Could you rent your house if it won't sell? I know many of you are facing a pretty grim situation. You are upside down in your mortgage and you owe more than you can get in the current market. I was speaking with someone just yesterday who wants to move to another area of the country. She is sure that her family could make it just fine there as her husband has an excellent reputation within his industry and has spoken with contacts in the area. His salary there would easily cover the lease option or house payments should they buy there. They are trying to sell their home here and are listed a little short because they have a 2nd mortgage. They have not gotten any action on the house in over a month.
I was brainstorming with her and came up with the following idea. Why not rent the house for the market rent (even if it is less than the mortgage payments) and work in your new location to pay the shortfall while you wait until the market adjusts higher? I think that even if she was working in her new home to pay off the old one at least they would be where they want to be and they would not be facing another year where they are just barely scraping by and unhappy in their surroundings on top of it. She left me with some hope that this may work for her family. Perhaps it will work in your situation. I would not suggest it if you are on the brink of foreclosure, at this point you are not viable candidate to rent out a house. I would not suggest it if you would not be able to make up the shortfall amount between the rent received and the mortgage payments you need to continue to pay. You would need to check with your mortgage company regarding this as the mortgage will likely have restrictions regarding using the property as a rental but I am hoping the bank will see this as a possible way to avoid short sale or foreclosure. It is worth a phone call and some thought.
I hope that each person facing an inability to move on due to the current value of thier home or the prospect of foreclosure can find a way to restructure, sell, rent or find some other ray of hope. We can get out of this mess if we work creatively and think outside the box.
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