Feeling almost hopeless now

Avatar for mquin73
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Feeling almost hopeless now
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Thu, 08-25-2005 - 8:39pm

I know I haven't been around much, but I have been really busy and don't spend a whole lot of time on the computer these days. I have plenty to keep me busy around the house and everyday life.

Anyway, we have cc debt up to our ears (well, actually past our ears) an auto loan, and a mortgage. My dh is military, I don't work outside the home, but I take care of all the household stuff as well as getting the kids to school and back and taking care of all their needs in general. Besides we only have one vehicle right now and dh uses it for work. The home we own is about 700 mi away, in our home town. Last month while I was home visiting I got a call from our renters saying they were giving their 30-day notice that they were moving the end of this month. I about freaked, didn't really know what to do, thought about just selling it as is (cuz we have NO money to even put into it - it's in OK shape but there are things that need to be done), but dh and I decided to go ahead and put an ad in the paper to rent it again. We've had quite a few calls and a couple people wanna see it, they've just called within the past week. Well, the big dilemma is now our renters called to say that water is leaking through one of the basement windows (it didn't before b/c there was a deck covering it and we put a new deck on it in June so now it's not covering that window) and has flooded the basement. They said there's water and mud everywhere and even in the carpet in the room downstairs. The house has two sump pumps and one of them had a problem earlier in the year, but it was cleaned out really well and started working properly again. I don't know what to do. There's no way we can afford the mortgage payment without it being rented and there's no way to fix some things to be more "sellable". I honestly don't want the headache anymore of worrying about it, but I'm afraid that it will sit there for awhile before someone buys it and then of course we have to pay the mortgage while it sits there (that's almost $1000 a month). We have NO savings, we just consolidated a few of our cc's into an unsecured loan, and while those credit cards are still open right now I really don't wanna charge anything more. It's almost impossible to survive on making the minimums as it is. I'm so tired of living like this. I really wanna get out of this, but things just seem like they're getting worse. This is a horrible feeling.

I need some advice. What would you do in our situation?

Michelle


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Avatar for mymartes
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 08-25-2005 - 9:05pm

Michelle,
Hugs to you. I know how you feel. Don't have any advice right now because I'm feeling down in the dumps myself about our debt.

Just wanted to send you a cyberhug.

MYM

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 08-25-2005 - 9:22pm

Is there anyone in the town where your home lives who can assess the damage? Different people have different ideas about these things and maybe getting a second opinion would be helpful. Also, if they had a digital camera you might even get pictures of the property to make your decision.

Personally, I would try to see how many of the things have to be fixed to make it sellable. Is this a home you want to return to or do you want to keep it a rental property? It seems like renting at such a distance would pose frequent problems.

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-22-2005
Thu, 08-25-2005 - 9:46pm

Which branch of service your DH is in? This may help:

a href=http://www.military.com/Finance/Content?file=using_credit_leader.htm&area=Content target=_blankhttp://www.military.com/Finance/Content?file=using_credit_leader.htm&area=Content/a

Avatar for mquin73
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 08-25-2005 - 10:43pm

My FIL is there and he actually went to the house to look at what was going on and he claims that the key my dh gave him does not work in the door. Our old renters moved just not too far from the house and they said they left their keys on the counter, didn't have the garage remotes (lost them), and all the doors were locked. They stopped at the house to make sure the key my FIL had did/didn't work, cuz you kinda have to jiggle the key in and turn it a certain way, you know how some doors are like that. lol Anyway, long story short the key didn't work, there is no way in the house, unless we are up there. We don't have a key but the garage door opener was sychronized (or whatever you wanna call it) to the garage door buttons in our Blazer. So we are still able to access the house through the garage. It's kind of a mess right now. We actually have two people that wanna look at the house to possibly rent it, but how in the heck are they gonna get in there. OMG, I can't believe how messed this is right now. It's frustrating.

As for us, if we ever wanna move back in there....well, my dh plans on making a career of the military now and probably by the time he retires we will wanna build our own house or at least buy another one. However, that being said my dh is getting deployed in a few months and secretly in the back of my mind if something happened to my dh while he's "over there" I would love to move back into that house. It's our first house together, has lots of memories, yadda, yadda, yadda. I know not really the reason to hang onto it, but that would be the only reason for moving back into it. Well that and if my dh had to get out of the army for medical reasons. And yes you are right it has been posing a few problems trying to rent it out. We don't have a company that has been doing it for us, it's been us and when there have been problems my FIL goes and checks them out.

Thanks for listening to my rants/raves/vents. lol
Michelle


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Avatar for mquin73
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 08-25-2005 - 10:46pm

He's army.

Michelle


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Registered: 03-22-2005
Thu, 08-25-2005 - 11:23pm

Sorry, the last link didn't work. There is something strange about this board - it changes the link I put here ...

I am sure army has similar things, but I recall getting mailings from the navy before on some very low interest loans and what not. And if things get REALLY bad, you may consider contacting active duty emergency assistance. They can provide funding for food, vehicle repairs, etc. Also, check out the area "shop" and then "discount" at the "military.com" website. You can sign up for mailings and sometimes they have good coupons.

Hang in there!

Avatar for mquin73
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 08-26-2005 - 9:50am

Yeah, I know about AER (Army Emergency Relief), my neighbor has gone to them alot for help on groceries, their car, and help with getting both her and her dh home cuz they had deaths in both their families. We may just have to resort doing that here in the next month or so. It's a little embarrassing going and asking for help, especially when you know it's your own fault. Ugh!!

Oh well, thanks for all the info though.

Michelle


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-07-2005
Fri, 08-26-2005 - 10:19am
Is there any way you could (mail) overnight the garage remote from your car to your FIL to allow him in and maybe show the place?
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Registered: 06-16-2004
Fri, 08-26-2005 - 11:42am

WOuldn't your homeowners insurance cover the flood? All you would be responsible for would be the deductible which you could ask ARF for?

Nicola

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Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 08-26-2005 - 12:04pm
Hugs Michelle!
I do not know if this is a popular view, but I would go ahead and sell the house. insurance should cover the water damage and you could sell it. You might get more if you fix it up a little, but living 700 miles away really impacts what you can get done.
When my Dad was sick, we sold off my parents home as a fixer upper. We had a lot of people looking at it because they can't afford nicer, newer, bigger homes. I would contact a realtor or two, have them look around and give you a ballpark of what they think they could get for it. If it is enough to pay off the mortgage and all closing costs, then it is a viable option.
Also, doesn't having that extra income add to your taxable income?
Good luck!
Sandra

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