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Topic: buyout program frustrating |
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Posted By on 07-13-2009 04:49 PM
I for one am writing my state legislators today. Probably won't help our situation much but if it helps military families in the future then it is time well spent.
When we transferred to our current duty station it was with the intent to retire here. We purchased our very first home after 18 years of military service, I mean if my hubby is willing to dedicate his life in service to this country he shouldn't have to wait until retirement to grab a piece of the "american dream", right!!! We purchased the very first home built in that neighborhood with very high hopes and at a very reasonable price. Unfortunately as the community grew so did the amount of crime. It got to a point where we had no choice but to move.
We are now in our 2nd home and have been happy as clams until it came time for orders. We chose our current duty station because it is very large and the rotation from ship to shore would be fairly easy. We have been lucky with that for the last 10 years. THE LUCK HAS RAN OUT!!!
As hard as my hubby tried we just couldn't do it this time and he transfers next month so our game plan had to change and we decided that rather than me stay here while he is in another state for the next 3 years that we will make his next duty station the place we retire. It is closer to family and actually makes more sense in the big picture anyway. BUT we can't sell our home and the idea of spending yet even more time apart is breaking our hearts and quite frankly our spirits. My husband is considering putting in his papers to end his 23 year career with only 3 left before his max because of this situation. I have to believe that somehow, someway we will get through this nightmare without additional heartache but somehow I don't see that happening. The fact of the matter is that everyday the value of our home is dropping and if it doesn't sell soon we will owe more than the current market value. If he leaves his military service and we stay then it doesn't matter, we can ride it out however why should giving up his career even be on the table when his employer could provide the same benfit to him as it does other federal employees. IT SHOULDN'T, simple as that!!! I am so frustrated to read the news everyday and see all of the ways that the government is trying to help out individuals/entities who acted irresponsibly over the last several years while we sit here facing the next 3 years apart or separation from military service because we can't sell our home with current market conditions.
Good Luck and thank you for all that you are doing!!!!! |
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RE: buyout program frustrating |
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| Topic Review |  | |
aflong2005
Posts:633
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| 03-17-2011 05:36 AM |
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| We're military, we're expendable in every sense of the word. Our families are just as expendable. War is politics by other means, and when you're the poor man playing politics, you lose every time. Sorry guys, I'm in the same boat myself spending 1000 every month on a house I don't live in renting a house at BAH at another base and probably PCS'ing again in a few months to a base that has no housing available since no one lives there, and the domestic oil boom has sky rocketed housing costs. Our BAH will be 1200 when that barely provides for a 2 bed/1 bath dilapidated house and no base housing is available! |
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milifam
Posts:633
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| 01-14-2011 09:41 PM |
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| Just got word that we are relocating to Mississippi active duty with the Airforce in June. We live in NV, where the housing crisis is #1 in the nation. We bought our home in May of '07 for 225k, and Zillow now says it's worth 1/3 of that. We have 3 children, and are in a crunch now that it's time to relocate. A buyout would make things much less stressful! Do we sell our home for 1/3 the cost, and take out a personal loan for the difference? This is so bizarre. |
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dwAFwife
Posts:633
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| 08-10-2010 02:58 PM |
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| We PCS'd last year and got stuck with two properties in Charleston we couldn't sell so we ended up having to rent (at less than we pay no less). I just re-did our budget because things are so tight (we have two kids under two). We pay $13,222 out of pocket each year in losses on our the properties we left behind. We'd love to sell them and we be more than happy to be rid of them without making any money! As a military spouse that moves every few years with little ones, getting a job is usually out of the question because childcare costs make it not worth working (especially when stationed in a small town as we are now and all jobs are mostly minimum wage). It's so frustrating and sad that the military/government doesn't have a better program to help military members when they move. We don't plan to buy again as long as my husband is in the military (career military man). I'd rather rent and not have this stress! |
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ArmyWife
Posts:633
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| 07-29-2010 03:27 PM |
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So three years ago when the market crashed we got PCS orders to leave the DC area. We could not sell our house and finally rented it after paying double mortgage for ten months and depleting our savings. We had lousy late paying tenants but at least it covered the mortgage. After the lease was up we ended up selling a month ago. We lost all the money we put into thehouse and had to bring money to the closing table. But we did not lose "enough" for the HAP to help.
