New to Bigger Pockets - Unique Situation/Help Appreciated!

New to Bigger Pockets - Unique Situation/Help Appreciated!

Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 0 votes

Hello Everyone,

(This may be rather long but I appreciate your time reading and certainly your advice)

I am new to the BP world and loving it. I have been a Dave Ramsey fan for a while, listening to him on and off while dreaming of getting my finances in order. I, unfortunately, haven't gotten serious enough about it until recently. I would try for a while then get discouraged. I recently started my own side (hopefully one-day full time) business, however, I had to put it on pause as I moved due to a career change. My goals are to one day run my business full time and get into real estate. I would like to have a few rental homes, then be able to cash buy homes to restore and flip.

I am in quite the predicament right now, however.  Trying my best to make a long story short, I recently separated from Air Force after serving for 6 years. While in the service, my wife and I moved from Wyoming to Arkansas and purchased a house. Unknown to us and not disclosed by the sellers; the home (which is on well water with no access to county water) has a bad well. The well sporadically runs dry and has very hard water. The 4 1/2 years we lived there, we had to constantly treat the water and conserve to try our best to not run out. Our options are: chance digging another well (approx: $8000) or get county water ran to our home (approx: $15k-$20k). Neither of which we have the money for or were prepared for. 

I separated from the Air Force because I got a job offer that was going to potentially set us on the right track and be closer to family. It went south. Now I have a home in Arkansas on the market that I can't sell because of the water issue. I have to disclose that because I don't want to do anyone like we were done. I had to take another job to have some income, while it's a great job I am not making enough to make the $1300 house payment. I have unfortunately missed a few payments while trying to make ends meet. I am looking into a "Deed in Lieu" option to get out from under the house, rather than it go into foreclosure. I am just worried about this further damaging my credit and also hindering me from being able to get another mortgage when I am ready to get another home. 

I was looking into getting a cheaper house, renovating it, and flipping it for profit, repeating, until we got into the house we could afford and stay out of a large mortgage as much as possible. I am afraid my dreams of doing something like this will be shot down all because of a problem we "inherited". My life has been full of terrible luck, some my fault, most just life I guess. But its rather frustrating when you finally get one leg up and something else knocks you back down. I have a lot of plans, I am listening to the podcasts literally all day at work and taking notes. I have lots of ambition, but I am not sure if it will do me any good. I know where there is a will theres a way, hopefully someone can give me some hope on the situation or some good advice. 

This was forever long, I am sorry. I tried to not get into every little detail and believe it or not, left a lot out lol.

Thank you for the opportunity to join you guys, I hope one day I can post something helpful to someone else, rather than needing so much advice. I am really excited about the opportunities and I am hoping I can straighten this mess out somehow.

Respectfully,

Andrew B.

0Reply
30 views

Most Popular Reply

Goshen, AR · Member since 2017 · 267 posts · 159 votes
8y

@Andrew Benefield @Michael Rhein has a great suggestion with the storage tank. We also have a slow well (.5-1 gallon/minute) with VERY hard water (calcium carbonate). We put a 1500 gallon storage tank on it and a water softener. We havent had any problems out of it in 6 year unless I forget about it when watering the garden and run our cistern dry. I have a few folks I can refer you to and maybe a few more suggestions if you're close, please reach out. 

See this reply in the discussion

8 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Real Estate Investor · Middle Island, NY · Member since 2016 · 147 posts · 68 votes
    8y

    In my opinion, I would hold off on any thought of investing in RE until you can get your finances in order and your housing situation sorted. 

    Can you possibly get a 2nd job? I would be doing anything I can to make sure the house payment is covered, the last thing you want is a foreclosure on your file.

  • Stuttgart, AR · Member since 2017 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    A third option on your water situation would be to install a storage tank that you fill when water is good and pump out when not. No idea what that would cost.

    As far the job and payments; have you considered going back into the air force?  If it was a recent seperation and done on good terms; I think (but don't know for sure) you could go back in at your old rank and sort of pickup where you left off.  Might even be able to pick up a reenlistment bonus that would help with the house. 

  • Susan H.Pro Member
    Investor/Landlord · NWA, AR · Member since 2016 · 227 posts · 132 votes
    8y

    @Andrew Benefield, I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience with that house purchase. I see some here have already offered you good suggestions. I agree that making payments on time is crucial to your future financial well-being. 

