...or living in the fast lane. Either way, this is ludicrous what I am about to tell you. Take an unmarried couple, sprinkle with 5 kids, add $40,000 annual salary for both, and then scrape the bowl with: he already had a bankruptcy in his past.
So many red flags. Irregardless, she still was able to secure two different loans on her name alone. $99k for the house and $25k for the down payment. HELL-o. (accent on the hell.) I am sure it was hell for them as that adjustable rate mortgage started climbing from the $603 manageable monthly payment. But, as we all know, most things never remain the same and soon that 6.125% was on its way to 11.125%. Ouch! The second loan added another $217 to the $603 payment and that loan had a balloon payment of $20k due at the end. She said no one ever explained that balloon payment to her. Is it any wonder? Why saddle her with stress? Just the monthly payments alone were right up there that would eventually cause a lot of headaches.
Mind you, these people have 5 kids and they were operating on a salary of $40k. Good God, what the hell were they thinking? Really though, the bad guys here were the people extending her those loans.
Well, needless to say, that couple lost their home. And all because they got caught up in the frenzy of the housing market back in 2005. (I don't know this couple but they do live in a neighboring town, and our newspaper had their story in the Sunday edition.)
I sold my parents' house in the summer of '05 to a divorced single mom of two (she's a nurse). I worry that she, too, won't be able to keep it. Perhaps by now she has a partner, or is making more money. She had a traditional loan and the selling price wasn't anything that she couldn't handle herself. Even so, I still keep an eye out to see if she still owns it. I would hate to see my family home fall into the wrong hands.
4 comments:
Hey Cheyenne, yesterday you said "I just wish I were a whole helluva lot younger!"
I'm not sure I could handle that again! I was 30 the year that picture was taken. :-)
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That poor couple. And I read in the paper yesterday that 22% of the bankruptcies now are people 55 and over.
They mostly get caught up buying medicine, home loans that have escalating payments, and charging all those alluring credit cards to the limit.
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Now don't forget about "reverse mortgages". They are really a good thing way for the lendeers to take advantage of Seniors.
The American Dream... yet our country is seeing record foreclosures this year. America's economy is about as balanced as the scales of justice. sad!!!
Yeah, I know a few couples who got caught up in the mortgagae crap. Let me tell you realtor and lenders are the problem. When we bought our house ten years ago we knew we could make the payments. The lender really tried to get us to but a 'lot more house". That means spend a lot more money because we could qualify for it. After a very heated and one sided conversation I think he agreed that qualifying and making payments were two very different things.
Ralph
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