Worried Homeowner! I am a LPN and make good money. But my husband has been laid-off of work for five months.?

pinkkidsclubbing: Worried Homeowner! I am a LPN and make good money. But my husband has been laid-off of work for five months.?
I am tired of paying the house payment, utilities, two car payments, insurance, and we have two kids. I am thinking of selling my house and renting an apartment. We can’t refinance because due to his lay off the car and house payment has been late. So my credit score is low now. Do you think it is a good idea to sell? Or you can offer other advice. Been doing this for five months now.!!!!
Thinking of doing a short sale

Answers and Views:

Answer by Real Estate Guy
yea, he needs a job. Any job. you can look for work while actually working.

Answer by Susan C
hubby needs a job…

Answer by lala13.rose
well if you feel like theres hope in the new future like can he hurry and get a job if his injured and you know its not gonna happen for a while then id sell.

Answer by PED14
okay, im only a kid, so don’t take my advice too seriously, but would you rather sell your house for full price, even if your mortgage payments aren’t done, or would you rather have it sold by foreclosure and have all that financial mess on your records? well, it depends on if your neighborhood currently has a decent sellers market i guess…

Answer by Chris
well some considerations to make

1) repairs – if money is tight, how will you repair your home? If you rent, the landlord will be required to make needed repairs.

2) taxes – they are a yearly thing

3) insurance – even though you NEED renters insurance, you MUST have homeowners.

4) If you sell, you will be forced to live by someone elses rules.. being late to the bank gives you bad credit, being late to a landlord gets you kicked out!

Answer by LIONDANCER
It’s hard to sell a house right now unless it’s a real good deal and then you would be losing money. I think your hubby needs something to tie him over. Any job… After being laid-off 5 months what is his chance of getting back in soon?
Another option would be to see if the bank will work with you. More than likely they will rather have the money than foreclose on your house. I would talk to them.

Answer by FOB
Might be time to start making sacrifices. If he’s laid off, does your family NEED two cars? Maybe sell the one that’s least efficient. Can you cut back on your cable tv bill by dropping services like premium channels or digital channels?

Has your husband started looking for a part time job? Maybe there’s a store he could work at temporarily that’s within walking distance, SOME income is better than NO income.

Maybe have a garage sale for some items you can live without.

Do you have a spare room you could rent?

Pay attention to your electricity rates. My power company charges “peak” and “off peak” rates, which means that electricity in the middle of the night is cheaper than the middle of the day. Do your laundry and run your dishwasher during ‘off peak’ hours if you can.

Instead of turning the furnace up higher, put on a sweater or thick socks.

Have a cell phone? Ditch your long distance company. Check with your cell phone provider, but many offer free long distance. I haven’t had a traditional long distance provider like MCI or AT&T for years, when I call out of state, I just use the cell phone and it’s free.

Given any thought to public transportation for your commuting needs? Maybe you and a co-worker could carpool. You’d be surprised how much gas you save if you leave the car sit 2 or 3 days per week.

Try a low cost grocery store like Food 4 Less or Aldi’s. Or go to Costco or Sam’s Club (if you already have a membership) and buy things in bulk. Costco has wonderful coupons every month to stretch your dollar even more.

Turn the thermostat on your water heater up a little so it’s not burning as much energy keeping the water so hot all the time.

Answer by Dr.T
A neighbor had a similar problem, the bank renegotiated the home loan to 40 year loan with 2% interest, cutting the monthly payments in half.

Speak to the lenders, the house payment may be renegotiated as part of the government bailout, and you may want to consider a bankruptcy. It protects you for a while and may allow for crammed down principle and interest on some of the debt you have.

The new law requires you to take a course in money management as part of the settlement, but the objective of keeping your largest investment, your home, is a good one to have.

