Short Sale Blues

We put our house up for sale last week in the hopes of selling it as a short sale and avoiding foreclosure. My husband took a new job with a much smaller salary because his former employer laid him off; due to this decrease in salary, we can no longer afford our mortgage payments.

I met with a realtor and a real estate attorney, put the house on the market, cleaned like crazy and had several successful showings. So far so good. Then the first offer arrived. It was for a few thousand above the listed price, and we all felt that it was a good offer that our lender would approve for short sale. Then we were given the credit union’s short sale package.

The lender is asking for an insane amount of personal and financial information in order to determine whether or not we “deserve” to be granted a short sale. Deserve? Wait a minute. What part of this situation do we deserve? The part where my husband worked hard for twenty years in order to work his way up to an excellent salary only to have it snatched away when he was laid off? Maybe the part where we picked out a house and fixed it up in the hopes of living in it for the rest of our lives, only to find that the home value has declined 50% in two years? Or how about the part where we don’t want to spend every last dime of our savings trying to keep a house that may never be worth what we owe? I don’t feel we deserve any of this. We purchased a modest home, spend within our means, pay our bills and save for emergencies. We are not deadbeats.

Here is a summary of the information our lender feels we need to divulge in order to be considered for a short sale:

Tax returns from 2007 and 2008
Checking statements for the past two months
Savings statements for the past two months
401k savings account balance
Pay stubs from hubby’s current employer
Pay stubs from hubby’s previous employer
List of expenses for the past two months (including utilities, groceries, insurance, etc.)
Credit card statements for the past two months
Hardship letter explaining in detail the negative personal changes we have experienced in our lives since buying the house.

Basically they want to know exactly how we spend our money down to the penny. Keep in mind that after we give them this information, they can still say “no” and refuse to grant the short sale anyway (which our lawyer says is a frequent occurrence). Then where would we be? Some unscrupulous person in the lender’s employ could potentially steal our identities with this information and wipe out our life savings with the click of a few computer keys. No thank you. I am not so naïve that I blindly trust the banking institution to protect our information.
After discussing the situation with our attorney, she agreed that we should not hand over this information on a silver platter. The lender has no legal right to this information as they cannot take any of our money whether we wind up with a short sale or a foreclosure. The Anti-Deficiency Law protects us from that. The lender is on a fishing expedition to see how much more money we could potentially spend paying the mortgage before we would be completely broke and have to file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would ruin our credit even worse than a short sale or foreclosure, and we refuse to continue throwing good money after bad to try to keep up with our mortgage payments. We could spend every last cent of our savings, wind up broke and still have to foreclose on a house that is worth 50% less than the mortgage balance due.

So we sent the purchase offer to the lender without the rest of the short sale package just to see what would happen. Our realtor was notified that the purchase offer would not be considered because the remainder of the information was missing. When she explained our position, the credit union employee said that they have to follow industry standards and require the personal information before a short sale will even be considered, and it is very unlikely that a high level manager will make an exception for us. Our file basically goes to the bottom of the pile until they have time to rule on the exception, which could take months. Our realtor now has to go back to the potential buyer and explain to her that the process will take longer due to these circumstances and give the buyer a chance to back out of the deal and look elsewhere for a home. Depending on whether this buyer is patient or not, she can withdraw her offer and we will have to start showing the house again.

While all of this was happening during the past week, we had another offer come in from an investor who is willing to pay cash for the home as soon as the short sale gets approved. This may be a more appealing scenario for our credit union, so we plan to present that offer to them as well.

Hubby and I have decided that it doesn’t matter to us whether we wind up with a short sale or a foreclosure because the end result is the same—-we have to leave the home in which we planned to spend the rest of our lives.

Mortgage Woes

As you know, my husband received a lay-off notice from DHL. He was able to find a new job; which, in this economy is no small feat. However, he now earns 20% less than he did just a few short months ago. I used to work part-time for the Disney store, but during the months leading up the holiday shopping season the store experienced a severe decrease in sales and my hours were cut from 12 hours per week to zero. I have been unsuccessful in finding new employment.

All of our bills are going up due to the current economic crisis—groceries, utilities, health insurance, etc. My father passed away in April and we bore travel expenses related to his funeral.

