[Sneezykids]

The rug is being pulled from us

We live in the Metro Detroit area, dh is in the auto business (retail) and we're not current with our mortgage by almost three months. We've applied for a loan mod with our lender (in JAN.) and we're still waiting for their proposal, what they can do to help us.

DH was offered a job that has alot of promise, but it's 1 hour and 10 minutes one way to commute. He'd be working Saturdays too, at least two a month. I'm not crazy about him commuting 2.5 hours EVERYday, and neither is he, we're at this current house so we could be closer to his job now.

I'm wondering what we can do about renting if we foreclose on this house. We've already accepted the fact that foreclosure is now, unfortunately, a very real possibility. We've worked so hard

we've always paid our bills and have had the best of credit.

There is just no way we can stay here with the GM in the dire place it's in. We haven't even paid our property taxes from 2008 (nearly $7000), it's been a struggle just to keep only two months behind in our mortgage and keep food, lights and heat on. I've applied for several jobs, but there is nothing out there, so many workers are getting laid off here, the job market is saturated with ppl trying to get even minimum wage jobs at grocery stores and Target, etc. Those places aren't even hiring! Sorry to vent. Any ideas would be really helpful. Thanks

 

[mightymoo]

I don't have any advice since I don't know much about that, but I thought I'd say that my husband commutes 1-1.5 hours each way every day. On top of that he works very long hours, so he often leaves the house at 6:30am and returns at 7:30pm. Yeah, it sucks, but we live with it.

: I'm just thrilled he has a great job in a crappy economy. When things improve, we'll find him something closer to home.

 

[karne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mightymoo I don't have any advice since I don't know much about that, but I thought I'd say that my husband commutes 1-1.5 hours each way every day. On top of that he works very long hours, so he often leaves the house at 6:30am and returns at 7:30pm. Yeah, it sucks, but we live with it. : I'm just thrilled he has a great job in a crappy economy. When things improve, we'll find him something closer to home.

Same here-dh is commuting sometimes close to two hours each way, but the job is good and the insurance is there, so we consider ourselves fortunate. We know many people who are doing this at the moment. Honestly, an hour an ten mins. one way doesn't seem too bad to me. My dh has some weekend or nighttime obligations, and if he didn't he would pick up an extra course to teach at a local college for the extra $$$. These are crazy times-you do what you have to do.

My kids are a similar age to yours OP, so I know what the long commute means to family life. It isn't ideal, but we've made it work for our family. There are many jobs that require travel during the week, actually, that would mean more time commuting. I don't know if foreclosure is a forgone conclusion for your family or not, but I wanted to say that while long commutes aren't easy on anyone, you can definitely do it.

 

[Sneezykids]

Thanks. Currently he leaves at 7am everyday and is home around 7pm the earliest, 10pm on M/Th. We've lived the hours.

One of my friends dh lives in South Carolina, in a seperate apt, b/c he can't find work here and they can't sell their home. But, they aren't upside down like we are either.

He's still on the fence about taking the job.

I hope our bank helps us out. We've been waiting almost 5 months for them to help us, and we've drained our savings (that was our taxes!) to pay the mortgage to keep it only 2 months behind and not three. We've also had several notices about them shutting off our gas because we can't keep current with our gas company. Ugggh.

Any way we crunch the numbers though, if he takes this job, it'll still be a paycut from when we first moved here, 5 years ago. But if he stays where he is, yes, foreclosure will probably be inevitable.

 

[Sneezykids]

OMG...just as I was writing that last post, the FED EX guy brings me the loan mod from our bank!! I'm reading it now...xx fingers crossed.

 

[Phantaja]

I hope that the Fed-Ex guy brought good news!

Re Gas: Are you with DTE? I got a few notices over the winter (and went into a blind panic when we lost power on our block because I thought they shut us off!) before someone told me about shut off protection. No matter how much my bill actually is, I only pay 244.00 per month. There are no income requirements. All I had to do was ask and pay 120.00 of my then 1600.00 bill.

 

[PenelopeJune]

Oooh! I hope your bank can help you out.

I'd say if they can modify your mortgage to something manageable, you should try to stick it out. An hour and ten minutes isn't terrible. It sucks, but it's not THAT bad.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide to do.

 

[Smithie]

Honestly, with property taxes of 7 grand, it sounds like you are in too much house unless you have some sort of rich-person income (interest off a trust fund, etc.).