Meanwhile, we just got orders to return to the area !!! So we have been trying tosell this house. Knowing we were coming up on orders, we put the house on the market 6 1/2 months ago,. We have dropped the price 35K and hubby is leaving TOMORROW to go live in my uncle's guest room in Virginia. The kids and I are stuck and cannot sell. School starts here in less than three weeks. We cannot rent without losing over 1000 a month due to the hefty property taxes in this state. So we are literally stuck. Cannot afford to rent, cannot rent hubby a place and cannot sell. If this does not destroy our marriage it will be a miracle. It's worse than any of his deployments because at least then, we knew when it would be over. This has no end in sight.
Thanks for letting me vent. Twenty years in service and this is how we end up.  |
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ShannonSC2 
New Member
Posts:9
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| 07-14-2009 12:33 AM |
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Guest-frustrated in MA wrote:
Its amazing to me that our family has sacrificed for this country, my husband has fought for this country and we constantly get disregarded. My family has moved from base to base with no questions asked. My kids have changed schools and friends constantly and we've always were proud that we are serving our country. Why is it then our country is not doing their part for us? The government should treat us better. My husband got orders to CA and we are in MA. We don't want to take a loss in our house since it would be roughly 30,000 dollars. We have asked our mortgage company if theirs anything they can do to help....... their answer is no! So now our family has to live without their father..... I guess its just another sacrifice for our country. Here our government is giving away billions of dollars to these banks but what about everyone else who is in trouble? When is it our time to get the help? Things need to change soon. We have way too many men who have been in for 23-24 years and having to get out because of this. The military always says how important family is.... is it? I think our government owes us! We gave our life to this country we'd like some respect back!
Frustrated in MA!
I am not sure where you are now or what has happened in your housing sitution. The bank won't help us out because we aren't behind on any payments! We have used all the equity in our house because of the declining maket & the bank won't help us out. We have applied for the HAP program but it doesn't seem like we are going to get much help with them right away. We have talked about renting our house but still you can't rent out the house for what our mortgage paymnet is now! I agree why can't the government help us just like we help them! I can't figure it all out! Good luck with whatever happens! |
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ShannonSC2
New Member
Posts:9
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| 07-14-2009 12:29 AM |
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Guest-anon wrote:
Its horrid to think our govt. places more importance on repairing hiking trails than helping military families who are being made to PCS to serve our country. Don't we have any representation by the DOD on capitol hill?? Why is this falling by the wayside? Why aren't national news agencies covering the military families forced to live in their vehicles or forced on welfare because of a PCS?
If you force foreclosures and short sales on these people, there will be less security clearances granted and therefore less qualified people to protect us. You also have lower morale and more people leaving the military simply because that is their only choice to save their home.
It is RIDICULOUS we help automakers, banks, insurance agencies, etc. but we cannot help our own military families.
You made some wonderful points! Why is it that the military has to be down at the bottom. Where is our help! I am also contacting my sentors & congress! Maybe if we all flood their offices, something will get done! (Wishfull thinking maybe).
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ShannonSC2
New Member
Posts:9
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| 07-14-2009 12:28 AM |
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I haven't read all the post in this thread yet but will get to them soon.
Our story is that we bought a house in Northern VA. We actually closed 5Jul06 (just 5 days from 1Jul). We were told that if you had a contract before July 1, 2006 you can still quailify for the HAP. We signed a contract in May 06, had the appraisal done June 06. We actually bought our house for less than the appraisal. Renting was not an option because 1. Rent was almost more than a house payment, 2. We thought we would be here for at least 6 yrs. 3. Our realtor was horrible & wouldn't even go for that idea!
Anyway the value of our house is down over $125K & continues to drop everyday. My husband got orders for SC for Aug 15, 2009. Once th eorders were published we submitted our packet for HAP! One requirment for submitting a packet is that you have to show that you are trying to sell your house. Within 2 days on the market we received a full price offer on our house. We had to turn it down because there was no guidance from HAP or the Army Corp of Eng. This sucks! The website now says that it can take up to 6 months for approval & processing. My husband called yesterday to find out what we needed to do. The lady suggested that we do a short sale! No way is that an option right know because it will hurt our credit for 3 years and my husband could loose his security clearance! We are going through the Savannah district. We were told that they can't process any yet because they are waiting on the counties to provide them with values of houses. That can be found on the internet. So here we sit & wait! If we wait for 6 months the value is going to drop & the HAP program will have to pay more money out.
Next month a whole lot of foreclosures will be hitting the market making the value of homes to continue to drop!
I have a friend who has a couple of housing lobbiest for the state of SC that work in her office. They are making contacts for me to get this rolling. I am not sure what to do from here!
