Rent it out

Anonymous wrote:People like you are exactly why there is a housing mess.

You knew what the payment would be. You could afford it. You can still afford it. You just don't want to pay.

You are selfish and greedy. You should be ashamed.

If you're a business and you walk away from a real estate deal, it's just a business decision. Why is it different if you're not a business? Both are business transactions, and homeowners pay mortgage insurance for just this purpose.

By the way, the lenders made all those "you got a pulse? you can afford this mortgage! sign here!" because they're selfish and greedy.

Banks take all the benefits and none of the risk (they pursue homeowners legally for difference, and their loans are federally guaranteed). Why the corporate socialism?

People like you are exactly why there is a housing mess.

You knew what the payment would be. You could afford it. You can still afford it. You just don't want to pay.

You are selfish and greedy. You should be ashamed.

What is a strategic default and why can't you do it in Maryland?

Yes, we're currently underwater but then it doesn't matter as much to us as this was the house that we wanted to stay in until we started downsizing, so we're here for a while. But if you need to get out of the house, then you need to budget for as much as possible each month to put extra towards your principal. Even just $400-500 per month can get your principal balance on your mortgage down a lot. I round my mortgage up to $4000 (our normal mortgage payment would be between $3300-3400) every month and put the extra towards principal. This means that we are going to be paid off on our 30 year mortgage in about 22-23 years instead of 30. And it will save me a ton on interest payments. It's not as good as a 15 year amortization, but we weren't willing to make the life-style changes we would have had to make to have the 15 year mortgage, so we're willing to do it this way. We'll still have the mortgage paid off before out kids go to college, so we're okay. But pay as much as you can additional against principal and it will get you out from underwater as quickly as possible.

We are underwater by the same amount. We figured out what we could pay in additional principal every month and are on a 2 1/2 year plan to pay down the difference between what we owe and market price so that we can sell if/when we need to. Plus, we're saving a bit more than usual in a bank account so that if we do need cash for realtor fees or whatever when we sell, then we will have it. We won't be going on any vacations any time soon but we haven't had to cut out cable or cell phones either. If we needed to, we would though. My advice - if you don't have to move right away - is to do the same.

Pack up in the middle of the night and disappear...

Short sales are very hard to come by and are usually granted only when the homeowner has a specific hardship, like a job loss, divorce, military transfer or illness. "I don't like owning a house that's worth less than it was when I bought it" doesn't qualify.

why do you need to be "free" of the house? I'm just trying to figure out why you have to leave it. Could you rent it out?

Start out by calling a non-profit housing agency. I'd suggest MANNA, yes they only work in the District but they can put you in touch with nonprofits based in Maryland. These are not profit driven & work for the consumer.

Another place I'd check although I don't know if they're fully up an running is CFPB.gov.

Good luck and keep us posted.

So... this is going to sound ignorant, but I don't even know where to look for reliable information. I did look up that federal program for underwater homeowners but your mortgage has to be backed by Fannie Mae, and ours isn't according to their website. I've Googled but a lot of information looks suspect and profit-driven by companies looking to prey on homeowners in trouble.

Aren't you a prime candidate for HARP?

Bring cash to the table at closing?

Short sale?

We are about 50k underwater, but can afford the monthly payments (two mortgages). Would really like to be free of the house. House is in Maryland so no "strategic default" allowed. Besides waiting it out to at least break even, what can we do?