We thought we were going to get to stay in Alaska until his retirement so we bought a house.  Well the military denied his request to stay and now he is in Fort Benning and I am in North Pole AK, previously stationed at Ft. Wainwright.  I have 4 of the children and he took our 13 year old.  Now one of my children has a serious health problem and I am having to fly back and forth to a specialist while placing my other 3 in child care here.  The cost of our morgate here and his rent in Ft. Benning is killing us.  I work full time and we are still not making ends meet.  I have talked to real estate agents and they won't even touch my house because we will not get what we owe on it.  I was told to do FSBO but have no clue where to begin and with everything else going on - I am just at a loss.  We didn't sign the paper work until Aug. of '06 but we signed the earnest money agreement in June of '06 so I am unsure if the HAP program applies to use or even how to go about finding out. 

I miss my husband and son terrible and right now I am just lost. 

Any information would be great.

Jen, very sorry to hear about your circumstances.  Here are some thoughts: 

It's my understanding that you would have had to settle before July 1, 2006, to be eligible for HAP.  However, I would suggest you personally call the appropriate HAP office to verify.  This link shoud have the numbr.  http://hap.usace.army.mil/

If it's any consolation, even if you were eligible, it doesn't ensure that you wouldn't lose considerable money going through the HAP program.

Assuming I am correct on that, the next critical piece of information would be  the market value of your home.   Did any of the realtors give you some idea of how much they thought it would sell for?  if not, call them back and ask them.  Don't hesitate to ask another realtor for a "market analysis."  

Next question is:  How much do you owe on the home? 

With these two pieces of info, you should have some idea of "how far in the hole" you are.     

If you decide to sell the home yourself, you should discuss contact a local reputable settlement company and ask if they have a "for sale by owner" package of the applicable contracts and disclosures.   I would also do some research on real estate attornies in the area and consider using one to review any contract that you might get from a buyer. 

Regarding marketing the home, you may find a real estate attorney who would list the house in the MLS for a modest fee on a "limited service" type agreement.   You can advertise on www.militarybyowner.com for a modest fee and / or on www.moresam.net for free.   Should also be able to advertise on www.ahrs.com for free as well. All three reach the military market.   But I should advise you that selling by owner rarely has a high success rate. 

Depending on "how far" in the hole you are, you may want to discuss selling your home as a short sale.  Some Realtors have experience doing this.  But you should be aware that it generally takes a considerable time, can be very stressful, AND it will have credit score hits associated with it for both you and your husband, which could possible impact his security clearance. 

Realize this is just a start, but knowing "how far in the hole" you are is the critical first step. 

Joe Gladden

Veteran Realty Serving America’s Military, Inc., VR SAM®,  is a partnership of retired Military Officers and Spouses, all Military Realtors, serving Military Families purchasing or selling homes in the Northern Virginia region including Fairfax County, Prince William County, Loudoun County, Fauquier County, Stafford County, Arlington, and Alexandria,  Many of our purchaser clients are PCSing to the Pentagon, NRO, Fort Belvoir, Fort Meyer, Anacostia, Bolling AFB, Andrews AFB, Navy Yard, Quantico, Coast Guard Headquarters, and other NOVA military installations.   VR SAM also serves a large number of defense contractor employees and Federal Employees from the FBI, NCIS, CIA and other agencies.  Call VR SAM today to learn about our industry leading purchaser client credit and competitive listing programs and rates. 

VR SAM is affiliated with Jobin Realty Manassas, 9327 Main Street, Manassas, VA 20110.   703 365-9090

The realator say I can sell for 170,000.00 I owe 181,895.54.  I checked out the HAP website and it says that if I was under contract to purchase the home prior to July 1, 2006 then we gualify.  Does signing and placing money on the earnest money agreement constitute a contract?  If so we did that in June of '06.

Thank you for all the information

We are Army, but we live close to the Air Force Base.  The Army is purchasing the tickets for us to fly, I am just waiting for our orders to be cut for our plane ticket to see the doctor

I am unsure at this point exactly what is wrong with my daughter that is why they are sending us to a specialist.  She has tumors in her blader and uterus and a low white count so we will see what happens this Firday at the specialist.  If they are unable to care for her I will fight them tooth and nail, I've done it before and will do it again.

We did get the DA to approve BAH and COLA at the AK rate instead of the GA rate until June 30th 2010 now we are waiting for finance to straighten out the mess the created.  Getting the DA approval was a tooth and nail fight as well but we did it.  There are certain criterica that you must prove to qualify for it but it is worth it currently.

Oh I have contacted the FRG here and since my husband is no longer stationed here they say that I am not part of the FRG here and that my FRG is at Ft. Benning.  A lot of help that is

Thank you for all your support, this will all work out

If under contract is the criteria then good.  My interpretation is that you would have been under contract if earnest money was escrowed.  However would recommend you verify with the program admin folks and move ahead with HAP.  If you are eligible, then there should be a program that allows if you can find a purchaser the government buys the home from you and immediately sells is to the purchaser.  It can be a lengthy process and requires a patient purchaser, but strongly encourage you to contact the HAP administrators and get the process going.  Would also interview realtors who are familiar with the process as well to find one who can work with the program.  Joe