Sorry to be so long. I am glad to read that I am not along in this process. Does anyone have any other suggestions on what we need to & where we should go from here?
Shannon |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-14-2009 12:28 AM |
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Michelle,
First of all, I am extremely sorry this is hitting your family and it is a twist that I hadn't heard of as there was no reference to tax implications in the original language (that must have been written by a third grader!). It also isn't lost on me that you discover this on Memorial Day, when we honor our Military, Veterans and their Families for their service and sacrifices.
You can probably tell that I have had reservations about this program since it was announced, and your circumstances unfortunately validate my concerns, albeit for other reasons.
Two thoughts. First, I would strongly encourage you to discuss the situation with a CPA familiar with Military Tax rules. Secondly, if your concerns are substantiated, I strongly encourage you to contact your Congressmen / Senators (home state) in writing followed up by a phone call and demand relief on this. I would also encourage the same letter to go directly to the Secretary of Defense and Michelle Obama's office as she has been quite vocal about supporting Military Families.
Finally, other Military Families need to know what you learn. I would appreciate your updates on this site, and when you find time, would like to discuss with you via phone. If you are so inclined, would appreciate a call at 703 754-3036.
Hope you have a safe PCS and know that we will continue to raise awareness of this totally unfair treatment of our Military Families.
Joe Gladden |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Michelle
Posts:633
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| 07-14-2009 12:27 AM |
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| Just looked at the Army Corp site again waiting to find out some good news about our application we sent in. Since we are 200,000 in the hole it was going to cost us 20K to get out of this house but we felt lucky to have fallen with in the narrow guildlines to qualify. We have packers coming in 3 weeks for our cross country move with 3 kids and 2 dogs and are getting antsy about how the finances are going to work out. Good news was not what I found, now if you receive a payment from this program any amount over the current market value is counted as gross income. I just looked at the 2008 IRS table and at the 33% that leaves us owing $66,000 to the IRS in addition to the 20,000 to cover the 10% as required. $86,000 to use the HAP program as a military family PCSing. How can that be called "assistance"? Who can afford to use this program? |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-14-2009 12:27 AM |
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Frustrated too, I am very sorry to hear of your circumstances. I hope you took a moment to take the poll question on every page of this site. Also, you have probably noted our Congressional write in campaign as well. It clearly is a long road, but the only way it will get fixed is if everyone writes to their home state Congressmen and get their friends and families involved as well. It is utterly irresponsible of our government to ask our service families to shoulder this on their own. Please go to www.moresam.net and click the blue bubble. There are pre-written letters and all of the Congressional addresses. Then call them over and over until they get tired of hearing from you and act! We will keep you and all of our service members in our prayers and will do our best to keep the pressure on!
Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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frustrated too
Posts:633
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| 07-14-2009 12:26 AM |
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VRSAM wrote:
Thanks for sharing your story with us. You've probably read this in numerous replies to folks who write to this forum but we don't think Military Families should be asked to make these sorts of sacrifices when PCSing. I would strongly encourage you to make your story and thoughts known to your elected officials. Thus far, DOD does not think there is a problem and while you have a relatively "success story" there are perhaps thousands who haven't had a good ending. Congress and DOD need to acknowledge and address this issue immediately. We have prewritten letters with names and addresses at www.moresam.net. Thanks for participating and thanks for your service and determination! Joe Gladden, Managing Partner, VR SAM
I am new to this board, but I am dealing with the same problem. We are a young couple. I am 23 years old and my husband is 27. He's a SSG in the US Army. I am 1 semester short of graduating from college, and a month away from facing foreclosure at 23 years old!!
We bought a house in KS when we reenlisted for Fort Riley for 6+ years. My husband has been here the last 6 so we didn't think we'd be going anywhere until the Army started moving MOS's around. A year into living in our house, we received orders. It was like a worst nightmare. This is after I spent 6 months alone in this house, while he was deployed for the WHOLE first year of our marriage. We've tried exercising many programs but since we've been responsible and we're not behind on our mortgage payments, nobody will help us. This program that helps out our military families says you have to have bought your house by July of 2006. We bought ours in Dec of 2007. I've opened the link you posted and hope to share our story. It's just so frustrating because it feels "too late." I met a woman at the tanning salon that did the same thing, and her husband, a pilot, now has a foreclosure under his belt. They are a young couple, too, with 4 kids. It breaks my heart.. |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-14-2009 12:24 AM |
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Jess,
I am very sorry to hear about your circumstances. I hope you will find some helpful suggestions throughout this forum, which is what it's purpose it.
