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.
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.
posted by Patricia at
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
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