Not walking away while underwater in a chapter 13 is a mistake, I think...

[Billssuck]

We have already submitted a ch13 modification (and it was approved) to surrender our house due to my husband loosing his job last October. Anyway, the value of our house was only about $10K less than what we owed on it but there was no way we could afford it even after our ch13 was finished with the reduced income. So...we're walking away and when our plan is done in less than two years we will truly have a fresh start.

As far as buying a house in the future, I'm not too keen on that idea for my family. There is working to pay the mortgage, working to repair/maintain it, the time and effort it takes to do those things to keep it up, and feeling like a prisoner to the house that owns you not the other way around. I know you loose tax benefits, possible future equity, the means to make it your own, but right now I need the freedom from it and that hectic lifestyle I mentioned earlier. Maybe in a few years I'll feel differently and want to buy again, but right now I am okay with letting that American nightmare (oops...suppposed to be "dream") go. My two cents...

[espo1357]

Wise advise from Flamingo. Also, the interest rate you get in a few years will in all likelihood be punitive. With your loss of income, have you figured out how to save up the down payment? If you are guesstimating to be upside down 50K in 5 years in your current home, and will need 30K (20% on a 150K mortgage) in five years that's only a $20K difference. I am curious how you are basing your home value because you say it was worth $100K more than it is now less than a year ago. Most housing markets saw their biggest plummets well before that.

don't laugh: zillow.com

It was about 300k when I filed, on zillow. Got assessed for about 200k last year, when I filed. But, now zillow has it at about 200k.

What really gets me is my new job, which is 35k less, and has no future, especially in the city I currently live in.

I am likely to just go back to school or move to another city with better job opportunities, because the only reason I am "stuck" in this city is because I love the house, the lifestyle. However, in the LONG TERM, its going to be a mess when I am 45 and downsized again, and with a home with no equity and career prospects that are nil because the job market in this city I live in doesn't care for the educated.

In other words, its better to feel the pain now than later.