The housing market in the Phoenix area has been hit hard in recent months, and our home is now worth 40% less than what we paid for it just two years ago. We knew when we bought the home that its value would decrease some; however, we did not predict that its value would fall so far. The phrases “money pit” and “throwing good money after bad” have been mentioned a lot lately.

With the recent change in our financial situation, we find that we can only afford our mortgage payments if we take money out of our savings. We do not believe that using our savings to pay the mortgage is a good investment. My husband has decided that we should stop paying our mortgage. He figures it will be several months until the credit union has us evicted by the sheriff, and before that happens we can save some money toward a rental house to live in after we get the boot.

This will ruin our credit. Hubby is aware of that fact, but thinks that is a temporary situation compared to the permanent situation we would be in if we drain our savings and still can’t afford the mortgage payments. I’m not sure his logic is wrong.

I understand why he doesn’t want to lose every penny he’s worked so hard for to keep a house that may never be worth what we owe.

So why do I feel so sick inside?

I feel sick because we are not the type of people to shun our responsibilities. We pay our bills. The only debt we have is our home and one vehicle. Credit cards are used for convenience, not as a loan to be paid later. Their balances are paid as soon as the bill arrives. We have savings, but that money is supposed to be for emergencies and our retirement. We are unprepared for a long-term decrease in earnings and the severe value loss in our home. Having to deal with a lay-off during the worst economic crisis in our lifetime is not something we ever thought to plan for.

Many thousands of homeowners across the country are in a similar situation. Foreclosure rates have skyrocketed in the past year and are expected to continue to rise. We got caught in a situation we never considered was possible. How do you plan for the unthinkable?

One of my friends suggested taking in a boarder to bring in extra income. Another friend asked me why my husband doesn’t continue to look for a higher paying job. Well, how about because it took six months of stressful job hunting to find this job and now he has the stress of learning the new company’s computer system, working with new people, travelling, and updating his technical certifications to satisfy the new employer’s educational requirements. I think he’s under enough stress already; adding a continued job search might just be too much for his system to handle.

Then she asked why I don’t have a full-time job? One reason is because I lost the ability to force a happy smiley demeanor at will after my son died. So sue me. My work experience is in customer service and retail; and with my back problem, I cannot physically handle a full time retail position. That leaves customer service, which would drive me crazy. I’m already on anti-depressants just to get through the day and I don’t think a little pill can handle the additional stress. I’ve been looking for a part-time position, but the low wages I could earn would not be enough to bridge the gap between what hubby used to earn and what he earns now.

I paid the mortgage on June 1st, but hubby doesn’t think we should pay it next month. So, I’m back to feeling sick and wondering how the hell we’re going to get out of this situation.

Job Hunt Update

My husband, who was scheduled to be laid off this month from DHL, has found a new full-time job. The pay is 20% lower than what he has been earning and we have to wait two months for the health benefits to begin. And that’s just the beginning of my rant.

DHL was offering a severance package of two months salary and benefits after the separation date. After five years of service, I think that was a terrible offer, but at least we had that much to cushion the blow.

After enduring several frustrating months of hubby’s job search, I was beginning to worry that the current state of the economy was going to be the end of our healthy finances. I calculate that we have three to four months of living expenses saved; that’s more than most people have in the bank, so I’m pretty proud of that emergency fund. Add to that the two months he would receive in severance, and we would be okay until the end of the calendar year. Not too shabby.

The new company interviewed my husband twice over a period of six weeks. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry to fill the position, so I was surprised when they finally offered him the job and said he had to start immediately if he wanted it. Hubby asked if they could wait three weeks so he could finish his time at DHL and receive his severance package. No, he was told, they needed someone on the job immediately and if he wasn’t willing to jump ship now, they would simply call the next guy on the list of candidates.

It took them nearly two months to interview candidates, but all of a sudden there’s a rush to have the new person begin. Just in time to screw us out of nearly 10K of severance compensation.

Add that to the decrease in salary and we are 30K in the hole. Plus, we have to continue our health benefits through COBRA for the next 10 weeks, which will cost us another two grand. Fuck!

