Post #295,310
10/29/07 2:21:42 PM
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Using credit cards to cover mortgage payments?
[link|http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071028/lf_nm/usa_creditcards_debt_dc|Yahoo.com] In August 2006, Reeves and her husband bought a $214,000 home with almost no money down, leaving them with a monthly payment of $1,636 -- higher than they planned on, especially with her husband's furniture sales job largely commission-based and business not good due to the U.S. housing slowdown.
An attempt this spring at refinancing with another lender fell through, leaving them behind on payments and struggling.
But as part of her efforts to avoid defaulting on the mortgage, Reeves said she has "maxed out" all her credit cards, spending to the limit on basic needs. "Now all I'm doing is making the minimum monthly payments." Rising mortgage payments and tighter lending standards for refinancing amid the subprime credit crisis have dried up once-easy access to home equity loans for many middle-income borrowers -- so desperate borrowers are using credit cards to cover basics while trying to keep up with home payments.
"When credit conditions dry up, marginal borrowers turn to plastic," said Merrill Lynch North American Economist David Rosenberg. "We're seeing signs of that already."
In an October 5 research note, Rosenberg called rising credit- card delinquency rates as the "next skeleton in the closet." Looks like most people are not stupid enough to use their credit card directly, but many are using the credit cards to cover their living expenses while using their salary to pay their mortgage. This is still a loosing cycle, because eventually they run out of credit, and are worse off then when they started. Jay
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Post #295,313
10/29/07 2:40:05 PM
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I've heard of this
They think they are winning because they are racking up points for freebies like airline tickets and such.
Credit cards are plastic evil if you don't know how to control them.
Smile,
Amy
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Post #295,347
10/30/07 6:47:28 AM
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Bad idea.
And for a really simple reason: credit cards have a higher interest rate.
She should be selling the house for a cheaper one and moving.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
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Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
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-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. | · my ·
· [link|http://staticsan.livejournal.com/|blog] ·
· [link|http://yceran.org/|website] · |
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Post #295,361
10/30/07 7:35:43 AM
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she now owns one of the cheaper ones
a lot of people owe far more than what the house is worth. I was careful when I bought and wouldnt owe any money if I sold but would lose the 25k I have in the place
thanx,
bill
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #295,362
10/30/07 7:38:54 AM
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Easier said than done.
Ever tried to sell a house? Especially when people are foreclosing right and left? When the market is flooded with housing stock, it can take anywhere from 60 days to a couple of years to sell a house. What are you going to do? Not pay your mortgage? For some people, credit cards are their only salvation.
Smile,
Amy
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Post #295,370
10/30/07 8:23:32 AM
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My house has been on the market since January.
Value has now dropped to where it is below what I owe. I'm seriously considering letting the bank foreclose to get rid of it. Can't afford to sell it now...
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. (Herm Albright)
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Post #295,372
10/30/07 8:45:11 AM
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be careful you dont end up in either
juidicial foreclosure or owe a pile of income tax from the balance. check [link|http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/2007/08/06/index.html|http://clarkhoward.c.../08/06/index.html] Using the short sale technique to avoid foreclosure
Clark is fond of saying, "All real estate is local." That means that home values are stable in some places around the country, while in other areas they're down the toilet. Speculative markets where people bought with no money down, had adjustable loans or option payment loans have really been hurt. The option payment loans -- which are big in California -- are loans where the balance rises over time. The only way not to get clobbered is if the home value rises quicker than the loan balance, which is usually not the case. So option payments lead to a lot of foreclosures -- unless you can arrange a short sale with the mortgage lender. In the case of a short sale, the lender agrees to accept less than the loan balance if you can get the place sold. Why would a lender want to do this? Well, it turns out that it costs a lender $70,000 on average to foreclose on one home, according to industry estimates!!! So a short sale is something of a win/win situation for lender and borrower alike. The neighborhood also wins in this situation because for every house foreclosed on, the average selling price of other homes in the immediate area drops 1.5 percent. Foreclosure is like a cancer that spreads in a neighborhood, but it can be healed with prevention by contacting your lender and setting up a short sale to actively market the property before the fact. An answer of "no" today may be "yes" tomorrow, as the lender may have to first get a waiver from someone they sold the loan to in order to permit that short sale. rent it to meth heads, maybe they would damage it enough to collect insurance, man tough doins. Where is the house? thanx, bill Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #295,375
10/30/07 9:25:35 AM
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Around here
we have a whole bunch of "We buy ugly houses" investor types. Sure, I would lose money, but if push came to shove, I would punt the sucker than keep hemorrhaging on it.
Smile,
Amy
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Post #295,380
10/30/07 10:12:23 AM
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I already check with them.
They will only offer 60% of the appraised value. Due to the devaluation of the house, it is now worth just under what I owe. So selling to them would leave me with 40% of the mortgage.
And I do have a guy looking into a short sale.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. (Herm Albright)
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Post #295,382
10/30/07 10:20:21 AM
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no rental possibilities?
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #295,394
10/30/07 12:03:47 PM
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Oh, I get it...upside down. :-(
Need...more....coffee.....
Smile,
Amy
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Post #295,427
10/31/07 5:08:02 AM
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That's true.
I'd kinda forgotten that point. Whoops. (House prices are going up in Sydney.)
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
| |
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
|
-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. | · my ·
· [link|http://staticsan.livejournal.com/|blog] ·
· [link|http://yceran.org/|website] · |
|
