Finally selling condo

Uppsala9496

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2001
5,272
19
81
On Tuesday the 18th I will finally be selling my condo and be debt free from the lenders.
Going to rent for a year or two and start to pay down the small amount of debt that the wife and I have (credit card totals of ~$6,000 and car loans of $16,000). Daughter is going into preschool next week so that alone saves me about $800 cash that I paid every month for daycare.

No more mortgage, no more association fees, no more home equity line of credit bill, no more daycare costs and to top it all off one of our cars has the last payment this month.
The place we are going to rent is about 4 miles from work instead of the 35 we currently have so less wear and tear on the cars. No toll roads to go on either. Right now it’s $3 a day in tolls.

We are getting about an additional 400 sq.ft. of living space and a 2 car garage (currently park both cars outside) for $150 more than the mortgage/association/heloc interest.
Starting next week we will save about $100 a month in gas, $50 in tolls, $800 in daycare. That’s $800 CASH that we are now saving a month by moving!


And yes, we did a short sale. Long process. Have had the condo for 10 years. Made every single payment on time except the last 2 months when our attorney told us to stop.
Both banks have given us written release of the loans so they can’t come after us at a future date. Sure we get 1099’s for the “earned income” but the mortgage forgiveness act will take care of that according to our accountant.
Really didn’t want to do the short sale but we outgrew our condo and this was the only way to get out. Sort of feel bad about getting out of the debt we agreed to, but have to do what is best for our family.

Oh and the condo was/is in my wife's name so she is the only one that took the credit hit (~70 points). Mine is still near 800 and when we go to buy we’ll do it under my name and I’ll qualify as a first time home buyer. Win win. Time to chill the bottle of Dom I received as a wedding gift and pop it open once the closing paperwork is done.


TLDR - babbling about how happy I am that short sale of condo is complete and how I will now save money.
 

andylawcc

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
18,183
3
81
:thumbsup; :padonback;
must be hard to walk away from something you paid responsibly for those 10 years
 

dr150

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2003
6,570
24
81
That's the way to do it.

Pay down that debt shit. :thumbsup:
 

Uppsala9496

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2001
5,272
19
81
It's in the NW burbs of Chicago.
Bought it 10 years ago. Only paid about $135K for it. Fair market value of $58,000 right now. I spent $20,000 (the heloc) completely renovating the kitchen and both bathrooms. New granite counter tops, vanities, cabinets, etc. Also installed laminate flooring throughout the living room/dining room and hallway. New flooring in the bathrooms and kitchen as well.

I sort of feel bad for my neighbors that have been there for a few years. One of them is $100,000 in the hole based on what he paid and what mine is selling for.
 

Chiropteran

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2003
9,811
110
106
Scary. I am one year into a $250k mortgage, I can't imagine losing more than half of it's value over 10 years.
 

Vic Vega

Diamond Member
Sep 24, 2010
4,535
4
0
Really didn’t want to do the short sale but we outgrew our condo and this was the only way to get out.

Paying off the mortgage being the other option.
 

Rudee

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
11,218
2
76
I paid off my mortgage recently, and there's no better feeling than having that weight lifted off my shoulders. Zero debt!
 

acheron

Diamond Member
May 27, 2008
3,171
2
81
Hey, if billion dollar corporations default on loans just to save money why can't individuals?

Because business loans have different terms that take into account the much likelier possibility of default. If you want individual mortgages to be given under typical business loan terms, then I hope you enjoy, e.g., 5 year terms and 40% required downpayments.
 

Chiropteran

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2003
9,811
110
106
It does in over 1/3 of the states.

Over 1/10 states, you mean?

Wikipedia to the rescue.
In 1833 the United States abolished federal imprisonment for unpaid debts,[5] and most states outlawed the practice around the same time.[6][7] Before then, the use of debtors' prisons was widespread; signatories to the Declaration of Independence, James Wilson and Robert Morris were both later incarcerated, as were 2,000 New Yorkers annually by 1816. Henry Lee III, better known as Light-Horse Harry Lee, a Revolutionary War general, former governor of Virginia, and father of Robert E. Lee, was imprisoned for debt between 1808 and 1809.[8] Sometimes, imprisonment would result from less than sixty cents' worth of debt.[9]

Six states (Arkansas, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Washington) allow debt collectors to seek arrest warrants for debtors in default if all other collection methods have failed. Whether a debtor will actually be prosecuted or not varies from state to state, county to county, and town to town. The individual is taken into custody and is typically required to submit financial documentation to the courts (to facilitate seizure of assets or wage garnishment), although in some cases the individual may be held indefinitely until a payment plan is reached or the debt is paid in full, especially if the individual is insolvent.[10] Other states have outlawed this type of collection action (Tennessee and Oklahoma have ruled it unconstitutional)[11] unless the court finds that the debtor actually possesses the means to pay—except in the case of child support obligations.[12][13][14]

Most state constitutions, including Minnesota's, have clauses dating to the 1850s that expressly prohibit the jailing of people for their debts. [15] Some people[13] make the claim that it is unconstitutional in the United States to incarcerate someone solely for failing to pay a debt. However, there is little settled law on this matter and plenty of precedent for de facto debtors' prisons.[12][13][14]

More than a third of U.S. states allow borrowers to be jailed for non payment of debts.[16] Judges have signed off on more than 5,000 such warrants since the start of 2010 in nine counties.[17] Because of “sloppy, incomplete or even false documentation,” many borrowers facing jail time don’t even know they’re being sued by creditors.[18]
 

Uppsala9496

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2001
5,272
19
81
If the bank didn't want to allow me to short sell, they wouldn't have done so.
They look at household income, debt, assets, 2 years tax returns, etc.

My salary this year is at the lowest it has been since 1998.
Chase has a pretty big incentive to let the short sales go through compliments of the fines they received for their not so kind foreclosure practices.
So it was in their best interest to forgive monies owed.

After 10 straight years of paying, they more than made their money.
 

Uppsala9496

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2001
5,272
19
81
I paid $7,452 in mortgage interest last year.
Extrapolate that over the 10 years I have been paying on time and Chase has made $74,520 on the interest alone (not counting principal).
Selling for $58,000. Chase will see about $42,000 of that after closing costs, attorney fees, etc. That's $116,520 to chase not counting principal that was paid.

Yea, Chase has made their money on this place.
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
I wouldn't mind doing this .. we bought our condo in early 2008, before the crash, and paid 115k, we owe 90k on it, and it's worth is like 45k...I know next year the county is going to assess it less as well...
 

Uppsala9496

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2001
5,272
19
81
Her credit was at 780 something before.
Down to 710 or something. Shows she hasn't paid the last two mortgages.

After the closing, the credit report should state that the debt was paid. Won't know until I run another report in a few weeks. Since the bank is forgiving the outstanding debt, they can't list it as unpaid.