Home Foreclosures Soar 121%...yes 121%!!, page 3

reply to post by Obsidian_Butterfly

We initially bought our home on a land contract. We signed our first contract with the owner after we had rented the house for a year. We signed a rent/option contract where part of our rent went towards the down payment. After a couple years we signed a land contract with the owner to purchase the house. We met with him at a local abstract company agreed to terms. Our hope was we would eventually qualify for a conventional mortgage, which we did acquire after a few years. There was never any mention of this when we signed the land contract. There was never a deadline where we had to acquire a conventional loan. The owner was willing to carrying us for the full term with a balloon payment at the end to pay the interest.

Lucky for us this owner wanted rid of this house. He could not sell it through normal channels, as it was a vacation home not yet finished. We bought an “as is house” the owner did at least put carpet in. In order for him to sell conventionally he would have spent more than it cost to build the place. The owner built the home with his son's. The realtors had told him in order to list it with them he was required to install central heating, as opposed to the wood stove, he would have had to add a bath and close up the loft room so it could be considered a 3rd. bedroom. He was simply getting too old to keep building on the house and just wanted out. He worked with us and was a good man. Everything went well. I think it might depend on the seller how well this arrangement works. Just have everything in writing you both must agree on terms if the seller is desperate it could work in your favor. The abstract company made sure everything was legal and above board. Our house payment was $200.00 per month. After going conventional we took out some equity for my husbands business this raised our payment to $300.00 per month, which is what we pay now.

We have loved our home. We have done a lot of work and settled for less. Our home was livable from the get go. We had all the plumbing, electrical and water/sewage systems in place. It was just interior stuff mostly. We never got the second bath. Just as well I hate cleaning the one. We never got the central heating but love the wood stove. Our loft room is still open and it stays so toasty up there in the winter we have an open floor plan with a ceiling fan so heat circulates throughout our house. We live on 5 acres but have access to hundreds as the land development we bought into went bankrupt many years ago so most of this land is vacant.

There are some really beautiful vacations homes here that sit empty except for the pack rats and mice that now inhabit them. Certainly many of you have outlying rural areas that might have homes in similar standing. Many of the owners just want out the up keep is killing them, as are the taxes. Many are not finished enough to go conventionally. It's worth looking into.

While we will never get rich off our home that was not the intent we just needed someplace to live and wanted to live in the country. Our home is now worth 4X's the initial value even in this market but we will stay put and hopefully ride out this economic nightmare.

I am so saddened that so many are finding they are caught up in this horrible situation. It is my feeling that after the weather gets bad and school starts the full impact of all this mess will hit hard.

All the homeless from foreclosures what will they do? When our son rented his first apartment his credit was not yet established enough so we had to co-sign. I do believe most apartment complexes do credit checks if you have a home in foreclosure I wonder if you would be considered for a rental?

Stars for ofhumandescent for telling it like it is!