In a pickle

[ekblad9]

We bought this house about four years ago. A dream house in a dream neighborhood....but I was a different person then. And dh made a lot more money then. Now with the housing market so bad there's no getting out of it. The mortgage is ridiculous, the neighborhood hasn't turned out so well and we're so far in debt now (0 debt when we moved in and an unbelievable debt now). So, should we even try to sell? Or just suck it up and wait. If we sold now we would definately lose money. It would be alot, too. I just don't know what to do. It's a beautiful house and I feel so blessed to be here but we could get by on much less.

[Ruthla]

Is it possible to make part of the house into an apartment and rent it out?

If you'd lose money by selling, then it doesn't make economic sense to sell.

[pitter_patter]

Can you rent out a room for extra income?

I'd probably sit tight and wait for the market to improve. Provided of course, that you have "enough" money to live on, for whatever value of enough you assign to it.

[my2girlz]

We're in a similar situation and we are staying put.

[KnockedUpButtercup]

Same here...we're stuck in a house that's too big and too expensive for our current needs, yet we can't sell it for enough to make it worth getting out.

We were going to sell anyway, but backed up and realized we were making a mistake. We're just going to stay put for a couple more years, and enjoy the house in the meantime. It's rough, spending all your money on your mortgage and feeling trapped!

Holly

[Paxjourney]

if you do decide to rent out a room or turn part in to a appt. Research the laws in your area and PLEASE do a background police check on whom ever you rent to.

[MommaCrystal]

I'd at least look into selling anyway! If you have enough equity where you can get out without writing any checks even if it is for way less than what you originally paid for it... then it may be very well worth it.

[shelbean91]

I'd do my best to stay put until the market stablizes. We bought our house before the crazed marked started, so if we were to sell, we'd be fine. But, the exact same model as our house sold a year or so ago (right before things started slowing down) for about $280k. Insane amt for a 1400 sq ft, IMO, considering when we had it built, base price was 109k. So, whoever bought for 280 needs to stay for a long time until things come back b/c now our model house is selling for about 220k.

[Pepperdove]

I worry that we have done exactly this. I am so scared that we have gotten ourselves in too deep (our first house) and there is no way we can sell anytime soon, althoigh we have made some nice upgrades for more or less free (DH owns a kitchen and bath supply, nice!)

Well, we are in a good school district, and the cheapest gas in town is right by us, so things could be much worse, I guess. Clearly we are staying put.