Short sales are an option, and as long as you haven’t refinanced or gotten an equity loan, you don’t owe income on the debt relief. However, some homeowners got equity loans while prices were going up, and any money you got AFTER the initial loan to buy the property may end up as income if there is debt relief. E.g. buy a home with loan for $ 500, borrow another $ 250, then sell short and bank agrees to settle for $ 600. Your debt relief for the first $ 500 is tax free (part of the latest government action to help those in serious debt) but the extra $ 100 is taxable as income, since debt relief of $ 600 exceeds the initial loan of $ 500 by $ 100.

Short sales may not be good if you can get better loan terms (lower interest, longer term).

As to cars, etc., if you can, default on them let the sellers get them back and buy two junkers until you can afford something better. Credit card debt – contact lenders and tell them your situation. They may allow you to pay almost nothing for many months. Tell them you don’t want to pay interest on the balance, believe it or not, some people get away with this if they may regular payments (and small payments) to the principal amount.

Try to negotiate your way out of the problems, this is what large banks and investment companies are doing at taxpayer expense, so you should get your share of relief.

A short sale is not a satisfactory solution until you’ve tried everything else first.

Answer by Reena
I hate to tell you this… but it isn’t a Sellers Market right now.
There are numerous (millions…) of people like you that no longer can make the house payments due to illness, job loss and/or getting into too much other debt. (2 car payments…)

If you are still in a position to make the payments then you need to sit down with your other half. Any job brings in extra money… so he needs to get off the couch and look for a job. Even if it means to flip burgers for 20 hrs a week. It is an Income and pride doesn’t get the bills paid.

Once your cars are paid off… keep them and drive them until they fall apart. Simply putting some money aside into a car repair account will save you thousands over the years. Your husbands new job “flipping burgers” should pay for one car payment… enough money to give you a breather and make it thru this until your cars are paid off.

Tough it out… it will be worth it in the long run and understand that owning a home means a tremendous financial responsibility and that getting into too much debt can be very dangerous… as you can see for yourself.

Answer by katmandu
I agree that hubby needs to get a job. Any job. He needs to be bringing home income, and sorry if he has to take a demeaning job. My dad drove a cab and substitute taught in inner city schools while he paid his way through grad school and raised 3 girls with my mom. When my mom couldn’t find work as an accountant, she delivered newspapers (with me by her side). You do what you gotta.

As far as selling and renting, keep this in mind: if your credit is bad, you’re going to have a hard time qualifying for an apartment. Also, comparing costs, what would the price differential be for paying rent on a place for a family of 4 and paying the mortgage?

Here are some suggestions: Look over your expense and start CUTTING!!! If you have cable, get rid of it! If you have an expensive cell phone plan, lower it or go prepaid! Insulate your house to reduce utility bills! Lower the AC! Lower the heat! Take short showers! Don’t worry about watering the grass! Start clipping coupons, sell one of your cars, start taking public transportation, etc.

Also, have you considered becoming an RN? Maybe your job will offset the cost of school. You make good money, but you could be making GREAT money.

It’s tough out here for everyone, so be comforted by that. But hang in there!

Answer by MR FRIENDLY
First thing I can tell you is to Call upon the Name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, and the rest will be checking this Website www.prepaidlegal.com and I will try to send you more info and ask our friends in CHRIST regarding your situation
Read and Watch the Video how this can help you make a living while making a difference in your life.
try something else before you do a short sale, there’s away to get out of your situation, but first like I said Pray First In Jesus Christ Name and you will be guided

Answer by Gem
Yep, your husband needs to go and take any job, two or three if necessary.

There is no way he is looking for work 40 hours a week, though I am sure he tells you he is.

Time to grow up and realize that the days of good jobs are gone, unless he gets lucky.

Take a job, any job, and keep looking for work. If he has been really looking hard for 5 months, then he needs professional help to find out why he is not finding a job. How may interviews has he gone on?

Do you think you could sell the house for what you owe on it? If not, then check your state laws and see how long you have after you quit paying.

Good luck sweetie.