I thought I would share our story and show how easy (or complicated it was depending on how you view it) to get into trouble.
We are both retired and have a pretty good income. We both went back to work after retirement just for something to do. We liked working.
We improved our late model mobile home with a new kitchen doing most of the work ourselves. It turned out in the long run this made it desirable but not saleable.
Anyway we decided we wanted to travel for a few years in retirement in a motor home and it was a life long dream. I know, but we could afford it and the gas that went with it.
We jumped out and bought a big used unit about a year+ ago and started prepping it for the way we wanted it and prepping the mobile home and our land to sell.
In the meantime I lost my job in retirement due to a previous injury coming back to haunt me and I could no longer stand long hours on my feet or walk the distances required and had to return to retirement. No problem as my wife still had her job but now that's a requirement as we have the motor home payment too.
So we put the home and land up for sale. No problem, we only owe less than 50% of what the homes and land in our area have been selling for. Many buyers came and went. They loved the home and the kitchen that we had nearly $22k into and the location of the land. But nobody came back.
So one day I called banks to find out what was going on. We found out that when we moved our mobile out of a mobile home park where we were renting to our on property that we voided any VA or FHA loan guarantees and loans that went with it. That was a shock as that did away with a first time buyer and a low down payment requirements.
We also found out that there were few lenders that were currently even doing loans on mobiles and land at all. Many I talked to told me that if the buyer had great credit and such and could pay 20-30% down against a current appraisal and pay a rate of some 8-12% interest that it could still be done. Ouch, that hurt!
OK we are still doing OK. We can afford everything as long as the wife is still working. We will just wait until times improve and sell it later. In the meantime we have a nice motor home to vacation in.
Then my wife developed a medical problem and she could no longer do her job. She quit but they would have terminated her anyway within a short time as she could no longer meet the requirements of her job.
I put the home up for sale at just above what we owed on the land and the home itself. We were certain that someone would want it for half of what the two were worth just a few months before. No takers when they found out about the heavy downs and high interest rates.
So we called two people that really wanted the home and land and told them if they could just give us a little equity they could assume both.
Wrong! Our mobile home lien holder would not allow either one to assume.
Now were are stuck. Our savings is going down fast, neither of us can work any longer and selling the motor home is not an option either with gas so high.
In our case we did manage to sell just the land and at least cleared that note. The buyer was in hopes he could buy or assume the mobile but that has not happened yet and it appears the home will be removed from the property.
We moved into a rental, turned the motor home into the lien holder and figured that BK is our only way out. We see an attorney for the first time right after Xmas.
We should not of course have bought the motor home without first having sold the home. But hind sight does not work here and it's too late.
Our excellent credit is gone and we are heading into a Chapter 7 filing. We are lucky enough to have our retirements (so far anyway) and they are just below the median average I am told for this area for the chapter 7 rules so we won't be stuck with an administered chapter 13.
So goes the best laid plans for retirement. At least we have our retirement incomes and we will live OK once this additional debt is gone. We are now both disabled and our plans to travel are now very limited of course.
I thought that sharing this might make some of you feel a little better about how you got to where you are at now.
We are both retired and have a pretty good income. We both went back to work after retirement just for something to do. We liked working.
We improved our late model mobile home with a new kitchen doing most of the work ourselves. It turned out in the long run this made it desirable but not saleable.
Anyway we decided we wanted to travel for a few years in retirement in a motor home and it was a life long dream. I know, but we could afford it and the gas that went with it.
We jumped out and bought a big used unit about a year+ ago and started prepping it for the way we wanted it and prepping the mobile home and our land to sell.
In the meantime I lost my job in retirement due to a previous injury coming back to haunt me and I could no longer stand long hours on my feet or walk the distances required and had to return to retirement. No problem as my wife still had her job but now that's a requirement as we have the motor home payment too.
So we put the home and land up for sale. No problem, we only owe less than 50% of what the homes and land in our area have been selling for. Many buyers came and went. They loved the home and the kitchen that we had nearly $22k into and the location of the land. But nobody came back.
So one day I called banks to find out what was going on. We found out that when we moved our mobile out of a mobile home park where we were renting to our on property that we voided any VA or FHA loan guarantees and loans that went with it. That was a shock as that did away with a first time buyer and a low down payment requirements.
We also found out that there were few lenders that were currently even doing loans on mobiles and land at all. Many I talked to told me that if the buyer had great credit and such and could pay 20-30% down against a current appraisal and pay a rate of some 8-12% interest that it could still be done. Ouch, that hurt!
OK we are still doing OK. We can afford everything as long as the wife is still working. We will just wait until times improve and sell it later. In the meantime we have a nice motor home to vacation in.
Then my wife developed a medical problem and she could no longer do her job. She quit but they would have terminated her anyway within a short time as she could no longer meet the requirements of her job.
I put the home up for sale at just above what we owed on the land and the home itself. We were certain that someone would want it for half of what the two were worth just a few months before. No takers when they found out about the heavy downs and high interest rates.
So we called two people that really wanted the home and land and told them if they could just give us a little equity they could assume both.
Wrong! Our mobile home lien holder would not allow either one to assume.
Now were are stuck. Our savings is going down fast, neither of us can work any longer and selling the motor home is not an option either with gas so high.
In our case we did manage to sell just the land and at least cleared that note. The buyer was in hopes he could buy or assume the mobile but that has not happened yet and it appears the home will be removed from the property.
We moved into a rental, turned the motor home into the lien holder and figured that BK is our only way out. We see an attorney for the first time right after Xmas.
We should not of course have bought the motor home without first having sold the home. But hind sight does not work here and it's too late.
Our excellent credit is gone and we are heading into a Chapter 7 filing. We are lucky enough to have our retirements (so far anyway) and they are just below the median average I am told for this area for the chapter 7 rules so we won't be stuck with an administered chapter 13.
So goes the best laid plans for retirement. At least we have our retirement incomes and we will live OK once this additional debt is gone. We are now both disabled and our plans to travel are now very limited of course.
I thought that sharing this might make some of you feel a little better about how you got to where you are at now.
Bankruptcy Wizard
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