Posted on: 06th Apr, 2010 02:06 pm
I have a house in Atl. I moved from Atl to Virginia for a job. my house has been on the market for over 1 yr now. This past Sept my house in GA was flooded and the whole 1st floor was destroyed.
B/c I wasn't there when the flood hit, I did not get any assistance from FEMA. I had a crazy-woman renting my house for 4 wks when the flood hit so the gov't considers that a business and I had to apply for a small business loan. My credit isn't good b/c of student loans so I didn't qualify for a small business loan. The little money I had saved, I paid a company to clean out my house and apply anti-fungal chemicals. My mortgage payment is close to 800.00/mnth. I have no $$ to fix up my house to get it back to code to rent it, if I wanted to rent it. I had a bad experience with the prior renter. She trashed my name around my neighborhood, destroyed my house when she left (if the flood didn't damage it, she did), she stole light fixtures, drapes, gas fireplace insert. She stopped paying rent before the flood hit so I'm out 2k for that. A friend of mine has a renter in her old house that hasn't paid in 4 months. I would rather loose my house and have bad credit than deal with crazy renters. This woman would call me 10+ times a day to complain about something. And the NASTY emails she sent me left me speechless (I saved all of them). Found out later that she moved in with a neighbor of mine and pulled the same BS on her too. I can not keep paying on an empty, unllivable house. I tried to do the deed in leiu but was told that the house has to be on the market for at least 3 mnths. I pd 150k form my house, it has been listed now for: 135, 130, 125. 120. 115, 110, and now 90k and still ppl want if for free. I understand that the 1st floor needs work (it's a split level so the kitchen and bed rms are all upstairs) but insallation/drywall/carpet isn't a whole lot of work. I spent, ontop of 150k another 15k to finish the first floor, I am looking at around 10k+ to repair the 1st floor (in order to rent it), replace the a/c & hot water tank. not to mention the builders permit, i have to get a licensed electrician to replace all the outlets on the first floor b/c of water damage and I have to get another elec box put on the house b/c it was submerged. I don't think all this money and aggrevation is worth it. I'm tired of dealing with this house. OH, i forgot to mention .... i put 30k down on this house, which I will loose. this whole situation makes me ill. I just want to do a deed in lieu and get my life back in order. :(
B/c I wasn't there when the flood hit, I did not get any assistance from FEMA. I had a crazy-woman renting my house for 4 wks when the flood hit so the gov't considers that a business and I had to apply for a small business loan. My credit isn't good b/c of student loans so I didn't qualify for a small business loan. The little money I had saved, I paid a company to clean out my house and apply anti-fungal chemicals. My mortgage payment is close to 800.00/mnth. I have no $$ to fix up my house to get it back to code to rent it, if I wanted to rent it. I had a bad experience with the prior renter. She trashed my name around my neighborhood, destroyed my house when she left (if the flood didn't damage it, she did), she stole light fixtures, drapes, gas fireplace insert. She stopped paying rent before the flood hit so I'm out 2k for that. A friend of mine has a renter in her old house that hasn't paid in 4 months. I would rather loose my house and have bad credit than deal with crazy renters. This woman would call me 10+ times a day to complain about something. And the NASTY emails she sent me left me speechless (I saved all of them). Found out later that she moved in with a neighbor of mine and pulled the same BS on her too. I can not keep paying on an empty, unllivable house. I tried to do the deed in leiu but was told that the house has to be on the market for at least 3 mnths. I pd 150k form my house, it has been listed now for: 135, 130, 125. 120. 115, 110, and now 90k and still ppl want if for free. I understand that the 1st floor needs work (it's a split level so the kitchen and bed rms are all upstairs) but insallation/drywall/carpet isn't a whole lot of work. I spent, ontop of 150k another 15k to finish the first floor, I am looking at around 10k+ to repair the 1st floor (in order to rent it), replace the a/c & hot water tank. not to mention the builders permit, i have to get a licensed electrician to replace all the outlets on the first floor b/c of water damage and I have to get another elec box put on the house b/c it was submerged. I don't think all this money and aggrevation is worth it. I'm tired of dealing with this house. OH, i forgot to mention .... i put 30k down on this house, which I will loose. this whole situation makes me ill. I just want to do a deed in lieu and get my life back in order. :(
Hi ritavc,
You are stuck in a difficult situation. Renting the property out is a good option if the rental income is adequate to cover the mortgage payment. But renting has its disadvantages which you have mentioned. The first floor of the house also needs some repair work and it is not quite advisable to invest money in repairing them in this situation. Thus, deed in lieu of foreclosure seems to be the best possible option for you. Lenders require you to put the house on the market for at least a few months before considering your request for the deed in lieu. As your house has already been on the market for more than a year, you can contact your lender and request them to allow you to do the deed in lieu.
You are stuck in a difficult situation. Renting the property out is a good option if the rental income is adequate to cover the mortgage payment. But renting has its disadvantages which you have mentioned. The first floor of the house also needs some repair work and it is not quite advisable to invest money in repairing them in this situation. Thus, deed in lieu of foreclosure seems to be the best possible option for you. Lenders require you to put the house on the market for at least a few months before considering your request for the deed in lieu. As your house has already been on the market for more than a year, you can contact your lender and request them to allow you to do the deed in lieu.