My life is ruined.?

Question

GOOD NEWS: In 2005 my 1998 honda civic was finally paid for. I had 26k in the bank. No debts. No obligations.

BAD NEWS: In 2006 I made the stupid mistake of buying a 100k condo and an acre of land for 38k for investment purposes.
I got ripped off on closing costs!(7k at closing table---that went out the window) Then 6 months later my honda civic gets stolen. The police found it torched in an empty parking lot. Total loss 6k. I had minimal insurance coverage cause it was 9 year old car. At the time I had no transportation, no car, no way to get to work except bus and i was out 6k. Then I buy a junky car for $500, to save my money. Then 6 months later the real estate market collapses. Im making "interest only payments" on my condo. Cant sell land or condo. My 26k in savings dwindles down to 10k. I still owe 26k in student loans on a worthless degree with no career in sight. I sent out over 200 resumes. Im now 160k in debt with 2 mortgages. Life sucks! What to do?

Answer 1

Do not join the military..i say refinance and stick it out.lol..moral of the story is ALWAYS get full coverage on your car whether new or old..

Answer 2

That is really rough. I'm sorry to hear you are going through such a rough spell.

Here is the (potentially) good news: the real estate market is cyclical. That is why you should never buy real estate for "investment purposes" when the market is hot. You wait until times like now when no one is buying. But I'm not here to tell you what you already know now. But IF it is possible to hang onto the land, you'll get your money back and then some when the market rights itself. That may be several years, however, so that might not help you if you are in dire straits.

What you might consider instead is the following:

1. First, I wonder two things: what you are doing for work right now, and more importantly: what was the "worthless" degree you received in college? NO degree is worthless if you know how to market it. You can use that degree to get a lot of jobs, although not necessarily in the field you planned. In any case, go to your school and ask for a career analysis. You might be more marketable than you realize, and are simply not throwing those resumes in the right direction. You can also get advice from the school on writing cover letters, resumes, and giving interviews. Maybe you are not finding anything because you sent out 200 resumes that were not written well. It makes a BIG difference! In any case, most schools will do this for you for free if you are an alumni. It does not hurt to ask.

2. If your debts are beyond your ability to manage, there may be a few options to help you. Ask your bank for information on non-profit credit aid organizations. You may even be able to find debt-aid agencies online as well. Just make CERTAIN you do NOT sign up for anything that involves you paying a fee. Some of these supposed debt consolidation businesses are a scam. You'll know when they start asking you for money.

In the meantime, I suggest watching your credit very closely:
Quit charging anything. Now. Make a list of what you owe and concentrate on paying off the smallest bills first. Forget the interest rate; forget the number of payments left. It's easier to pay off a $150 bill than a $1500 bill... so do it. Every time you pay off one bill, take what you would have paid on it and put it toward the next one. Work toward saving money in other areas and put that money toward paying down a bill. If you can make extra cash, earmark it for a certain bill, until that bill is paid off. Even if it's only pocket change, hold on to what you can until you get enough together to add an extra few dollars on the payment. Even five or ten dollars will make a difference, so don't think they aren't enough to bother with. Don't ever miss a payment. But when you do, make it up as fast as you can. Promise yourself a small treat when you pay off the next debt.

3. If ALL else fails, you can declare bankruptcy. It will cost you some money, but will eliminate your debt. That said, it will take you a LONG time to fix your credit... but no longer than it will take you to fix years of debt and late payments. You will need to call a bankruptcy attorney for more information. The bad side is bad credit. The good side is the ability to start from scratch. Most of your debt (probably not the school loan) will be eliminated. You can go from there and rebuild your life.

Whatever you do, do not give up. Money is temporary. So is your life. Do not waste it. Be positive, get plenty of exercise, and eat right. You will feel better. Then do whatever you can to get back on top. You can do it! People do it all the time.

Answer 3

What is your degree in?

