Need ideas for raising money ASAP!!

[twins10705]

oops -- I didn't realize there was a finances forum so I had posted this in TAO -- any ideas would be appreciated! TIA!

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=516494

Well, we found *THE* house. We need this, the boys need this, I need this....I am so sick to death of rotting in these ratty apartments -- no yard, old gnarly carpet, breathing in the cigar smoke from the downstairs neighbors, waking up in the middle of the night due to domestic violence going on next door.

The catch is, we NEED to come up with $4,500 downpayment ASAP!! I am listing stuff on ebay and craigslist -- I don't care if I have to sell everything besides the clothes on my back. My dh is completely gone -- constantly working side jobs to raise money. OMG this is so hard, I am selling stuff at waaay below regular prices and I have people e-mailing me about coming over to "see" the $5 item, even though they have a photo to "see".

My apartment is a mess, I have two babies who are constantly trying to eat paper or injure themselves or need to breastfeed or eat -- I do not have time to invite some lady into my house to "see" a $5 item -- I need $4,500!!! AHHHHH!!! I need ideas -- anything! help!


and here was a response of mine later down the thread in TAO:

We still owe $9,000 on our car which is probably only worth about $5,000.

We are first time home buyers and we're both veterans -- but our credit rating is 566! We just found this out a couple of weeks ago. There was a $59 charge from an ER visit from 4 years ago -- we were in the military and completely covered so never should have been charged to begin with! We moved shortly after that hospital trip and NEVER in all these years received notice of an outstanding payment -- so we have a "Key derogitory" mark on our record. I'm preparing documentation to contest it, but it is going to take awhile if they even decide to change it.

I don't know if our veteran's loans will be honored with such a low credit rating -- we are trying to find out.

So far, only one company is allegedly willing to give us the mortgage and they are wanting $4,500 down in addition to the closing costs and a really high interest rate. We are meeting with the seller this weekend to hopefully get him/her to cover the costs and just bump the house price up $3,000.


Our families have no money.

We can't get a loan right now because of our bad credit rating -- and we already have a 9,000 loan out with a credit union for our car, and a $4000 education loan we are paying off.

We have no money stashed away anywhere


I tried making diapers awhile back -- could barely get what it cost me to make them(not to mention all my hours of work!) -- I don't know how people make it work -- maybe they are finding material at a better price? AAR, my kids leave me barely the time to breathe, much less have a craft business unfortunately

I do breed and sell tropical fish, dwarf crayfish, fancy apple snails, and cornsnakes -- but I hardly have anything at the moment.

Keep the ideas coming!! thank-you so much for the support, I really need the encouragement!

[nova22]

This isn't always allowed, but you could request stuff on Freecycle to sell on eBay. On our particular Freecycle group, you can post a "wanted" and specify that you are in a really rough financial situation, and you're looking for things to sell on eBay. It usually makes people mad if you aren't up front with it and they later find out you've been selling the things they wanted someone to have for free, but if taking things to resell later is in line with your groups rules and you are upfront with it, some people might come through to help you.

[twins10705]

Originally Posted by nova22

This isn't always allowed, but you could request stuff on Freecycle to sell on eBay. On our particular Freecycle group, you can post a "wanted" and specify that you are in a really rough financial situation, and you're looking for things to sell on eBay. It usually makes people mad if you aren't up front with it and they later find out you've been selling the things they wanted someone to have for free, but if taking things to resell later is in line with your groups rules and you are upfront with it, some people might come through to help you.

Wow! That is a good idea -- I will try that...I will also ask some church members now the same thing -- thanks!

[afishwithabike]

I have been where you are. DH and I borrowed $$$ from FIL to get our first place. I am not sure what other talents you have but is there a chance that you have a knack for something that doesn't have a ton of initial cost? I know a lady who makes her dipes from thrift store materials. Cotton shirts etc. That might be a little cheaper than what you had to deal with before. I agree. I make baby carriers and materials are expensive especially when you are doing what I have been doing and ONLY buying american made fabrics.

