Moving, Really

Things with the job move have dragged on. It is still happening, but the corporation Hubby works for is currently in survival mode. they are the strongest in their industry, but they are working triple pace to keep ahead of the curve on this dwindling economy. That being said, the promotion is needed and coming, but while in this survival mode, we have prepared to wait.

Because of the area we live in, we took a bit harder hit on the housing value problem than some other places. We built and purchased our home in 2001, financing $123k. We refinanced once to $180k when the value got up to $235k, to pay off debts and such. Soon after we refinanced, the housing market crashed. Living rural, in an area that is still building, we took a severe hit because builders, in desperation, started offering brand new builds for less than established homes were worth. Our value dropped to $185k in early 2007 and builders started selling for $140k again. Over the course of the past year and a half, due to the builders shafting us established homeowners, people started dumping their homes. Either by selling them for rediculous amounts or foreclosing. This brought our value down even further. According to Zillow, today my home is worth only $149k.

Due to all of that, and our hopes for the future, we realize now we cannot ride it out anymore. We spend about $550-600 in gas per month to commute, we pay 4x's the amount for private water than residents in town pay, we have no firestation coverage since everyone in our area has to pay dues to a rural station to be covered, and we cannot put our kids into activities because we live too far from town for it to be possible. The home being rural was worth it when we had $60-70k in equity, even when it dropped to $20-40k in equity..... but now it is at a position to where it will take nearly a decade for my house to break even. That is not someting we are willing to ride out. For the financial betterment of our family, and convenience of location, we decided to take the next to least most noble route and run a short sale on our home. Basically, settle a debt for less than owed by selling it to an investor. Great things about these are they are more responsible than just running out on a loan and foreclosing, and you are only help the the pain on your credit for a few short years. Things I am willing to survive in order to close this chapter on our lives and do what we feel is the best choice for us. The amount we will save by renting in town will be nearly the amount of an entire paycheck I bring home.

Leaving our house will be hard, no doubt. We were young engaged 'kids' when we bought it, we got married and started a home in it, we have had fights and special moments in it, we conceived and brought home our babies to it, we have raised them to this point in it. But like I told my mom, it is just walls and stucco. It's the family inside that make it a home. And that family inside right now is scraping every month to maintain the home, while still trying to provide some special things for our kids that are so important for us to provide to them, and that is something we do not feel we should sacrafice. The relief we will feel when we can breathe again is going to be amazing. I am sure it will feel like a steel rod was pulled off our lungs.\

So thats the story, and what the recent 'moving' references are about!