Questions on getting Finances in order.

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Bruce58,
The "basically on the deed" means that me and my wife name were placed as the names on the deed. We are supposed to receive a copy of the deed by mail but have not received it yet. Yeah, I know using my IRA was not such a good idea but the home I was renting was from my mother and basically she had sold it or rented it out to someone else under me and my wife feet so we had no other choice but to find somewhere else to live. That house we rented from my mother was never under a signed legal contract or we did not ever sign a contract on it so that is one issue about leaving the previous home. Another reason I wanted to get into another home was to claim the property taxes and the mortgage interest on my taxes and to own something that has mine and my wife name on it. Another reason I wanted something in my and my wife's name on it is I am not getting any younger and just retired from the military back on 1 sept 2010 and I don't want to rent until I die and leave this place on planet earth and I don't want to rent and have to move to another house every three years or so. Just trying to make life better for me. my wife and my two daughters

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Another thing is I was paying around $1,000.00 a month rent from my mother on a 2002 doublewide home located in Upstate South Carolina and the property got reassessed at 6% versus 4% and it made it go up from $600.00 to over $2,000.00 a year and my payments would have went up to over $1,000.00 dollars a month and I was basically fed up with it. Basically the home I rented from my mom mortgage was below $700.00 a month but she wanted $200.00 more a month to pay equity in the home so my payments were around $900.00 and everyone I talked to even my father that had seperated from my mom said I was crazy to pay that much on a home, especially a double-wide, manufactured home in the Upstate of South Carolina so that is why I was in between a rock and a hard place concerning finding another home to lived in and that is why I did what I didn't want to do and use my IRA to get into something else and plus my finances isn't the best either so that is the only place I could get the money to make a move into another home. The new home is a stick built home rancher style built in 1980 and it was completely redone and is better, in my opinion, than a brand new home that was just built. Me and my wife and kids love this new home and would never go back to living in a doublewide or manufactured home ever again.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Not sure what the laws are in your state but in California you go through escrow and buy title insurance. Was that done on this property?

So the house is what it is. In 6 years, you are going to need to get a loan so filing bankruptcy is basically going to kill your chances of getting a new loan so you shouldn't go that direction. Obviouslly, we don't know your income or expenses and how much debt you have so we can't help you unless you divulge all which shouldn't be done on an open furum such as this.

Do you have money set aside to pay the taxes on the IRA withdrawal? Are your expenses less than your income so that you can start paying down your debt?

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

With this home I can claim everything on it at tax time, like the property taxes and mortgage interest but the house I rented from my mom I can't claim anything on that one.

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Bruce58,
Yeap, that is exactly what we did is get title insurance on the new home. Yeap, I really don't want put my every details about my finances on this forum either that is why I am brief about it but yeap, my finances are definitely needing an overhaul to say the least. Me and my wife have started and we are taking our finances by the bulls horn and will be working on getting bills paid on time and working on paying off the smaller balances then working toward the bigger balances owed to creditors and hope our credit score will come up between now and at the 4 year mark we have lived in this new home so we can start looking for a loan to pay the balloon payment at the 6 year mark.

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

bruce58,
we did get title insurance under a company called, The First American Corporation, First American Title Insurance Company"

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

So what percentage downpayment did you put on the house now? The reason I am asking is that its tough to get loans on houses these days if you don't have 20% equity. Hopefully, that will change in 6 years but that is the story now.

I just got a refi loan on my house where I have over 50% equity, have an 800 credit rating and I could afford a loan around 5 times what i was requesting and it was still a pain in the butt.

If I were you, I would definitely have a plan B in the back of my mind so that at the 4 year mark and you don't think you can get a loan because of your finances, you either sell the house or negotiate with the guy holding the paper on your loan to renegotiate the loan ballon.

In the mean time, write down a budget and start paying off the highest interest credit cards first. You guys took years getting into this mess so its going to take awhile to get out of it. Read that Dave Ramsey book that I linked and listen to his show on the radio if you have a chance.

Do you guys have cars with loans on them? If you do, I would sell them and buy a cheaper used car with no payments.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

bruce58,
we did get title insurance under a company called, The First American Corporation, First American Title Insurance Company"

Good!

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

bruce58,
The good thing is all of the cars are paid for and do not owe anything on them and I have clear titles to all of them and safely put in my fireproof safety box. We put only 5% down on the home and the guy wanted $88,500.00 for the new home. The guy we brought it from is really treating us good and going above and beyond helping us out if for any reason we cannot get a loan I think he might help us out by extending the loan on the home but I DO NOT want to do that and want to get bank financing instead.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

OK..that sounds good.

So, how was your debt created? Was it just bad spending habits, emergencies?

Are you contributing to a 401K or IRA? If you are, I would stop and use that money to pay off the credit cards.