[mightymoo]

VA loans can be written for 100% of the value of the home. That may not solve your problem since you may still have to have closing costs, and that is the value of the home, so if you pay more than its assessed at they will only give you a loan for the assessed value, but it is possible. The VA doesn't actually give loans, it just insures them, guarantees that the bank will get their money back - so I'd imagine they would still apply in low credit situations, else what is the point of offering a service to guarantee loans for Vets that could get a loan normally? I wouldn't trust the lender to tell you what your rights are, contact the VA directly and find out.

On the selling side - pick a price at which you are willing to deal with folks coming to look and anything below that tell them you won't do that - they should plan on buying if they are coming by. If its stated in the ad at the beginning, that helps I think. When they show up, completely work under the assumption they are buying it - they may buy it regardless since you act as if they will

Similar to the freecycle idea, do you have any packrat relatives or neighbors that you could offer to clean out their attic, etc if they let you keep and sell some of the things to raise the money for a downpayment?

Have you considered doing some babysitting jobs? People are always looking for trustworthy babysitters and you might be able to get some good jobs where you can bring your kids, etc. Unlike setting up a home daycare or something large like that, you could just do that until you raised the money.

[twins10705]

You know, I am so hoping that the VA loans go through -- we're are supposed to hear back from the lender today, if it sounds bogus we will just contact the VA. Thanks for the info!

Well, according to the seller, the home is appraised at 10% more than they are selling it for -- so an extra 3K could be added to cover closing costs if the seller is willing.

Originally Posted by mightymoo

Have you considered doing some babysitting jobs? People are always looking for trustworthy babysitters and you might be able to get some good jobs where you can bring your kids, etc. Unlike setting up a home daycare or something large like that, you could just do that until you raised the money.

I wish I could do this because it is a good idea -- but I am on my own 24/7 with two demanding 11 month olds(8.5 months adjusted -- they were born at 29 weeks) and my life is a rollercoaster. They can be so cute and fun -- but when they are both awake screaming their heads off at 4AM and deciding not to nap until 3PM and constantly trying to eat paper and styrofoam and bugs OMG sometimes I feel like I am going insane...I just could not handle another kid.

I will update when we hear about the VA loan!! If you're religious -- please pray for us! Thanks!

[mightymoo]

It's good that its appraised for more, but its usually the bank's appraisal that counts, not the tax appraisal (which is probably what they are referring to) - just wanted to make sure you knew, it doesn't mean it won't appraise for the bank at the same amount. It doesn't hurt to try. If you do that, then you up the selling price by $3K, make sure the contract says the seller's will pay closing costs of $3K, you'll often see deals structured that way. I believe the way the VA works is they will cover 100% of the appraised value or the selling price, whichever is less. So if the appraisal is higher than the selling price, in order to get the extra 3K rolled into the loan you'll have to work it into the sale price of the home.

Good luck!

[twins10705]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

It's good that its appraised for more, but its usually the bank's appraisal that counts, not the tax appraisal (which is probably what they are referring to) - just wanted to make sure you knew, it doesn't mean it won't appraise for the bank at the same amount. It doesn't hurt to try. If you do that, then you up the selling price by $3K, make sure the contract says the seller's will pay closing costs of $3K, you'll often see deals structured that way. I believe the way the VA works is they will cover 100% of the appraised value or the selling price, whichever is less. So if the appraisal is higher than the selling price, in order to get the extra 3K rolled into the loan you'll have to work it into the sale price of the home.

Good luck!

Could you tell me the difference between the tax appraisal and the bank appraisal? I obviously have a lot to learn! thanks!

[twins10705]

Originally Posted by afishwithabike

I have been where you are. DH and I borrowed $$$ from FIL to get our first place. I am not sure what other talents you have but is there a chance that you have a knack for something that doesn't have a ton of initial cost? I know a lady who makes her dipes from thrift store materials. Cotton shirts etc. That might be a little cheaper than what you had to deal with before. I agree. I make baby carriers and materials are expensive especially when you are doing what I have been doing and ONLY buying american made fabrics.

I think maybe I am just not good enough to compete -- I was making simple poo pockets fitted diapers. No one wanted to pay more than $3.50 per diaper even though the prints were cute and they were sewn well. They were costing me about $2.20 each to make, plus each one was taking me an hour(with all the tracing, cutting, sewing, elastic, velcro, etc) and I was purchasing the lowest cost decent fabric I could find. Our thrift stores here charge $4 and up for a t-shirt, it just doesn't pay the bills.

