All Forum Posts by: Sara H.

Thanks for the good info. I am going to call and for sure see what I can do about lowering the 6.9% - I wanted to make sure I explore everything before I call so I've got a game plan.

I'm also going to look into properties that could off-set losses.

The only other property I have in my name is the home we live in. I am hestitant to try for a loan mod on that because I don't want to mix what I viewed as business with my personal assets. I just did a streamline on my home to get those payments as low as possible without a mod... I just don't want to bury us in the home and the triplex. Maybe that's not rational but it scares me.

My husband has business loans in his name but could possibly take on another property loan. I'll start looking into that. I'm calling the mortgage company today as well - hopefully the can reduce the payments enough to offset things enough to make a difference! Last year I called in on it and that's how I got the rate frozen at 6.9% instead of continuing to go up...

Thanks for those options. I feel some hope!

One last question, I have the triplex set up in an LLC... do you think I need to do my home in one as well then?

Thanks Joel & Emilio- those are definitely great options.

The building was built in 1911 - and it's an older Victorian home that was turned into 3 units back in the 1970's. It's not set up in a way that condos would work without some major renovations. I hadn't previously thought about breaking them off as condos to sell - but I don't see it working on this property. When I bought the triplex it rented for $450 more than I can get out of it now and I only intended to flip it for a quick small gain. Oh the regrets!

I cannot qualify to buy anything additional. I have great credit as of now but I am maxed out on lending. I am the only person on the loan though so I will look into whether or not my husband could purchase something that could help even out the losses - I'm not sure what the requirements would be to purchase a rental property with current lending policies? How much down? ...I'll look into that.

The home we live in does not have any equity either in this market. We could probably eat our losses on that and sell for what we owe and rent something cheaper or move into one of the triplex units - which we've seriously been considering (although living in a 600 square foot rental in college-town is making me claustrophic already). It all comes back to how long I'm going to be bleeding money on it though. I've lost $40k on it so far - if I keep floating it even for another 5 years that's another $25-30k down the drain. The amount of time it'll take to recoup those losses in property values/rents increasing is daunting. I realize this was NOT a smart investment- especially after your breakdown of the 50%. But it was my responsibility and I feel as though I need to do whatever I have to in order to make it work but maybe my morals aren't as strong as I thought because here I am debating if I should give it up.

Oh and my insurance will only cover the damage caused by the emergency repair - but not the repair itself which is 90% of the cost.

Thanks again for your thoughts! I appreciate the options.

Thanks for the reply. I owe $290k on it and based on sol comps it's worth $230-250k at most. Rents are $2100 a month when fully occupied. The ARM is currently 6.9% and they said it is frozen although my original loan agreement capped it at 10% roughly.

I bought a triplex in 2006 with plans of flipping it. I wasn't able to do it quickly enough before the market bubbled. So I've tried to set it up as much as possible. I was advised to set up an LLC to run the property as a business, and quitclaimed it in the name of the LLC. I've had the property listed for sale since 2007 at the amount I owe on it...with absolutely no luck in selling. Now I'm stuck with a rental property that is decreasing in value, is difficult to rent for the amount it went for a few years ago, is on an interest only ARM loan (huge regret), and now has a $6,000 emergency repair in process. Since purchasing this property I've gotten married and pregnant. I've been dumping all my savings into keeping this property afloat but I just don't know how I can continue to do that with a child coming. I feel absolutely horrible at the thought of defaulting but I don't know what else to do. I've lost about $40k in cash already on this property in the form of repairs to flip it, lost rents over the last 5 years, and now this emergency repair. I'm sick over the thought of adding to the foreclosure crisis but what do I do? So far I am current on the loan but I most likely will not be able to keep that up for more than another month or two.

So here are my questions:
What do I need to be aware of before I call my mortgage company? Should I try for a short sale (I've heard they are basically impossible in Utah)? If it goes into foreclosure do I still collect rents? If it goes into foreclosure are any of my personal assests (my home) at stake... what can the mortgage company come after? If it forecloses will it effect anything I currently have - or just my credit and all that entails?

Thank you in advance for any advice or wisdom shared!