That said, if you're upside-down, I can see why you'd really want to stick it out and I don't blame you one bit! I hope that the Fed Ex man brought you great news!

 

[karne]

Hope you get good news from the Fed EX!

Are you in a high proprty tax area?

 

[KarlaC]

When we were in MI & in a similar situation the family independence agency was able to step in & catch up our payments if we showed we now had the income to upkeep them(where we didn't when we fell behind). We weren't signed up for any state aid either.

Something to look into if you haven't already. Salvation army kicked in & several local churches too.

 

[marisa724]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smithie Honestly, with property taxes of 7 grand, it sounds like you are in too much house unless you have some sort of rich-person income (interest off a trust fund, etc.).

Our taxes are over $8000 and trust me, we are not in too much house -- 1300 sq. ft, small yard, three small bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, 40 years old. But we *are* in NJ, which is just ridiculous for property tax, and our county is one of the absolute worst. Our taxes were just under $6K when we moved in 6 years ago, but we were reassessed recently. I wonder if the OP is in the same boat.

 

[Phantaja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smithie Honestly, with property taxes of 7 grand, it sounds like you are in too much house unless you have some sort of rich-person income (interest off a trust fund, etc.).

That's really quite normal around here. Property taxes are super high. We were about to buy a house that was under 50k in a nice neighborhood but didn't because the property taxes were 6,000 per year. The mortgage was more than affordable, but we'd never be able to keep up with the taxes.

 

[HappyLamb]

just wanted to give you encouragement....I'm in Baltimore, and a lot of ppl in my neighborhood commute to DC to jobs. lots of jobs in the federal government, plus most private industry positions pay better there. It's about 50 min. on the commuter rail, plus the drive to the station, plus any traveling within the district.... so it stinks, but its doable.

 

[jacki1234]

I hope the bank brought you good news. So far we are in a good place but you never know when the tide can turn.

 

[EFmom]

Both dh and I lost our jobs within a six month period during the Reagan recession. We each found new jobs--an hour and a half away and in opposite directions from each other, so nowhere logical to move. We did it until we could come up with a better situation. I got a job near our family, we sold our house and moved. It stunk while we were living with the terrible commutes, but we were able to keep it together and eventually things got better.

So, if it were me, I'd jump on the new job offer. The commute will suck, but you'll survive it. See what you can do on the house. The reality is that the employment situation in Detroit isn't going to be great for a long, long time.

I hope the bank offer is better for you.

 

[phatchristy]

Sending you some

I have family and grew up in the suburbs, and I know how bad things are. We left after DH finished grad school (about 10 years ago) and it seems like everyone followed us.

My mom has seen her home value go from around 450K down to around 250K...and yes, she too pays crazy taxes. Around 8K a year! I think her property taxes and insurance payment isn't that much less than what we pay for our home with a mortgage, though she owns her house outright! Our taxes are 1/4 of what hers are!

Personally, I wouldn't want to commute that far, at all. Plus, don't you have the winters to be concerned about? Wouldn't the commute be worse during winter?

 

[HisBeautifulWife]

DH leaves home around 5:30am and gets back around 8pm. Sometimes it's more like 10pm. It sucks but that's how it has to be for now.

I hope you have good news but don't let the commute put you off!

 

[bobandjess99]

yuckas....i hope you got good news.
And I'm feeling pretty good about our $800/year property taxes right now...........

 

[MonAmiBella]

Honestly, I don't know how he could not take the job. If you're in financial trouble a job is a job and right now that's all that matters!

My DH commutes 1.5-2 hours each way, but he has steady and stable work, and we're grateful for that.

 

[mamangazelle]

I commuted for 1 1/2 hour each way for two years. It sucked, but we managed. Now, during the winter it takes 1 hour for me to get to work, and we also manage. It really isn't ideal, but many people do it.

About renting and foreclosure, I don't know if you're looking for a landlord's point of view, but if it is, here's mine:

We never did a credit check on any of our renters for 8 years, but last september, we rented the basement apartment to a guy and he was unable to pay us. He told us he was trying to get in a better financial situation, so we gave him time. We tried to work things out, but eventually, after letting him be 4 months late (and owing us more than 2000$), we threw him out (and never got any of our money back and then noticed he burned our furniture). We gave him many, many chances, but he took advantage of us. From now on, we will FOR SURE do a credit check on all future tenants, and refuse someone with a bad credit, no excuses. It may be harsh, but we have struggled financially because of him, and we will not allow it to happen again.