It seems to me that people are not usually willing to pay much unless the diaper has a name brand and I don't have the time or enough products to try to market a cute brand with a logo etc...and at this point, I would prefer to have any diapers I make to have an organic inner at the least...the thought of the chemicals and GMO cotton on tiny little butts really makes me cringe...still better than carcinogenic, landfill dipes though.

The only business from home I've been even moderately successful at so far is breeding aquatic animals. I let things go the past few months however and don't have nearly the babies I should have. I do have a new batch of albino busynose pleco babies however if any mama is looking to add some spiffy algae eaters to a family fishtank

[Mama Dragon]

I don't know if our veteran's loans will be honored with such a low credit rating -- we are trying to find out.

I can't help with raising the money, but I can answer this part - yes, they will, with documentation to show why your credit is that low. They were going to work with us for under 450 credit, but the mortgage co crapped on us.

[thriftyqueen]

Are you approved for more than the cost of the house?

When we bought our house, we had no extra money so we offered more for the house than it was selling for and asked the seller to pay all closing costs. Essentially they got the amount they wanted for the house and we got the house without any money from our pocket. It worked out well because the house was worth more than the selling price. Your appraisal has to come in for more than the amount that you offer (the selling price+the closing costs). If it appraises for more and you are approved for that amount, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Staceyy]

On the website:www.barbarasher.com click on the boards under Income Streams and read the posts under "The $100 Hour". There are tons of posts of ways to make a quick $100.

[SleeplessMommy]

Are your fish listed on craigslist?

And could you get customers for fish tank cleaning/service? I used to love having fish, BUT I am not a fan of tank cleaning. So if someone had money they might pay for this expert service. You would charge for parts also, so refill the filters from a gallon jug of charcoal, and charge some more $$$.

Another thing... if you buy the house, will the monthly payments be higher than the current rent? Can you afford that? There will be other houses that you can fall in love with... I have done it many times but only three times actually bought the house.

[mightymoo]

Do the twins like going in the stroller? You could offer a dog walking service. Similarly there are folks with pets who go on vacation and need someone to feed and water the cats / fish / iguana every few days - we've paid for that in the past.

[BoxOfRainMama]

My public library has racks and racks of donated books for sale. magazines 25 cents, paperback books 50 cents, hard cover $1. I go there from time to time and buy books that are like new that I think might sell on ebay. I have made some $ that way....not hundreds of $$ but some.

[yitlan]

I'm not much help, but saw your siggy and checked it out. If you have any kind of community to help you out, can you have people help organize and contribute to a garage sale? This can raise a lot of money and several nonprofits in my area do it. But they have lots of people contributing stuff. If you can find out when a community yard sale is (you know, everyone in this area has a yard sale the last weekend of Sept. or whenever) that would help even more. Just a thought!

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by twins10705

Could you tell me the difference between the tax appraisal and the bank appraisal? I obviously have a lot to learn! thanks!

Oops, I didn't see this question before - Both tax and bank appraisals are done to assess the value of the home, but for different reasons. The tax assessor appraises the value of the property to determine how much tax to charge. Usually tax appraisals are below value for a couple reasons. Towns and counties have found people are happier if they appraise their houses at 95% of true value because then you don't feel overcharged. Tax appraisals need to be fair, so for 2005, your house was appraised as of January 1st, 2005. That appraisal is a year and a half out of date. Also, in some counties and towns, a particular house may only be truly appraised every few years, in between they just assume a typical appreciation, without really reevaluating the house - so if major upgrades were done (or major depreciation occured) it may not be reflected right away.

The bank appraises your house to protect their investment. They want to know that if they have to foreclose on the house that they will get their money back, that means making sure hte house is worth enough to cover the loan. The bank appraisal will happen after you apply for the mortgage and it will be current as of the date it is done. The bank is going to be conservative in its appraisal because their goal is to protect their investment (that isn't to say they won't be accurate).

