Saturday, February 26, 2011
More Progess
I received a call a few moments ago from a real estate agent hired by the bank to perform the BPO (Broker's Price Opinion). That's where an agent that so far has been uninvolved with the transaction is hired to do a comparative market valuation on the property as part of the bank's research and decision making process. She is at the house as I type. Please pray it comes in where we need it to (the buyer's offer or less) in order to get this ordeal to a positive completion point.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Path to Now, Part 5
I just realized that I never completely finished The Path to Now series. Really, I think most of you can fill in the blanks, but for finishing-sake, here it is.
Sweet Peanut was born September 26, 2009, and I returned to work full-time in early November, bringing her with me daily. That was both a blessing and a curse, as any working mom can probably imagine. The agreement with my boss was that I could bring her through mid-February, but I knew pretty early on that the arrangement wasn't going to work that long. It was so hard juggling her needs and the needs of my job, and I felt like I was never doing either well. However, we were at a loss for how we would pay for childcare, if we could even find one that we deemed acceptable. There are a lot of not-so-great day cares out there, if you weren't already aware!
While arranging to borrow some snow-gear for a trip to the mountains that winter, I mentioned to an acquaintance from church, a teacher taking some time off from work to care for her surprise third child, our difficulty in finding quality childcare for our newbie at a reasonable price. A week or so later, she contacted me to let me know that she really felt called to help us. Plus, she and her husband needed some work done on their house, so maybe we could pay her in services. We met together not too long later and decided to give it a go. Peanut began staying with her full-time while I worked in mid-January 2010, about 4 weeks before my deadline to find other arrangements.
The arrangement worked well for us, and I think it was generally positive for her and her family, too. However, we knew that it was somewhat temporary as we would eventually run out of projects we could do for payment, and she also had plans to return to school, potentially impacting her availability to care for Ellie by the end of the summer. The arrangement with Mr. Four Wall's mom was also nearing the end of its feasible life-span (and probably had already past it, if I'm being honest).
We spent the late winter and early spring of 2010 earnestly talking and praying on what direction to go. We knew God had given us this baby and put us exactly where we were for a reason. We also knew that our prayers for relief - for a return to normalcy - were not being answered, and we took that as Him telling us the solution required action from us beyond that which we'd already taken, that this was possibly our "new normal." For the time being, we were making it, but only on the generosity and blessing of others.
We took another long, hard look at our finances, cutting what little frivolity there was left in the budget. The numbers still didn't add up to begin paying for childcare for even one, let alone all three, of the children. We were both making relatively good money, towards the upper-ends of our positions. However, with ridiculous housing, childcare, commuting and health-insurance expenses, there was simply no way to make it all fit. Something had to give, and the only long-term solution we could see was cutting the housing expense.
We spent several weeks researching the value of our home, conferring with numerous real estate agents and meeting with an attorney to learn all of the ramifications of selling a home worth significantly less than we owed. We readied the house for the market (which also involved moving Mr. Four Wall's mom out, and losing childcare for the older two children, but that's a different story for another day). Then we took the leap. And that is where this blog began in June of 2010.
Sweet Peanut was born September 26, 2009, and I returned to work full-time in early November, bringing her with me daily. That was both a blessing and a curse, as any working mom can probably imagine. The agreement with my boss was that I could bring her through mid-February, but I knew pretty early on that the arrangement wasn't going to work that long. It was so hard juggling her needs and the needs of my job, and I felt like I was never doing either well. However, we were at a loss for how we would pay for childcare, if we could even find one that we deemed acceptable. There are a lot of not-so-great day cares out there, if you weren't already aware!
While arranging to borrow some snow-gear for a trip to the mountains that winter, I mentioned to an acquaintance from church, a teacher taking some time off from work to care for her surprise third child, our difficulty in finding quality childcare for our newbie at a reasonable price. A week or so later, she contacted me to let me know that she really felt called to help us. Plus, she and her husband needed some work done on their house, so maybe we could pay her in services. We met together not too long later and decided to give it a go. Peanut began staying with her full-time while I worked in mid-January 2010, about 4 weeks before my deadline to find other arrangements.
The arrangement worked well for us, and I think it was generally positive for her and her family, too. However, we knew that it was somewhat temporary as we would eventually run out of projects we could do for payment, and she also had plans to return to school, potentially impacting her availability to care for Ellie by the end of the summer. The arrangement with Mr. Four Wall's mom was also nearing the end of its feasible life-span (and probably had already past it, if I'm being honest).
