My Foreclosure Story

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Recommended: Current housing crisis

Foreclosure has hit the Nation fast and hard. I am from Arizona; one of the states hit the hardest with these rough economic times and had to fight to keep my own home. One of the problems I have run into when fighting to keep my own home is information on options. Many lenders would not touch my situation and keep trying to send me to someone else until I was forced to find my one way.

Every home owner is going to have a different scenario that led them to hardship. My personal situation led me to be unemployed for about four months. During these months I tried to find a renter to live in the home to help pay rent. The problems I ran into dealt with the competition of entire homes being for rent in the area for substantially cheap rates. Who would live with someone if they can get a home for rent at an affordable price? As of December, 16, 2009 an average room for rent in a shared home is roughly $510 a month while the average one bedroom home or apartment is $650 (data referenced at end of essay).

I ended up having to take a job out of state as it was the only job offer I received. I am now working with Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General in Oklahoma as an Auditor. I found a renter to live in my home to pay approximately 70% of the mortgage. The only reason this worked out is because I was able to find a rental in Oklahoma for about the same I am renting the home out for; I am not making any money in this deal. I am thankful for my job, but understand this is not an option for everyone.

After having the opportunity to see other HUD programs first hand I believe a hybrid of renovation aide and a rental program would be a great option for those who don’t want a completely free hand out, but would lov...

... middle of paper ...

...ot as much as the amount of foreclosures that could have been prevented given a little help. According to thetruthaboutmortgage.com, default rates hit 21% in the third quarter of 2009. With rates that high, every prevented foreclosure is worth it.

References

Website http://phoenix.olx.com/rooms-for-rent-shared-cat-301#

Method I took the below information from the website above to calculate the average room rental rate in Phoenix, AZ for 3 bedroom homes as of 12/16/09

Numbers 450

600 Average 510 102 1224

425

575

500

Website http://www.rent.com/rentals/arizona/phoenix-scottsdale-and-vicinity/phoenix/

Method Information is listed on the left hand side of the website under "cost of living and apartment prices"

Numbers

Average 650

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