anybody wanna buy a house?

(insert loooong sigh).

Well, the bank has put their foot down. They contacted our realtor and said that they want us aggressively pricing the house and reducing the price until it sells. We put the house on the market back in March when we realized there was just no way that we could keep trying to pay the mortgage with neither of us being employed and at the time only me drawing unemployment benefits. If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that we've been really struggling financially for awhile now. Part of this struggle involves our house.

the walkway down to our front door

Actually, I guess there really isn't much of a struggle at all. The fact is, we just can't afford to pay the mortgage. We can barely afford to keep it in a livable condition (electricity, gas, etc). If it wasn't for food stamps and incredibly generous family and friends, we really wouldn't be living here at all. There is hope on the horizon in terms of a shift in our financial situation (hoping for March), and God has provided means for us to earn enough between us to keep the utilities on and basic bills paid. But that is only a short term thing... we can't live here for "free" forever. We have to move on. Either we really try to do the short sale thing, or we don't, and let them come and take it. The bank wants us to do the former. So, that's what we're doing.

the living room

The price change goes into effect today. The house is going to be listed for $85,000. We owe $60,000 more than that. And the chances are, we probably will not get more than $65,000 - $75,000 for it. ISN'T that crazy? Can anyone say HOUSING BUBBLE? Yeah.

the dining room

We bought our house from some of our best friends back in September 2006. (And I didn't know it until I'd come over for a visit, but they'd bought it from a previous co-worker of mine!  He had it on the market in 2004 and sold it then for like $125K. When we bought it two years later, it had appreciated to $150K... that's $25K in TWO YEARS!! Isn't that insane?) We were in the midst of wedding planning, and the date was set for the 24th of September. I guess it was September 8th or so (I remember so clearly) and we were sitting in the recovery room with some of our dearest friends visiting with them after they had their baby girl, and my friend Jeannie mentioned that their house was on the market and they'd just changed realtors, hoping to sell it pretty soon. A lightbulb went on for both Jason and I. We were both living (separately) in Buckhead in downtown Atlanta at the time and had originally planned to move me out of my apartment, and into the house he was renting down there. We started talking about maybe pushing on the proverbial door and seeing if we could get financing, but the fleece was that it had to be easy, to feel like a "gift", because we did NOT have the extra energy to spend on trying to buy a house in the midst of planning a wedding. Looong story short, our stipulations were that 1) the mortgage payment couldn't be more than the rent we were prepared to pay, 2) we couldn't afford a down payment, so it had to be a no-money-down loan, and 3) it had to be a no closing cost loan. Well hey folks, we were the quintessential mortgage seeking folks who shouldn't really have been given a mortgage...even though our combined income was nearly six-figures... Everything worked out so beautifully and perfectly, and all the stipulations were met. It was an effortless transaction, and two days before our wedding, we closed on the house. A month later, we moved from Buckhead to the Burbs and began our family life.

the kitchen

We bought it thinking we would be able - as most homebuyers do - to turn it in 3-5 years and have enough equity to put a down payment on a larger home. But, alas, the best laid plans often go awry. Thank you mortgage crisis and subsequent economic downturn. Thank you failed TARP and job layoffs. And here we are. We are about to lose our house, that is, unless some lucky family comes in and buys it for a steal, and saves me the ultimate of credit shames of foreclosure. It's all our fault, I guess, unless you talk to our accountant. Before January, we were never late on a single payment. In fact, our mortgage was auto-drafted from our account. It's a miracle we made it to January.

our bedroom

I am not necessarily upset about it... (or maybe I am in denial). I am and always have been a pretty transient person. Jason too. Our kids though, they've never really known anywhere else. Add to that the fact that two of them now are in school (Dakota in 5th grade, Shiloh in preschool) and settling in, and have friends and lives here. I think that's the part that is the most unnerving - I really don't want my children to suffer. The couple years we talked about all the little things we might do to this house, even though I didn't really want to stay here forever, it would have been a great lot to terrace and build more gardens, build a nice deck in back that would overlook our very private wooded backyard, finish in the garage so we had a play area/separate bedroom for Dakota as he matured into his teens, expanded the kitchen a bit, ya know... stuff like that. We have already done some things to the house - put hardwoods and a fence in, had the septic system redone, etc ... it's hard to walk away from something you've invested so much of your life, time and money into.

Dakota's room

But, we're in crisis mode. We have to do what we have to do right now. Right now it is one day at a time, one foot in front of the other. The good news is we have a place to live and we can essentially live there rent free until we get on our feet. That right there is a HUGE blessing. It's actually more square footage than our current home. It'll be closer to our church, and immediate family. Ultimately, should this job opportunity pan out for Jason in March, and he starts drawing a salary, the potential is there for us to get back on Dave Ramsey's plan, get back to paying off debt, saving and hopefully (since it's my credit being slaughtered, not Jason's) be able to buy again in a few years, maybe the land we've always wanted, build a house, have chickens and a big old garden and goats and a cow and maybe a horse or two eventually. So, when you look at where this next (albeit sad) step takes us, it truly could be that we're stepping into the future we have always wanted... but this is a sacrifice that we have to make to get there.

the woods behind our house

So, anybody wanna buy our house?

PS - you'll get this great raised bed garden spot too :)
PPS - I will add pics of Noah and Shiloh's rooms in a bit... check back later!

<3 Brooke