Reply #257: You don't have to be a pro to know what you can afford. Most people in their gut... [View All]

[Honeycombe8]

know what they can and cannot afford.

I'm a single woman who has bought a condo and a house on her own. I got in a fix on the condo, and let it go to foreclosure. (However, I didn't just abandon it; I cleaned it thoroughly, made sure it looked pristine, called the mtge company and maintained contact with them, as they went through teh formal foreclosure process they legally have to do...sending letters & so forth). They got it back, sold it at a profit, and I never heard from them again.

People should know this: WHEN A CO. TAKES YOUR HOUSE THRU FORECLOSURE AND THEN SELLS IT, THEY CAN STILL COME AFTER YOU AND TAKE YOUR $$$ OUT OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT FOR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT YOU OWED, AND WHAT THEY SOLD IT FOR. In my case, I was lucky. Part of that equation, I'm sure, was that I communicated honestly with teh mtge company, and I left the premises in sell-ready condition. Nothing broken or missing, spotless.

In got in trouble with the condo because I needed a year to sell it (condos are hard to sell), and I had tenants for a year, but they up and left on me, and I couldn't afford the mtge & homeowner's assn fees after that (I was already in my new house & paying a new mortgage).

When you get yourself in trouble, like I did, sometimes the best thing to do is admit, and do what you have to do honorably to extricate yourself from the situation, or it'll get worse. Sounds like the OP has done what he had to do. Now he can go forward and not make the same mistake in teh future....make SURE you have an emergency fund that will not be used for house purchase or anything other than true emergencies like medical costs, make sure you put $$$ down on a house, make sure the total payment (incl ins. & taxes) is less than 30% of your net income (or that all your finance payments total less than 36% of your gross income).

It's always the case in a mortgage that most of your payments for the 1st 5 to 10 years go toward interest. That's the way it works. Then it picks up dramatically...going more toward principal. Time is the key.

Finally...buy less house than you think you can afford. My houses have always cost more than I anticipated...ins. and taxes go up every year.