My partner and I had our house built from the ground up in 2005. We have had 2 children since then and are looking to move into the Mansfield area but what we owe in our home versus what it appraises for does not match at all. Apparently, a few people on our street, bought homes they could not afford so now they are foreclosed on which drops down the price of our home. We need more space and we want more children but we everything has to be put on hold till we get out of here. Any ideas?
You can't work with what you have? We have three kids in a very small (under 1000 sq ft) house. We definitely can't afford to move right nor would we want to with the market being the way it is, so we make do with what we have. Kids can share bedrooms. It's not the end of the world. People used to have large families with much smaller houses than what's considered standard for today.
Yes - add on to your existing home.... go up a level if you can't build out.
real estate stuff sucks - and at 2005 you bought at almost the height of the bubble before it busted. You'll get your home value back, but it will take a good long while.
Not sure what your situation is..... but "wanting" more space isnt' the same as "needing" anything. You can have plenty of kids in a 3 bedroom house - each gender just shares a room, everyone learns to share and your family stays at a hotel when they come to visit. It's all about what your goals are and how you prioritize them when you can't have everything you want.
Good Luck
Foreclosures on their own do not drop the value of the other homes. We had four foreclosed on in our subdivision and it did not effect the value of the other homes at all. What hurts the value is unkempt foreclosed on homes.
More likely than not you bought when they were overvalued and you are caught in the correction. To give you an idea of how long that bubble lasted in 2002 my home was already overvalued by 10,000.
I digress
Pretty much you are screwed. You can walk and destroy your credit and still not have anything to put down on another home. You can stay and pay down like the devil is at your heels but that takes time. You can sell and take a personal loan for what you still owe. You would then have to rent until you can save up another down payment....kind of seeing why I said you are screwed. :(
Personally if I were you I would stay and put every extra cent into paying down your mortgage. It is the quickest way to get out of that house.
The problem with renting when you are upside down is that you have to collect monthly the amount of all your expenses except the ones the renters will assume like utilities. That is not just your mortgage payment but also taxes, insurance, and potential repairs. Good luck finding anyone that will pay that to rent your house. Otherwise it will become a money pit and you will lose two houses.
You're upside down. I'd dig in for awhile.
IF money is NO object, sell it at a loss.
And "appraised value" and "market value" are two completely different things.
I'd list it and see what happens, at least.
I hear that remodeling is the way to go now. There is so much you can do to add onto a house. It up's the value of your home and desirability. Its cheaper and loans for this can be very good with the interest rates being what they are.
I agree with Katie to rent it out. If you cannot be approved for both mortgages, you can consider your rental income after a year. This will allow you to get a new mortgage. It's a tough decision. You have to really want to get out in this situation, but it can be done. I've known many who have done exactly what I've mentioned and have been happy with the results.
I don't know enough about your situation to know if this would work for you, but if you really want to move you could consider a short sale. I only know about these because we are in the process of buying a house and many of the ones that came up in our search were short sales. It's better than foreclosing, but it doesn't look good on your credit. The details are outlined here http://reallynicehomes.com/PDF/The_Short_Sale_Option.pdf If you really want to get out of your house I would talk to a real estate agent about the market value of your house and options if you owe more than that.
We're in the same boat as you are. We have four children in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, less than 1500 square foot home and a fifth in college who comes home for visits. We too bought in 2005, while still owning a home in another state, which is why we went small. We planned to sell after getting rid of the first home, then the market crashed. I often joke, saying if we live here too much longer, Mom's gonna be on meds, but truly, love does grow big in small spaces. I agree with the post which reminds us that while our generation wants big and we want it now, previous generations lived in quite small homes, with 2, 3 and 4 children. We have 3 boys who share one room and a daughter who has her own room, but wishes she could bunk up with the boys...the one person in the house who has her own space and she doesn't want it. LOL While our older two boys say from time to time they want their own rooms, I honestly believe if and when that happens, they will miss the fun times and closeness they have together sharing a room. Yes, we could have more space and be a bit more comfortable, but I also think it's kind of fun to find ways to maximize the space we have, upgrade here and there and most importantly, teach our children to value and care for what we have be blessed with.
On another note, I would NOT recommend a short sale, as was recommended in a previous post. This not only damages your credit, but if you go right into purchasing another home, that's another red flag to lenders. They're taking a risk by lending to someone who might possibly jet and/or sell their Mortgage lower than the original Note. For us personally, we are taking this opportunity to focus on getting in the best financial place we can. If you're not familiar already, check out daveramsey.com. Pay off your debt, including your home if possible and as Dave says, live like no one else today, so you can LIVE live like no one else tomorrow then REALLY get what you want when the market is back up and you have plenty in the bank.
Just a little food for thought. :-) Wishing you the best in whatever you decide...
1: ride out the storm and just stay put until the market gets better and you can at least break even. Other that foreclosures, the other problem you have is that Mansfield is targeted by corporate builders as a high-growth area; thus, you are always going to be competing against new construction.
2: Become landlords and rent your house, hopefully for enough to cover the mortgage, taxes, maintenance reserves and other things.
Stay where you are and make the best of it until the market turns around. Get creative with organizing and furniture. I have a family member who has/is raising 6 kids in a 3 bedroom ranch, and it's not huge either. You can do it.
We decided to lease our last house until the mortgage owed is down to a number we like or we might just rent it forever and eventually actually make some money with it. But for now, we are happy to lease it. It made buying a new house a lot easier too, as we were much more flexible on closing date making us a more desirable buyer to the seller :-) Good luck.
Get a property manager, rent it out. Try to sell when the market gets better.
