Sell your house?

We all know how bad this economy and job market are. No job is a gaurentee.

If you had some decent equity in your house, and your kids were only 3 1/2yrs old, would you sell your house and try and buy an equal size or larger house under foreclosure with 100% down. aka NO MORTGAGE Even though it might mean an extra 1.5hr a day commuting?

Not for an hour and a half commute. Having no mortgage certainly frees up the money needed so maybe take a lesser paying job that's closer to home.

I drive two miles and that's about 1 mile further than I'd like sometimes.

leowis1 wrote:If you had some decent equity in your house, and your kids were only 3 1/2yrs old, would you sell your house and try and buy an equal size or larger house under foreclosure with 100% down. aka NO MORTGAGE Even though it might mean an extra 1.5hr a day commuting?

Take the commute-equation out of the picture, and it would be a no-brainer. So what if you loose your job (I'm currently laid-off) You wont have a mortgage to pay, so just find another job closer to your new PAID-OFF house I would get a job at Home Depot or Lowes, just to pay the grocery bill.

I just did it. We moved 3 - 4 months ago after selling our house (Fully restored Victorian).
I paid cash for the house we bought (Fully un-restored Victorian). I drive an hour each way to work now (Used to be 15 min away).
So far it has been worth it but I like driving...

Yes, I agree. If the commute was the same, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But right now my fee time is valuable. When I get home from work, the kids want to play with me, I have to cook dinner, cleanup, bath time, get the kids into bed...and then I'm really tired. Throwing in there a longer commute, that would be hard. But I'm not sure if I'm being a sissy with my time. That's why I asked the question. Plus when the kids start 1st grade, then its really hard to move and change schools. I have a 2yr window of opportunity to do something.

Thanks!

We got our victorian house as a foreclosure a few years ago, just before all this housing market mess up....but very happy. Only increased our work mileage 15 miles, and its all hiway. luckily we sold our other house within a week of listing it.

You are assuming you can actually sell your current house, no? I'm seeing homes here where I live sit on the market and many have dropped over $100K as the months have passed. A friend just unloaded a beautiful downtown colonial for $160K less than the original asking price just to get out from under a mortgage he couldn't afford any more (he's a contractor and all his work has pretty much dried up with the credit squeeze that is still occurring).

If you can sell and turn it around into a no mortgage lifestyle, I'd go for it in a heartbeat.

Even though it might mean an extra 1.5hr a day commuting?

I commute 60miles each way into NYC 5 days a week. I put about 30K miles per year on my car. It sucks in a really big way but the saving grace is that I cross the Hudson between 445am - 6am each day so I don't ever deal with traffic unless there is a wreck or something. The nice part is I get home when my kids get home from school so I am able to cook dinner for them and have real quality time with them. I don't think I could do it if I worked "normal" hours.

You are assuming you can actually sell your current house

Yes. You're right. My neighbor currently has their house on the market. Its been up for 30days now and they dropped their price. I'm just thinking out loud here.

BTW, can somebody school me on the foreclosure business. If a house cost $400K and the buyers put down 20% down, the mortgage is 320K. If the house suddenly goes into foreclosure, will the bank try and sell it for $400? $350? 320? 275? And on top of that you have to pay all the back taxes plus and liens, right?

We bought our house as a foreclosure. The bank had paid all the back taxes. I think they usually price it to break even if possible.

8 private acres and a 48' x 64' garage(Man town) with (4) 12' x14' overhead doors. Oh ya and a house. My commute is almost 5 mins to my shop. I'm not leavin alive .

mr1precision wrote:8 private acres and a 48' x 64' garage(Man town) with (4) 12' x14' overhead doors. Oh ya and a house. My commute is almost 5 mins to my shop. I'm not leavin alive .

Awesome!

When buying a foreclosure property at public auction the bank will put in the first bid, that is what they need to break even and get their money back that they lost. If they loaned the previous owners $100k and the owners paid $40k they will bid $60k, as soon as another bidder bids the bank bidder leaves. Then the reps for the investor groups bid if it's a choice property, they have more money than you but they usually stop at a ridiculously lowball number. Then the land contract people bid a little more, then it's you vs the neighbors. Normally that's the way it works, the bank gets their money back and then that's it for them and it's up to the bidders. Miserable days are better than nice days, heavily advertised sales are bad, houses that look cleaned up are especially bad. You want a dilapidated looking house with broken pipes, ripped out electrical wires, missing furnace, and garbage in the yard. If nobody bids then you can buy it from the bank which will involve a lot more profit for them because now they own it. Liens can be a tricky nightmare or can be incredibly simple, you will need a smart real estate lawyer for that. I moved my kids when they were in 1st grade, it takes a while to readjust but they do.