We spent the late winter and early spring of 2010 earnestly talking and praying on what direction to go. We knew God had given us this baby and put us exactly where we were for a reason. We also knew that our prayers for relief - for a return to normalcy - were not being answered, and we took that as Him telling us the solution required action from us beyond that which we'd already taken, that this was possibly our "new normal." For the time being, we were making it, but only on the generosity and blessing of others.
We took another long, hard look at our finances, cutting what little frivolity there was left in the budget. The numbers still didn't add up to begin paying for childcare for even one, let alone all three, of the children. We were both making relatively good money, towards the upper-ends of our positions. However, with ridiculous housing, childcare, commuting and health-insurance expenses, there was simply no way to make it all fit. Something had to give, and the only long-term solution we could see was cutting the housing expense.
We spent several weeks researching the value of our home, conferring with numerous real estate agents and meeting with an attorney to learn all of the ramifications of selling a home worth significantly less than we owed. We readied the house for the market (which also involved moving Mr. Four Wall's mom out, and losing childcare for the older two children, but that's a different story for another day). Then we took the leap. And that is where this blog began in June of 2010.
Finally, Some Movement. Maybe. Hopefully.
Honestly, though, there's not been much to update. Every week we update our bank statements, pay-stubs, etc, and every week we're told the "file is in review." In the past two weeks, however there have been signs, albeit small ones, that there might be an end in sight. The bank has started requesting specific documents, which might not seem like much but it shows that someone with half-a-brain has at least physically looked at our file. Unfortunately, some of the documents they've requested don't exist. Details, details.
Then this week we were asked to contact the bank directly to complete another "financial interview" before the file moves on to the next step. So, instead of spending this beautiful, rare, snowed-in morning frolicking in the flakes with my kids, I got the baby down for a nap, "gently" nudged the older girls out the door to play in the snow, and called the bank. Here's a play-by-play of the psychological warfare that ensued:
10:10 a.m. Entered phone-tree hell, where none of the options even remotely matched the reason for my call.
10:20 a.m. After pressing a string of phone-tree prompts that more closely resembled the picks to next weeks lotto drawing, "Brandy" very nicely and professionally answered the line. She verified my identity, pulled open my file and said she'd transfer me to the correct representative to conduct the interview. "It should only take a few minutes."
10:21 a.m. Placed on hold to await said interview and to enjoy obnoxiously loud jazz-guitar Muzak.
10:33 a.m. Muzak ceased and the phone rang. And rang. And rang. And rang.
10:34 a.m. Ringing ceased and Muzak resumed.
10:38 a.m. "Keith" answered, confirmed my identity again, and asked "Didn't you already talk to someone?" I outlined the above experience. He replied "Well, I've got good news for you! Are you ready for it?" "Sure," was my reply. "I'm going to transfer you over to do the interview now." How is that good news??????
10:39 a.m. Muzak resumed.
10:45 a.m. A friendly rep came on the line, but failed to give me her name. She simply asked what she can do for me. Thinking I've again been bumped back to the beginning of the line I impatiently outlined the above. She informed me that she is indeed the person to whom I need to speak. Then she abruptly placed me on hold. Cue Muzak.
10:48 a.m. Same friendly rep returned to the line. I asked her name. "Ann" then launched into a series of questions to "clarify" the information we've been submitting every month since September. I answered them as thoroughly as possible.
"How much is your cable bill?" "We don't have cable," was my reply. "You don't have cable?" she asked, astonished. "No."
I then had to explain in detail the health of our state's unemployment funds, and the unique program in which Mr. Four Wall's employer is enrolled, allowing him to receive supplemental wages when his regular job falls below a certain threshold in hours. She again was astonished, and launched into the health - or lack thereof - of Michigan's economy.
A few more questions followed where she needed me to verbally state exactly what is on the paper in front of her. Childcare expenses are pure-daycare, no alimony or child support. Garbage is x amount per month. No, there is no sewer bill because the house is on a septic system. And again, no, we don't have cable.
She indicated that's all for now. Oh, wait she noticed that they don't have any bank statements of ours on file from December 2010. OK, we sent those on such-and-such a date, but I will re-submit tomorrow. Anything else?
No, nothing else is need from us for now. The file will now be passed onto a Short Sale Specialist for further review. From this point on, she said that the process should move rather swiftly, and that we should be notified of their decision in two or three weeks.
10:57 a.m. Call finally ended.
So....if you're a praying (or fingers-crossing, or rain-dancing, or voodoo-doll-poking type....) please do your thing. Decisions are going to be made by someone, somewhere, and their opinion will determine if we can come through this process with an undesirable short-sale on our history, or if we have to go towards the not-so-pleasant, much-more-serious foreclosure.
I'll keep you posted. Promise.
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