I’m glad that my husband did not have to go through the stress of finishing out his time with DHL without a job offer on the horizon. He has been unemployed before, and it’s not easy for him. His sense of self worth is tightly connected to his career (typical guy!) and he so enjoys his line of work.

But why do things never seem to work out in our favor? The randomness of the universe needs to throw us a bone every now and then, damn it! As always, things could be worse but they could definitely be better.

End rant.

And the End is Always Near

The future’s uncertain. It always is, but lately is feels even more so.

My husband works for DHL and is scheduled to be laid off in May 2009 because the company is bailing out of the US domestic shipping market. Since my husband’s salary comprises 99.8% of our household income, this is a serious problem. With so many companies downsizing and very few companies hiring, it is going to be difficult for my husband to find a new job. He is a Cisco certified network administrator with over 10 years of experience; yet, in the past two weeks he has spoken with recruiters who have nothing more to offer him than short-term, low-paying contract positions and their best wishes that he finds a new job soon. That’s cold comfort when your entire financial picture has been scheduled to go down the drain. Sure, we have a few months but what if he can’t find a position in this area at the pay level he has grown to expect?

Since DHL is a global company, hubby and I have discussed the possibility of him seeking out a position in Europe. A few years ago I probably wouldn’t have entertained the notion, but a lot has changed recently. Our home has lost 30% of its value in the year and a half that we’ve owned it and the US economy is now officially in a recession. I always thought we’d be able to afford a European vacation of some sort, but things are not looking good. Maybe the best way to see Europe is to actually live there.

My mother is terrified that we will leave the country and never come back. My brother hopes we exhaust every possibility in the US before considering such a risky move. But what exactly am I risking? My house? It’s worth a fraction of the mortgage amount. My family? I have a guest room that’s never been used and I haven’t travelled to see my family in over two years. My friends? The few friends that I have are busy with their own lives and problems and we mainly stay in touch via email and MySpace. That wouldn’t change very much. My job? I have an unsatisfying part-time retail position and my hours have been reduced to almost nothing because sales are low. Basically I have nothing to lose. There is no obligation large enough to stop us from pursuing a major lifestyle change.

So far, hubby has applied for one position in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It may be weeks before they start sifting through the applicant pool, and I don’t know what criteria he would have to meet or exceed in order to be more qualified than a local applicant. The odds are probably against him, but you don’t know until you try. Currently one other position is available in his field, but it’s in Malaysia and I have no desire to live there. (Too Muslim for my atheist sensibilities.)

Hubby has also been looking into opportunities with DHL’s parent company, Deutsche Post, which is based in Bonn, Germany. Hubby travelled to Germany as a teen and has always wanted to return. We both took German in high school, but our skills have wasted away during 25 years of non-use. But I’m sure we could pick the language up again if properly motivated and immersed in the culture. So this sounds like a viable option, too. What the hell…we’re not getting any younger.

I wonder if I’ll be disappointed if he gets a job offer in Phoenix.

Home Alone

Hubby is out of town on business...
I hate being home alone.

It's too quiet when he's not around. I'm the crazy cat lady when he's gone!...muttering to myself and talking to the cats, staying in my PJ's until noon. And I stay up too late at night when he's away because I don't like going to sleep in an empty house. I sleep with my Ruger when hubby isn't here, and but the cold steel offers little comfort. There's just something unsettling about being home alone on nights when I know he isn't going to walk through the door after work. I hate being home alone.

But I also love being home alone!

Not having to pick up after him or share the remote, or smell his nasty chicken salad sandwiches (don't ask!). I can play the stereo and not have to turn it off because he wants to watch TV. I can spend an evening in blissful silence, curled up with a good book and a cup of tea. And, best of all, I don't have to listen to him snore!



Heck, he'll be home in a few days. I think I can tough it out.

Hot Summer Night

Last night hubby and I went to the Def Leppard, Styx, Foreigner concert at Cricket Pavillion in Phoenix. A good time was had by all…and when I say all, I mean at least 17,000 people. The place was packed with people from age 5 to 75 and the crowd was as loud as the bands.

Watching Foreigner was like watching a cover band…there’s only one original member left in the group, founder Mick Jones. Jason Bonham was on drums, and the band played a snippet of a Led Zepplin song, which was fun but a little odd. The band played a bunch of their hits…Cold As Ice, Hot Blooded, Jukebox Hero (which was awesome!), Urgent, and Feels Like the First Time.

