Moving

I mentioned in my last post that we are going to be moving soon. I haven't posted anything about it because it has been a long, long and stressful road for us. Here you go.... read at your own risk.

We bought our house a little over 3 1/2 years ago and when we bought it we were given to loan options - a 30 year fixed or a interest only with a 5 year arm. Our financial guy talked us in to the interest only loan because at the time that is what everyone was getting and he convinced us that we would be able to refinance in a year or two and the loan would never be an issue. Boy was he wrong.

We contacted our first and second mortgage companies and talked to them about the loan modification plans. They pretty much did nothing for 6 months. So, we hired a lawyer in Orange County that specialized in loan modifications. We worked with them for a year and pretty much got no where. All in all, we tried for 15 months to work with our banks to modify our loan and they just drug their feet and wouldn't give us an answer.

We qualified for a temp loan modification but it was a joke of a process because they just strung us out and wouldn't tell us if they were going to perm modify us. We got sick of waiting on the bank to determine our future and have chosen to short sell our house. We have a buyer for our house and are currently in the short sale process. Good thing we didn't wait for the bank because got a letter about 2 weeks ago denying us for the loan modification.

On top of trying to modify, we are about $150,000 upside down on our loan so it just doesn't make sense for us to try and fight to stay in a house that we will never have equity in. On top of all this, Matt took a 6% pay cut last July and the City of San Diego took over time away this year and that is about a 30% pay cut for us. So, add it up and Matt has taken a 36% pay cut just in the last two years. Yeah, really sucks. We really didn't have any other options but to short sell our house.

I get so pissed off when I talk about this whole loan stuff because I am sick of hearing about all the government help out there. It's BS. We couldn't get help and almost all of our friends are going through the same thing and they can't get the help either. These banks are getting money from the government, not helping the homeowners, and taking the homes back so they can resell them. It's just wrong. Matt and I know soooooo many people who are in the same situation as us and we only know of one person that got a loan modification.

I saw on Good Morning America a month or so ago that there were 6.6 million loans facing foreclosure in the US. You know how many loan modifications had been completed across the US at that time? 168,000. That's right, only 168,000 loans in the US had been modified. Where is all the help? It's a HUGE joke.

When I called our bank to let them know we were facing a short sale, you know what they said? Great, no prob, I'll send you out a packet of paperwork on what we need. They were passive and couldn't care less about our situation. It's just plain wrong.

So, Matt and I would love to be able to stay in our home - the home where we have put a lot of time, effort and money. We have our first garden here, it's where Kennedy came home from the hospital to, we remodeled a bathroom and have added all sorts of our touches to this home because we truly thought we were going to be here for the long haul. We have friends in the neighborhood and we love it here. Now we can't stay.

Matt and I have been pretty quiet about this to our friends until recently because we were embarrassed. We thought we did something wrong and failed miserably. I have now realized that we did not do anything wrong and we have done everything in our power to try and stay in this house. It is out of our control at this point and we have to cut our losses and move on. It sucks, but it is what we have to do.

The good news in all of this mess is, we have a GREAT place to move and we are super, super excited. Cathy and Larry have a beautiful guest house at the opposite end of their 2 acres. They have offered for us to live there. At the time the house was a little small for us so we have been under construction for the last 2 months adding a downstairs where the garage used to be and adding more living space. It is pretty much a new home and BEAUTIFUL. Cathy and Larry have even agreed to fence off some of the yard so we feel like we have our own space. We will be paying Cathy and Larry rent to pay back the cost of this upgrade and we plan on being there for at least 5 years, probably more. Matt and I are eternally grateful for family helping us at this time when we really need it as they have given us something to look forward to at the end of this huge mess. The good news is, I already know I love my new neighbors!

The house is being drywalled this weekend and we should be moving by the middle to the end of June - about 5-7 weeks before the baby is born. Yes, it is stressful to move right before a baby i set to arrive but its better then moving when you have a few week old baby. I will take pictures of the house tomorrow and post them as this place is awesome!

I am looking forward to our new neighborhood as there are other small kids in the area and the schools are some the best in the area. I also am going to cut back my work to 1 day a week at Angels starting June. I am excited about being home more for the kids and it will be much easier on me and Matt if I'm home more.

So, there you have it. That is our story of why we are moving and we can't wait to have it in the past.