Have you ever actually written down all your expenses and what you bring home and created a budget? Secret to paying off debt is setting goals for yourself and it helps to have your goal of amount you need to save every month written down. You need to bite the bullet and get rid of unnecessary expenses which includes eating out, cable TV, smart phones...BOATS!!!! You and your wife both need to be onboard here. If one of you is a saver and the other isn't, a budget won't work.

One more thing...Bajaunderground's post #7 is great advice. Since you were in the military look into the VA/FHA options. Get yourself educated on loans now and what you need to get your debt down to in order to get a loan. You need to educate yourself here. Knowledge is important!

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Yeap, I am a saver and my wife, not talking down on her and I love her, spends alot of money but she is slowly getting better at not spending like she did in the past. We have got, I cannot count the number of times, we have fought over money. This all started when I went to Korea on a remote assignment back in 2007-2008 and hasn't been the best with finances since then. If I can get her to think like I do with conserving and saving money then we would be in better shape she is getting better but not 100% yet. I feel sometimes we are spinning our wheels sometimes with our finances, trying to get them in better shape but since we moved out of our previous rented home and into this one she seems really more interested in getting our finances in better shape and told me she will get the finances straight because she really wants the new home.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Good luck Bubba. We're pulling for you.

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

bruce58,
Yeap, since we moved into our new home we have actually ran credit reports and have written outstanding debts due to all of the creditors and have made phone calls this past week on getting back into a payment plan. written down how much is left on those accounts, and have written down what we are paying and what day on the months that we will pay each of them. We are working hard on getting our finances in order in order to finance that balloon payment once the 6 years is up.

 

[Big Bubba]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Incoop,
Thank you!!! I need all of the support I can get and pray and hope that we can finance this house in 6 years. The next 4 or more years will be the test for us, me and my wife, I mean in winning and finance this home. I will be positive and do what I have to to make things work.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Bubba: I think I saw somewhere in the thread that you are recently retired/discharged from the armed services. Is that correct? If so, doesn't the VA have financial counseling available?

I can understand how you don't want to post your whole financial scene on the internet (I wouldn't either), and that will make it harder for anyone of us to help out online (which we all want to help, y'know?). But if the VA offers, and you qualify ... that'd be a good and confidential source.

Also, Dave Ramsey (like him or not) has a good network of reputable counselors and seminars to help out. Someone posted a link to his book earlier in the thread, and I'd highly recommend you and your wife give it a read.

Best wishes bro. You can dig out of this.

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Bubba,
Follow the advice about looking into Dave Ramsey books and seminars etc. Its a way of life and a different outlook on money, debt, spending, etc. I listen to his radio show and my Brother bought all of his books and tapes a few years ago.

Good luck, recognizing that you have an issue and are willing to change it is half the battle.

 

[Allbutwet]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Hey Big Bubba check out Clark Howard as well. And like southkogs says you should be able to get some help through the VA. Best of luck.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Yeap, I am a saver and my wife, not talking down on her and I love her, spends a lot of money but she is slowly getting better at not spending like she did in the past. We have got, I cannot count the number of times, we have fought over money . . .

FWIW - in our early years of marriage, there was some struggle in my household about who spent most of the money and where did it go . . .

So, my wife and I agreed that for several years we would track every dollar that came in and went out. We used 'Quicken' on the computer. We even went back a year and pieced it together from the checkbook, bank statements, credit card statements, etc. So, in total, after a year or two, we had several years of spending history.

It was an eye opener, as we could really see who was spending the money and where it was going. Much of the spending was unnecessary, and once that we could see it, we made some changes. So, rather than making places like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, CVS, and Wal-Mart rich, we kept the money to ourselves and used it for more important things.

That was about 15 years ago, but to this date, that exercise has stayed with us, and we budget and track our spending annually on a spread sheet. Not that everything has been perfect over the years, but in retrospect, that exercise was a 'course changer' for us.

Again, for what it is worth. I hope it all works out.

 

[coastalrichard]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Bob:

Some of the information that folks are offering is true and accurate; some not so.

I have over 30 years experience in conforming and non-conforming lending. I can virtually recite verbatim both the FNMA and FHLMC Seller Servicer Guides. I once held a Direct Endorsement Underwriting certification from DHUD. Throughout my days, I have supervised activities including originations, processing, underwriting, closing/funding, servicing and secondary marketing.

If you would like an experienced, non-interested, third party assessment of where you are, where you need to be and how to get there, PM me and we'll tackle this privately.

Richard

 

[ezbtr]

Re: Questions on getting Finances in order.

Do it on your own, call creditors and make a deal, zero interest, settle for less than whole amount and make sure you have something in writing saying they will show paid off on your credit report.. Don't use the cards anymore, pay all in cash. I did actually use that service(not exactly sure of name) and they helped a bit.