We hope you will communicate with your elected officials in any manner possible. We have pre-written letters on www.moresam.net that you can print, sign, and mail (addresses) to your Congressmen / Senators.
Please stay tuned and keep us updated on your situation. Joe Gladden |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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anon
Posts:633
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| 07-14-2009 12:24 AM |
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The hardest part about all of this is that in the current stimulus package, the govt. is supposedly talking (or were talking) about repairing hiking trails and programs to increase testing for STD. Yet, with these things that clearly do NOT stimulate the economy, they have yet to mention one thing about helping the military members and their families!
Its horrid to think our govt. places more importance on repairing hiking trails than helping military families who are being made to PCS to serve our country. Don't we have any representation by the DOD on capitol hill?? Why is this falling by the wayside? Why aren't national news agencies covering the military families forced to live in their vehicles or forced on welfare because of a PCS?
It clearly stimulates the economy to buy out the military families' homes... For one thing, they're more likely to turn around and purchase another home at their PCS, they're likely to STAY in the military to help protect the United States, and they're likely to take their money to make purchases and keep cities with military bases thriving.
If you force foreclosures and short sales on these people, there will be less security clearances granted and therefore less qualified people to protect us. You also have lower morale and more people leaving the military simply because that is their only choice to save their home.
It is RIDICULOUS we help automakers, banks, insurance agencies, etc. but we cannot help our own military families.
I have written my congress and sent the letter to everyone I know to hopefully do the same. My fear is that the only community that is taking time to write are the military families in crisis. PLEASE.... I wish everyone would realize how detrimental this legislation is to EVERYONE! Not just military!!! |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:44 PM |
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Kristen,
I think your story is about as powerful an example as I have read! We are constantly getting requests from the media for folks who will step forward, use their name, and tell their story. I never push folks on this issue because I clearly understand the reluctance. However, if you and your husband are willing to talk to the media, please contact me at: homesformilitary@vrsam.com or call 877 878-7726.
I would strongly encourage you to write your Congressmen / Senators immediately! You can print pre-written letters at www.moresam.net, modify if desired, print and mail. Addresses are available on that site.
As we speak our elected officials are contemplating throwing $900,000,000,000 at anything they can find...but they can't find a few milliion, mere chump change, to help our Military Families? Shame on them and shame on the American people for letting them get by with this disgrace!
I would also encourage you to immediately call your home states elected officials as well. They still work for us...I think! You may only get a staffer but I would insist that they make your feelings known, and what they intend to do about it!
Guess you can tell you hit a hot button with us. You and your family have our empathy, appreciation and our prayers!
Please keep us updated and don't take the pressure off them! Joe Gladden, VR SAM Managing Partner. |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Kristen Kotsenburg
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:42 PM |
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| I'm sorry to see so many people going through the same situation as me. We were in Iceland a couple years ago when it went through a Brac closure. I was pregnant, and we were told we have 1 month until we leave due to that. Limited orders came overnight and we were sent to MS. Before moving here, we were told there would be no "special preference" into base housing for our situation so we couldn't get on base...there were hardly any rentals due to Katrina destroying the place shortly before and houses that weren't destroyed were outrageous in price at the time due to the same reason. Also being told we could NOT bring the family to MS until we had secured housing due to the problems of Katrina, we ended up finding a mobile home that was decent and bought it. One year after living here we finally became number one for base housing and they called us and asked if we would like to move on base. What a joke! We actually tried to sell then but no luck. Now my husband is gone to recruiting school in FL and will be checking in to WY soon while me and my three children are stuck behind trying to sell the home in this market. Our price is so low we are going to have to pay cash out if someone buys it. Not including the fact we will have to pay this mortgage and rent for my husband in WY. Just more debt incurred. Seems like the buyout program should help not only people who can't sell b/c of a Brac closure but people who got completely "screwed over" for lack of a better term, due to a Brac closure. There has to be something someone can do for these situations. |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:40 PM |
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All I can say is "AMEN!" I would encourage you to join the hudreds of Military Families who fee just like you do and have written their elected officials DEMANDING that they get this fixed. Please go to www.moresam.net, click the blue box at the top, print the pre-written letters (address available on the site) and mail to your home state elected officials. While on that site, please also check the on line petition. Then call them. Write them again, call them again, and don't stop until they act! Continue to ask your family, friends, and associates to to the same thing! Until enough people are mad enough...it won't get fixed!