Styx was next in the lineup, and they blew us away with their sound and showmanship. Original members Tommy Shaw and James “JY” Young front the band with newer member Lawrence Gowan (who replaces Dennis DeYoung). They played a lot of their hits…Blue Collar Man, Miss America, Come Sail Away, Fooling Yourself, Renegade, Too Much Time on My Hands, and the Grand Illusion. Styx sounded great and Tommy Shaw can still hit those high notes!

I haven’t seen Def Leppard in twenty years, and they did not disappoint. Singer Joe Elliot was a little hoarse and had trouble with the high notes, but that didn’t stop anyone from screaming their guts out and singing along. The set list was as follows:

Rocket
Animal
Excitable
Foolin'
Mirror, Mirror (Look into My Eyes)
Another Hit and Run
Love Bites
Rock On
Two Steps Behind
Bringin' On the Heartbreak
Switch 625
Hysteria
Armageddon It
Photograph
Pour Some Sugar on Me

The encore was Rock of Ages

The video and light show was the perfect compliment to the hits. The lights were so bright that my cell phone camera had trouble capturing images. Here's the one picture that isn't just a blob of light:



That's Joe Elliot on the screen, the stage is to the left, and the concession area is to the far right. Beer was $8 and double shots of Crown Royal were $11. Yikes!

I am exhausted, sore, and hoarse today, but I haven’t had that much fun in a very long time. What a terrific birthday gift!

Contentment

For the last few weeks, I have noticed a marked increase in the contentedness of myself and my hubby. I attribute this warm, fuzzy feeling to the fact that after weeks of doing all of my household chores, my husband has found a new appreciation for all that I do for us in general and for him specifically.

The first few weeks after my surgery, I was unable to perform even the most basic household task, such as pouring myself a bowl of cereal or washing said bowl after eating. No longer was I picking up after myself and I certainly was unable to pick up after him. Coincidentally, the “dish fairy’ was absent from our household, no longer available to spirit dirty glasses and plates from the living room and den to the kitchen (where she kindly loaded the dishwasher and put the clean plates away). Hubby was on his own for several weeks, and he actually commented that it was hard to do his job and mine. (He would rather stick to his job.)

Not that I haven’t felt appreciated in the past, but it’s nice to hear the gratitude out loud every once in a while. After 21 years, I think I was due.

The Inattentive Butler

Hubby has been waiting on me hand-and-foot for the past 8 days since I came home from the hospital. He has never had to be so Johnny-on-the-spot with the help and I think he’s getting a little tired of his role as butler. I asked him for some peanut butter toast and he responded that it was something I could probably make for myself. The hell you say!

When I had back surgery 10 years ago, my son was the one who helped me the most. Sure, hubby did the shopping and the heavy lifting, but my son cooked my meals (microwave entrees mostly), performed light housekeeping duties, and brought things to my bedside so I wouldn’t have to get up unnecessarily. He kept me company when he wasn’t at school and was generally helpful and kind. That’s the kind of boy I raised.

Hubby, on the other hand, is used to being waited on. I blame myself for this. He works hard so I try to make his evenings as stress-free and relaxing as possible. I am happy to see him when he gets home, so I bring him something to drink (root beer, not a martini), refresh his glass when necessary, and try to make his evening hours pleasant. That’s the kind of wife I am.

I won’t be ready to resume my normal housekeeping and shopping routine for several weeks, but I think my days of complete helplessness are over. Hubby sees that I am regaining my strength and he doesn’t want to do things for me that I am able to do for myself…mainly because he’s had enough servitude, but partly because it’s good for me to be moving around a little more.

So I thank you dear hubby for all of your help. Now, about that toast…

All Moved In

Hubby and I are settling in to our new home quite nicely. The cardboard jungle has been cut down to size and all of the necessary and important things are in place. Hopefully that was the last move we will have for the foreseeable future. I’m far too tired to do this again any time soon.

Moving means living with clutter, which is not something I do well. I believe in the old adage “a place for everything and everything in its place”. I don’t function well when I can’t find things, so I unpack as quickly as possible every time I move. This irritates hubby, who takes a more leisurely approach to unpacking and organizing. He has only unpacked about half of his boxes, which only made up about 10% of the total number of boxes. (Slow poke!)

