Real Estate Crisis Unthought of Ramifications
65We are all aware of the Real Estate Bubble which has burst under any of us having bought a home during the inflation. For those who don't know my story a short version is that my husband and I got married in 2005, and promptly were expecting our daughter. We found our home in May 2006 right before she was born. Thinking we were doing the "right" thing raising her in a "house." We bought the cheapest home in an up and comming area we could find. It was an area being bought by investors and renovated, which we promptly began on our own home.
So 3 years later; having paid down $5,000 on our $173,000 loan and $25,000-$30,000 in renovations the bubble had officially burst. We being worried about our credit continued to scrape by paying $1,500 a month on our mortgage, until the investors bailed and the drug dealers and prostitutes moved in. At this time we started the short sale process. This lasted for about 4 months. The bank continues to want the house listed at $140k, while the house across the street has been on the market for over 8 months at $40k with nothing. Still that was OK, we were living rent free.
Then the shooting started. Our neighbors were targeted in a drive by, and that was when the real ramifications hit our family. My credit is shot, the house isn't worth a fourth of what we have in it, it isn't even worth the cash we have in it not to include the loan. Still all of this is money that we have discussed to this point. Now lets discuss the REAL ramifications of the Real Estate Bubble in my opinion: the family.
Our daughter's response to everything has been one that has been very painful to watch. She cannot understand why we are not at the "green house" anymore. How do you explain danger, fear, shooting, etc to a 3 year old? So we have left it at that there were "not nice" people next door and we wanted to be near nice people. This she understands... to a degree. Night is the worst because routines are different but we are getting there.
Now the other thing that often happens from those we have talked to is that the adults start arguing due to money/past decisions/and things outside their control. My husband and I have had our own demons to deal with in this situation, but the one thing we have stood firm on is that this is NEITHER of our faults. When we bought we had no idea what was going to happen. We tried to do the "right" thing for our family and it didn't work. Now us staying strong is the most important thing.
We were "lucky" many say, but not really. We will be severely hurt financially by this for years to come, but we understand one thing: Money can be made back, our lives and our love cannot. When we started our short sale process (read my hub on it), we didn't just start spending that money, we put it in a separate account. This was done for 4 months before the shooting. Now that does not seem like much but $1,500 a month for 4 months is $6,000. That goes a LONG way to counter the bad credit when we went to find a new place. When you can cut first, last, and a full month as a security deposit, they tend to be a little more lenient with your credit issues.
With all the craziness, take a little time and think before you start making you decisions. And understand that if you work together it will be OK. So many are panicing and that is just no way to live :) Life is always chaning and we have to change with it. I know for us it will work out, I don't know how, but as long as I have my husband and my daughter the rest will fall into place, and as a parent it is my job to keep her safe and as a wife it is up to me to take responsibility for my choices in picking the house and move on.