I am not sure what you can do without knowing where you live (state)...but I think you have been looking at the proverbial glass in the wrong way! If you bought this CONDO in 2006, you have income taxes to file. YOUR 7k downpayment means a very hefty tax return for you...Your car was stolen, another nice deduction (theft and casualty loss)
Not sure how much of your 7k was the downpayment and how much of it was bank fees but lets just say 4k of that was fees, another 6k loss of your car and another 9k interest and you have nearly 20k worth of deductions.....since you lost your job your tax rate is going to be waaaay less than your your outlay and you will get a HUGE refund.
Of course you will use that money wisely and possibly even use it to make your payments for the next six months.
You can request a deferment for your student loans while you are unemployed and it should be granted.
YOu can resistate that when you find a job.
That deferment will keep them out of default and take a bit of pressure off of you


If you did not have some kind of job, there is no way in hell that the bank would have loaned you any money so that degree had SOME value at some point. The bank believed in you so believe in yourself!
Use your degree to substitue teach. In our area the pay is about 80 bucks a day. No that is not great money but the job is flexible so that you can look for work around that schedule.
Interviews are never a problem, you just dont agree to work on the days that you have one or schedule yoru interview after 3pm or whenever school lets out...

YOu will find the right job for you it might just take more time.,..in the meantime, if the teacher thing does not work, you can wait tables at an upscale resturant or consider going back to school.
what about a roommate.
If you are willing I would LOVE to talk to you personally we can Im or email each other but please do not give up your home. I have a few ideas that might assist you in saving your condo....(none of them involve ME or anyone that I know and I am not going to sell you anything or link you to any websites)
Anywhoo, I still think that you are luckier than most, you still have your 10k, your health and your condo.
things will get better
hang in there

Answer 4

Not ruined , you just had a total reality education about the financial swings in life.
Why do you say your degree is worthless ?
Refi to a 30 year fix , NOW ! I do not know why anyone would do an % only , since they are bad for the pocket book 99% of the time.
% only means you pay PMI ! Didn't they teach math at your school ? PMI is $$$ in the toilet , especially since you had enough for 20% down . You would have saved a fortune on the rate and the PMI.
But now you know to do your homework Before you jump .
You need a place to live , keep the condo for now .
And stop sending out resumes , those are just recycling bin material.
If you really want a job somewhere , go in person .
Make an application and check back to see when the interview is . Sell your qualifications to the person hiring . . . be serious about the job .
Sending out 200 resumes is just paper spam , you are not serious about any of them and They Know It.

Sit on the land until the market cycles , it always does.

But just curious - was this somewhere in the US , where you got a condo for $100K ? None of those here and I do NOT live in California !

Answer 5

How much money do you make? And what is your degree in? Dude it sounds like you are having a really really bad time. There has got to be a job out there for you.

Your degree cant be so worthless if you owe 26k in student loans. Sounds like you have a bachelor's in something, from a decent school. You can definitely get some kind of job. Dont tell me you majored in something like Sanskrit.

You aren't even close to needing to file bankruptcy. Maybe you need to work 2 jobs for a while but you dont need to destroy your credit with a bankruptcy.

Answer 6

I'd like to recommend that you read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This book is a life changer, and can give you the hope that you may need to keep moving and get yourself out of this. You were able to save money up once before, you can do it again.

Dave has a 7 baby step plan that walks you through getting out of debt, saving money for a rainy day, and investing/growing your money.

I can't say enough about it. For the first time in a long time my husband and I feel like we have the control over our money to do what we need to do to get ourselves out of debt.

Answer 7

To my mind the only way out for you is bancruptcy. Its not a dirty word anymore because the economy is way below what it should be. If you get hornswaggled into paying all these debts you won't see the light of day for 30 years. Do not go to credit counsellors, they get paid by the businesses you owe $ to. I am assuming you are around 28-30 and have made some huge mistakes, so don't waste what's left of you youth paying thru the nose. Bancruptcy is the only way to go.

Answer 8

could you rent/share the condo with someone who could come up with atleast half the mortage or can you consolidated both your mortage of land and condo ,talk to your personel banker see what are your options. student loan make a plan to make a payment each month as any late payments and no payments make a difference on your credit reports.

Answer 9

look forward to the turn around for your investment. most people flop when it comes to investing in real estate because they see pricing fluctuate, freak out and sell it. only to find out 6 months later it doubled and the guy who bought it from you wasnt such a schmuck after all. patience my dear. i had a horrible two years run...my whole entire life went berzerk. i got through it by remembering to ask myself what it was for. why am i going through this is a crucial question. in my case, i learned that i am stronger than i thought, smarter than i thought,etc. think of life like a game. i'd much rather play an action packed game that involved me getting into hot water and finding a way out. i'd rather play a game like that than play something boring like tic tac toe for my whole life. in a way what we percieve as misfortune, is really what builds our charachter. the challenges of life. be thankful for them. without them, it would all be a boring gray.

Answer 10

ask CLark Howard! Consumer Info. Guru! Here is his website.