Hello everyone! My name is Lauren Fernandez and I am a new member to this forum!
I am here because I'm interested in hearing about others experiences when buying their first home! I would also love some advice and feedback from anyone experienced with buying and selling Real Estate!
So this is my story as of this moment. My fiance is a first time home buyers. However, I previously owned a home with my x-husband.
Back in 2007 we living in Baltimore City and our daughter was 2 years old at the time. Therefore, we were set on buying a house in Howard County, MD because the school districts are one of the best in MD.
I'm sure many of you can remember the Global Financial Crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2009 due to the government’s encouragement of broad homeownership induced banks to lower their rates and lending requirements,5 which spurred a home-buying frenzy that drove the median sales price of homes up by 55 percent from 2000 to 2007.
BAs a result, Banks were handing out loans like candy to anyone and everyone, combined with the explosion of the United States run-up in housing prices fueled by demand, speculation, and exuberant spending to the point of collapse.
This crisis damaged financial institutions globally which led to a loss of more than $2 Trillion from the global economy!
Needless to say, the Housing Market suffered and unemployment soared resulting in evictions and foreclosures, as well as many businesses were failing. Unfortunately, we were unable to tell the future and the horrific situation were going to find ourselves a year later.
I apologize for the over-load of information, but I am amazed by the amount of people who are completely unaware and have no knowledge about this recession ever taking place because they weren't affected by it, which blows my mind!!
Anyway, we definitely got caught in that sh#@t storm! I just graduated from college. I found a job in Commercial Real Estate of all probabilities, right after graduating, and we were finally able to get approved for a home loan of $350,000. We ended up buying a Townhome in Columbia, MD for $310,000, no money down. The mortgage was $2,500 a month!!!
At the same time we bought our new home, and my x-husband decided to open up a restaurant and was able to get approved for a $200,000 loan to get the Restaurant up and running.
A year later, our entire world came crashing down around us! The value of the home went down over $100,000. So the option of selling and even trying to break even was out of the question. The Commercial Real Estate Construction Company I was working for had to lay me off. It was insane how fast everything came crashing down. One day I'm at work talking to sub-contractors working on building a Four Seasons and Leg g Mason Buildings in the Baltimore Harbor, and the very next day I come into work and people are getting laid off left and right!!!
In addition, the Restaurant my X took the $200,000 loan for ended up failing. Our marriage couldn't withstand the stress of it all and we separated and had to foreclose on our home. My daughter and I went to live with my parents. I had the claim bankruptcy and i went through a horrible divorce.
Going through such a traumatic situation really gave me some PTSD when it comes to talking about buying a home and all of the responsibilities that come along with it.
However, my credit is ruined, so my name won't even be on the Mortgage, which is a good thing and a bad thing because he can tell mw to leave whenever he wants. I forgot to mention that we have a 5 year old boy and a 2 year old daughter, as well as my 15 year old daughter with my X.
Then the pandemic hit. Right before it became a crisis situation, we were house hunting! We found a house we liked, mailed in the check and was about to have the keys in our hands and then the very next day, the pandemic hit us hard, which changed our whole financial situation for the worse, and the rug was pulled out from under us. Just another traumatic situation when it comes to buying a house! Lol!
Finally, we are back in a financial situation where we've been able to get approved for a home loan again. However, I know right now it's definitely a sellers market which is not a good situation to be in and I'm scared!!
I think I have more than enough reason to be! Thank you to whoever took the time to read my life story! Lol! If anyone has any advice or information they can share with me, good or bad, I'd appreciate it greatly!!! I just want to be prepared and have as much helpful information as possible going into this situation once again! Thank you so much for any feedback you can give!
Sincerely,
Lauren Fernandez
My fiance keeps talking about this first time home buyers deal which I need to do more research on. He is very impulsive and doesn't do any due diligence when it comes to becoming knowledgeable about what he's getting himself into.
