) will also fall somewhere in the mix. As has been stated many times in this forum... yes, I know we have to bail out those that made bad or ill-informed choices, but then guaranteeing those folks better payment options than other that are in not-so-dire straits does not seem right...
Just because someone can AFFORD their current payments, does not mean you should deny them the alternative to adjust to a lower payment. Just think, that extra $100.00 or $200.00 per month that they are "saving" would really be where the stimulus would come from in home repairs, improvements, and general household spending... not the $13.00/week from a tax cut...
I bought a house in Detroit and I'm currently renting it out and making $200 more than the mortgage payment. It's a 5 year ARM, that's coming up in the next 2 years... I did an 80/20 loan because I had no downpayment. My husband and I both work and make good money, pay the mortgage on that house and our current house on time, and are just now starting to save money (although we have collectively $300k in student loans). I honestly don't think we'll have the 20% or the equity by the time the ARM resets to refinance, and the way the market in Detroit is, we're not able to sell the house. It's very scary. I'll do everything I can to not foreclose on the damned thing, but I wish I could get rid of it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
! Unless morals prevent them from doing so.
The point is that it's not just the fancy subdivisions getting hit...
