By: john

john — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:04:08 +0000

And now that 2010 is upon us, this story has been repeated millions of times.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:54:05 +0000

I do not understand why people pity on them.
They want to enjoy and spend with their money.
Now they want people to pity on them. Give me break

By: tracey

tracey — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:36:44 +0000

I blame HGTV and all those flipping shows, home improvment.

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:32:05 +0000

I too am in a very similar situation to this couple. Except I don’t have an expensive car nor a 6 figure salary. But I was young and uninformed and trusted the professionals I was referred to to assist me with my first home purchase. I was 26, bought a condo in downtown San Diego in 2005 for $389K. At that time, that was the least expensive property in the entire city proper by $20K. I bought from my neighbor, a person who I knew and trusted. He paid all closing costs. I bought with a boyfriend that I thought I was going to marry. (Big mistake, I know, I don’t need anyone telling me what an awful mistake that was. I’m well aware. lesson learned) I calculated and figured that I could afford half or the mortgage + taxes etc. plus all of my other expenses. A little over a year later the relationship ended due to his abuse and now I am left with the payment solo. I moved out because I made more money having it as a rental than living in it myself. I now live in Seattle – moved for a job and I rent the condo.
I can’t rent the condo for the full mortgage amount of $2165, so I have to pay $334 to cover the mortgage, $396 for taxes and $295 for HOA dues. I’m loosing almost $1K per month. I have $20K in CC debt. Now many of you will judge and say that I am a credit junkie so I deserve it – as you have commented about the example couple, but almost all of my debt is due to financial issues relating to the condo, not unnecessary purchases. I’ve had to put 2 years of property taxes ($4K) on my CC because I couldn’t afford it by myself, $8K in loss on a vehicle I had to sell when he moved out so I could pay for his portion. Since I sold after only owning it for 6 months I lost money. I did have roommates furing the time I was living there. But I still had to work 2 jobs to make all my payments.
Now, I can’t sell because the condo has dropped in value over 100K, I can’t refinance because I don’t have any equity and it’s lowered in value. If I continue renting, I continue paying $1K.month to a property that will never make me any money nor will I be able to sell an break even. I’m in a loose/loose situation
So I’m considering walking. Which is an extremely tough decision because it goes against how I was raised. I think I’m a woman of integrity. You give your word. You keep it. I gave my word to pay X amount for X amount of time. But it has become a loosing battle for me. I made a bad purchase. I was given a loan I never should of had. I was only making $50K and my partner was making $60K. How in the hell did we get approved for a loan for $389K?!!! Why did we think we could afford it? Seems silly now and many people reading this would say the same thing. But as many have written, it was common at the time for many people to get loans with 0% down. I had never bought property before, so I looked to professionals to help me with my first home purchase. I trusted these professionals – naive!! But I don’t think that I was alone. But I do feel like a sucker and a fool.
The mortgage and title were put in my name because I had better credit. Up until this point I have had a stellar credit score. It would fluctate between upper 700s and 800s. I still have the same score. Althought if I leave the place now my credit will be ruined. I’m curious what you all think about the FICO score issue. That has not been address by anyone thus far. Would it be worth it to risk your credit score to get out of a bad investment?
I appreciate this posting and everyone’s comments. formul8 your post was extremely interesting. i embarrassingly admit that I was one of those people.
And to all of you who have posted that this couple deserved it, well maybe they did. I made the choice to by too, so I do deserve to be in this horrible situation, no one forced me into it. But let’s not forget that the lenders also have some responsibility. I never should have been approved.

By: YGMMLMM

YGMMLMM — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:13:43 +0000

That’s reason we’re in this housing mess. These folks help create the bubble so me and my family are priced out from buying a home.

Comments on: The Foreclosure Story: What does the Process Look Like?

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