Should I walk ?

[Octavian4017]

Countrywide
30year Conventional 6.5 fixed
Value of home and amount owed are about same.
2months behind will be three after 15th of May.
Already received letter of intent to accelerate.
Getting Divorced - wife took half my pay check from joint account last month so that caused to fall behind to two payments past.
I will be shelling out too much money 3kids"child support" to afford the payment from here out.
Currently pay 1425 a month.
Could pay like 950 a month at most.
Is there anything possible I can do to save this or should I wake up and realize I need to walk.
How long do I have usually till eviction notice, need some time to save money and afford to get out to new place.
In Chatham county - Georgia.
Thanks for any help guys or gals.

[maxx233]

Well, deciding to walk or not is something no one else can really tell you, it's entirely your call. I'm happy with my decision to walk, but still concerned about having a judgement brought up against me. I'm prepairing for the worst though, which would be a complete bankruptcy. Even that I feel is a better 5-10 year solution for me than keeping this house. You need to find out the risks involved (for instance, is your loan recourse?), and weigh the benefits (for me the main benefit is a much simplified/less stressful life I can enjoy more fully.)

Since you've stopped making payments already I'd write your bank a hardship letter (consult with a real estate attorney for half an hour for some tips) and let them know why you've stopped, and that future payments won't be coming in. Then request a loan modification. In the mean time since your home's value is about what you owe - list it for sale. If you doubt it'll sell at a reasonable price then do a shortsale on it with a good shortsale agent. Free for you, commision is taken from sale price if it happens. Don't tell the bank it's for sale or they may terminate your loan mod. Then basically just take whichever comes first - a loan mod or a shortsale. And if neither comes, and you really can't afford it then be prepared for a foreclosure. And if you're going to be prepared for that, be prepared for bankruptcy as well, just in case.

And have a good plan in place for how you're going to rebuild after the fact too... like you said, take time to save that money and stash it away out of sight, that's going to be the nestegg that replaces your credit score for x many years.

[Octavian4017]

How do I know if my loan is recourse ?
Brand new home 3 years old bought from builder.
Refinanced 8 months ago thru Franklin Financial then loan was
sold to countrywide.
How long till they usually evict you ?

[Octavian4017]

How would you conduct a short sale yourself ?
Is there a already put together packet you can get for free or buy to make it simple and to make sure everything the lender needs they get ?
Once I get an offer is there anything I need to do besides give the lender the packet, like going to closing, setting up appointment for attorney, or do i need to just get out the house asap.

[The Professor]

Your situation is both challenging and simply too complex to resolve without the help of an attorney skilled in real estate law, debt collection practices, dissolutions (divorce), and potentially bankruptcy. I'd suggest that you seek the advice of a lawyer.

Daniel

[Octavian4017]

Divorce - My wife has already agreed to a quitclaim deed.
She is moving out in two weeks to her own place.
She is only on the deed nothting financial all me.

[The Professor]

She isn't an obligor (signed the promissory note)?

Daniel

[snapple candy]

Octavian,
I agree you need some legal advice. Since you are not underwater, you may want to spend some time in the modification process to see what you can get. If you could rent a room to help offset payment, that could help also. My question would be is how much can you rent a place for down the street? If you have overnight visitation, will you need some extra bedrooms too. Do the pros and cons. Divorce and visitation stuff sucks and it is not easy for both parents to maintain 2 big houses without causing major hardships. Since you are break even, you have more options to consider.

[kent302]

Hi Octa, tough path ahead man. Big-D involving kids is an ordeal that may literally destroy or cleanse your being. You make the choice, I've been there. You can decide at the beginning to come out better in a few years or let it flush you down.
You need to start writing down what is important to you in a journal.
It is a process of triage. You must choose the least-bad to survive.
In the journal, give a few blank pages to each financial paths that you can take and give them a heading. For instance, "STAY IN HOUSE", then begin building a simple budget for a few months under that plan. Such as recurring costs like mortgage, child support, lawyer fees, insurance...
With this simple process, you will start to build up a more refined model.
Then in a few weeks, you will know which path is unsustainable and must be let go. Otherwise the unrealistic become distractions.

Take care, your kids are counting on you.
-kent

[cactus77727]

Oh Octo.. Wow. OK i agree with kent302

You can decide at the beginning to come out better in a few years or let it flush you down.

Hang in there. I'm two days past foreclosure, packing up, moving on down the road. Still no job. Not sure what's next myself. But I will survive. Just know that there is a better future for all of us eventually. Not going to be easy mate, but you can get through it.

[Octavian4017]

The divorce is settled pretty much.
Im getting kids majority of the time although legally it will be joint physical and legal.
She just started working so not making much money moving into an apartment with another friend so her rent will be cheap.
I've pretty much decided to walk, so I answered my own original question, mortgage is 1400, I will be paying upwards to 1200 in child support 3kids so it will be financially impossible to stay here.
I guess what Im looking for here is .
How can I drag this out rent free as long as possible ?
Sounds bad I know but Im broke at the moment and need to save.
My lender is country wide in georgia will be 3 months behind after the 15th of may.
The exact process of doing a short sale yourself, an already put together short sale packet etc... ?