    What county is the property in? Perhaps someone local can offer more suggestions. I'd be curious to know how neighboring homes, for example, handle their water issues. 

    What's the employment situation like in that part of the state? Can you parlay your military experience into work to generate income?

    I'm not personally familiar with the "Deed in Lieu" option; am I correct in thinking that's a transaction with the mortgage lender to prevent foreclosure? If so, how might that affect your credit in the future?

    If you're in the NWA area, message me and I'll do my best to offer more location-specific suggestions.

    ~Susan

  • Goshen, AR · Member since 2017 · 267 posts · 159 votes
    8y

    @Andrew Benefield @Michael Rhein has a great suggestion with the storage tank. We also have a slow well (.5-1 gallon/minute) with VERY hard water (calcium carbonate). We put a 1500 gallon storage tank on it and a water softener. We havent had any problems out of it in 6 year unless I forget about it when watering the garden and run our cistern dry. I have a few folks I can refer you to and maybe a few more suggestions if you're close, please reach out. 

  • Jerry W.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Thermopolis, WY · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    8y

    @Andrew Benefield, Welcome to BP. Sorry to see you in this bad spot. Hang in there, there were hundreds of thousands of folks like you 5-10 years ago who were upside down in their primary home mortgages. I have very little advice, but perhaps you could advertise on Zillow and other internet sites for someone to buy your home just for what is left on the mortgage. If you got it for zero down on a VA loan that might not be possible. One serious problem with VA loans and no money down is that you have no margin when things go bad. Either way good luck. This is just a thing and you will survive it. Be grateful you don't have cancer or a child sick in the hospital. This will pass.

  • Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    Thank you all so much for the welcome and replies. I was trying to get back to everyone but the page wasn't loading for me yesterday when I got off work.

    @James Caruso I am definitely going to be waiting a little longer till I invest in RE. I want to make sure I am set up for success and not still dealing with this in the meantime. I am looking into other means of bringing in more income as well.

    @Michael Rhein We have thought about the storage tank option but wasn't sure how we would fill it and how to run from it. Also how that would affect the selling process. I did separate on good terms, so I believe you are right on thinking I can go back in. However I messed my knee up in service, that was one of the reasons I separated. 

    @Susan H. Thank you ma'am! The house is in Pulaski County. The surrounding neighbors on my side of the street also have problems with their wells. On the opposite side, however, there seem to be no major issues. Employment around here is hard to come by, one reason I took the job I currently have. It has potential, but it may be a few years. You are correct about the "Deed in Lieu" option. It still goes against your credit, but not as bad as an actual foreclosure. I have been doing a little research on it. It seems to me that it will be my best option for now, as bad as I hate it. It'll keep me from getting another mortgage for either 2/4 years depending on hardship situation, but I can rent a small place for a few years while continuing to save and hopefully pay mostly cash for a place later.

    @Dustin Davis I appreciate that. I think the house would be about 3 hours from you. Not sure if that is close enough or too far.

    @Jerry W. I did get my house using the zero down with a VA loan. Thank you so much for the encouraging words, I know this will eventually pass and people have been in the same/worse situation as myself, it's just hard to see the silver lining in this case sometimes!

  • Stuttgart, AR · Member since 2017 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    If your neighbors are having the same problem; then you have a fourth option (I think).  As i understand the county water system is they charge you based on how far they have to run a line to you.  So once you pay to get that done, and there is now an astablished line, anybody else that lives between you and the starting point gets theirs hooked up cheaper.   So your 4th option is to get the neighbors together and pool your money together and all get ut dobe at once.  It is $15k-$20k for you to do it and its $15k-$20k for your neighbor; but it might be $20k-$25k to get both done.  The more neighbors that get involved the less it will be for each. I could be wrong on this but its definitely a line of questions i would pursue.

  • Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2018 · 219 posts · 182 votes
    8y

    I don’t know much about wells or those types of situations.  However have you considered trying to do a loan modification ? The key to modifying your home loan is to prove you can still afford your current payment and all of your bills but that it is more than about 30% of your income. Perhaps you could get the loan modified to bring you current with a lower payment.  Then maybe even rent it out to cover the new lower payment and then some. Another option is the short sale the property. This would give you more time to live in the home without payments and save up as the process does take time. A great real estate agent can help you with this negotiation with the bank  and it will cost you nothing. After short sale you can purchase another home in 2 years. 

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.