So, if the tax appraisal is higher than the amount you are paying it is a good chance the bank will feel the same way, but its not guaranteed. If you are putting a significant amount down, the bank appraisal is not a concern because you know the property will appraise for more than the loan, its when the down payment is small or zero that it becomes a concern. I hope my explainations help a bit.

[p.s]

Okay, no one has said anything like this so far, and I'll take the risk knowing that dissenting views invite flaming......but I would strongly recommend caution in buying. If I am reading your initial post correctly, there is no wiggle room in your financial situation.
Debts total almost $15,000 (which is almost half a year's net income for average American household?).
No savings.
Not even any last minute savings to draw on, like family or friends.
First rule of personal finance is have a 3-6 month kitty set aside (like in a money market account) to tap for emergencies. B/c they do happen.
If you could come up with $4500 for a down payment, there are still closing costs on any property with a mortgage.
I guess my concern is even if you came up with $4500, would you be able to make the monthly mortgage payments, plus the cost of upkeep of a property, plus any other emergencies (like car, medical, etc) that may arise? I would be concerned that if you have no emergency slush fund, that the debt payments couldn't be made, and then one could be in a situation where even the down payment could be lost in a foreclosure, lowering one's credit rating even more. Okay, I just felt like this was really important to point and and will now be quiet and let the original discussion continue....

[Attila the Honey]

You mentioned church - could you talk to your pastor about this? Maybe there is some sort of church fundraising thing they could do to help you raise some money?

I just wanted to also say, not to rain on your parade , that even if it doesn't work out this time there WILL be something down the road. Focus on raising that money and getting out and you will. Dh and I started trying to find a house a couple of years ago and one after another fell through, finally we got a house that made me thankful we didn't get the other ones! It will all work out somehow.

[twins10705]

Originally Posted by p.s

Okay, no one has said anything like this so far, and I'll take the risk knowing that dissenting views invite flaming......but I would strongly recommend caution in buying. If I am reading your initial post correctly, there is no wiggle room in your financial situation.
Debts total almost $15,000 (which is almost half a year's net income for average American household?).
No savings.
Not even any last minute savings to draw on, like family or friends.
First rule of personal finance is have a 3-6 month kitty set aside (like in a money market account) to tap for emergencies. B/c they do happen.
If you could come up with $4500 for a down payment, there are still closing costs on any property with a mortgage.
I guess my concern is even if you came up with $4500, would you be able to make the monthly mortgage payments, plus the cost of upkeep of a property, plus any other emergencies (like car, medical, etc) that may arise? I would be concerned that if you have no emergency slush fund, that the debt payments couldn't be made, and then one could be in a situation where even the down payment could be lost in a foreclosure, lowering one's credit rating even more. Okay, I just felt like this was really important to point and and will now be quiet and let the original discussion continue....

Don't worry I'm not flaming you -- all advice is welcomed!
Well, we found out that we won't have to put money down because of the VA loan. Also, we don't have an emergency fund now and never did...so I don't really see how it would be that much different. At least, if we had some equity built up, we might be able to borrow against that in the event of an emergency.
Also, paying on the mortgage would be a lot cheaper than renting -- for a decent sized house with yard we would be paying around the same that we pay for this 2nd floor small apartment with no yard. If we wanted to rent a comparable house, we would *never* be able to afford it -- the rent would be at least twice as much as a mortgage payment. I'm not sure if it is like this everywhere or just AZ.
Also, on our own land-- we could have an awesome garden, and milk goats and chickens. I know the work involved and I also know that this would eventually cut our grocery bill down to almost nothing. I could also gain more income from selling goat kids, and araucana chicks, along with my tropical fish. I could possibly aquire a few purebred toy dogs and raise a few litters per year -- which would more than cover their cost, and be a rewarding experience for me, as I stay at home with my children.
Our family could actually get a little sunshine and fresh air -- as opposed to breathing in the stuffy, smoky stale air in this dark damp apartment and getting sick all the time.

All that said, I realize that in any event there will be a degree of risk involved...I just think the risk to sanity and health is much worse than staying in the apartment renter's rut. I really think getting approved and getting in is the most difficult part....but, I'm not saying I'll never have to eat my words.

Now that we don't have to come up with $4,500 - would that change your outlook on it? thanks!