Although I have finished unpacking, there are still plenty of things to do, and now that we own a house again I imagine that the “to do” list will never truly end.

Sigh. I need a nap.

Moving Day

Moving day fast approaches. I have been cleaning the new place, packing the old place, and I ache just about every place! I have been to Home Depot or Lowes five times in the last week and my shopping list is still a mile long.

Whose idea was this? Oh, yeah…hubby’s.

I am exhausted, but eventually the chaos will settle and the dust will clear. But by then the first mortgage payment will be due. Ugh! (Take deep cleansing breaths.)

My computer is being packed up today, so I won’t be posting or visiting my usual forum haunts for at least a week. Take care.

So We’re Buying a House

After several weeks of stressful searching, hubby and I have found a house that we both like, in the town we want to live in, and for a price we are willing to pay. Hurray!

The house, while not being my dream house, is very nice. It is only seven years old, has a nice, open floor plan, and it is roomy enough for us, our cats, and our stuff. Hubby gets his den and garage work-shop, we will have a guest room (should we ever have guests), and there is a small yard that I can eventually landscape. The house needs a few minor repairs before we move in, but nothing we can’t handle.

Hubby was the one who initially suggested that we buy a house again, but with all my talk of plans to update, remodel and landscape, he is more than a little freaked out over the prospect of paying for all of this. I think I need to quietly dream-remodel for a while and let him get used to the idea of having a house again before I start talking about a budget.

I suggested that instead of buying a house, he could quit his job, sell all of our belonging, and we could bum around Europe for a year or so until we run out of money. Then we could come crawling back and beg our family to let us crash with them until we got haircuts and jobs again. It sounds good to me, but he said no.

I guess that makes him the mature one.

Here We Go Again

So the other night hubby says to me, “You know, I’d really like a bigger den…and maybe a garage.”

Crap.

Looks like it’s time to go house hunting.

Let me explain my reluctance in looking for a house. I’m quite content in my current apartment; the neighbors are quiet, the grounds are well kept, my rent didn’t increase when we renewed our lease, and the neighborhood has everything I need without being overly-commercial. I’ve lived in plenty of apartments, but this is the nicest one so far.

Our first home was lovely; however, after buying it, we had a string of bad luck. My husband lost his job while we were in the process of moving out of our apartment and into the house we had just closed on days before. Within a year of buying the house, both my mother-in-law and son had passed away.

Rationally I know the house didn’t kill my family members or cause my husband to be “down-sized”. I don’t believe in bad luck; it was simply a series of unfortunate events (sorry Lemony Snicket). Random chance, not karma or bad luck, is the reason for my past troubles.

My rational mind knows these things, and yet the thought of looking for a new house gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Sure, I’d like to have a bigger den, a guest room and maybe a small yard, but I’m fine where I am. Apartments have their beneficial qualities, such as not having to fix anything yourself, and the ability to move on short notice. Try doing that with a house.

But the local housing market has settled down and interest rates are still fairly low, so this is probably as good a time as any to buy a house. It doesn’t hurt to look, and since we’re happy in this apartment, we’ll be less likely to rush into a less-than-stellar home purchase.

Here’s hoping for a series of fortunate events.

Conversation

Some days I think if it weren’t for our cats my husband and I would have nothing to talk about. After twenty one years of marriage, we’ve covered every subject; I know all of his stories and he knows all of mine. Are we doomed to spend the rest of our days talking about the weather and discussing how many times Kitty and Misty puked on the rug today?

Some nights he comes home from work and asks the cat how her day was and, based on her facial expression and body language, I will answer for her.

Hubby: How was your day, Misty?

Me: It was pretty good. I slept on this nice soft bed and then I ran into the living room for no apparent reason.

Hubby: Want to play with this string?

Me: No thanks, I’m resting. All that running wore me out.

How pathetic is that? And yes, he asks the cats about their day before he asks me about mine.

I know it’s natural to fall into comfortable silence with your spouse, but I wasn’t prepared to play second fiddle to my cats.

They should really warn you about this sort of thing before you get married.