Hang in there and please keep us posted!
Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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frustrated in MA
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:38 PM |
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| Its amazing to me that our family has sacrificed for this country, my husband has fought for this country and we constantly get disregarded. My family has moved from base to base with no questions asked. My kids have changed schools and friends constantly and we've always were proud that we are serving our country. Why is it then our country is not doing their part for us? The government should treat us better. My husband got orders to CA and we are in MA. We don't want to take a loss in our house since it would be roughly 30,000 dollars. We have asked our mortgage company if theirs anything they can do to help....... their answer is no! So now our family has to live without their father..... I guess its just another sacrifice for our country. Here our government is giving away billions of dollars to these banks but what about everyone else who is in trouble? When is it our time to get the help? Things need to change soon. We have way too many men who have been in for 23-24 years and having to get out because of this. The military always says how important family is.... is it? I think our government owes us! We gave our life to this country we'd like some respect back! |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:37 PM |
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Cindy, Amen to all! Wish I could wave the magic wand but best I can do is offer a few thoughts.
1. Be sure you are dealing with the loan mitigation department of Citigroup. Go to this citimortgage link, read, scroll down and click the "workable solutions application." It has all the info that the loan mod department will need to be considered. Please note that the package must be complete for them to even consider a loan mod.
2. The second link below is a list of lenders that will refi loans under the Hope for Homeowners Act. There are a lot of gray areas in this, but if you find a lender who will work with you, it may require Citimortgage to write down (absorb the loss) on your current loan. Won't say this will be easy!
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page?_pageid=73,7605762&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
3. Believe the VA will now convert existing loans to 30 year fixed VA for 90% loan to value. Don't hold me to this and would recommend you contact a loan specialist to verify. Try Susan Wallace: Info on this thread to this forum: http://vrsam.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=Find
4. Join our campaign to force Congress and DOD to act on this critical issue. Go to www.moresam.net and click the flashing blue baloon. You can print pre-written letters to your Congressman / Senators and demand they get this fixed! Addresses available. Then click the on line petition as well. Forward this to all your friends, family, and likeminded military friendly associates and ask them to do the same. By the way, you (or your realtor) can list your home for sale / rent free on this site. Don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call your Congressionman on this as well. Don't forget that they work, in theory, for you! Remind them of this!
I hope this helps. Please keep us updated on this forum and if you would like to get our email updates, just shoot me an email or subscribe on the sign up to the left of the screen.
Hang in there and be certain we at VR SAM are deeply appreciative for your sacrifice and service!
Joe Gladden |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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cindy
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:36 PM |
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[color=Black]Same Boat!!! We're stationed at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX. Got orders in October to be out of here by end of January 2009 -Yah' 3 month notice! My husband has served for exactly 20 years just this November. And no we aren't looking to get out for job security reasons and just the love of being in the Air Force.
House is listed way under market value already, throwing things in with the home and not a single offer. Lots of great comments on our beautiful home, but that's not letting me put the SOLD sign up!
I contacted Citimortgage and they are "clueless" as how to help us. Not to mention that was the Mortgage specialist!! They told me to ask the military to help me! But they sure will be calling me if I can't make the February mortgage payment because we've PCS'd!!
We can't afford to stay while hubby leaves so we're determined to leave as a family.
The laws need to change and quick! HELP our families serving in the military with a buy out program!
We have welfare programs, drug rehab programs, convicted felons programs, drug programs, civilian programs and so much more but NOTHING to help our overlooked ACTIVE DUTY MILTARY FAMILIES!!!
my mls #748919 (will sell or Lease our beautiful home!) |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:35 PM |
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| Thanks for sharing your story with us. You've probably read this in numerous replies to folks who write to this forum but we don't think Military Families should be asked to make these sorts of sacrifices when PCSing. I would strongly encourage you to make your story and thoughts known to your elected officials. Thus far, DOD does not think there is a problem and while you have a relatively "success story" there are perhaps thousands who haven't had a good ending. Congress and DOD need to acknowledge and address this issue immediately. We have prewritten letters with names and addresses at www.moresam.net. Thanks for participating and thanks for your service and determination! Joe Gladden, Managing Partner, VR SAM |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Broke Lt
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:34 PM |
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Wow- I thought I was the only one in this situation.
My husband and I received active duty orders last May. We knew they were coming, so we had already setup the home we owned 6 months earlier on the market. No one even made an offer. We finally gave up after 10 months on the market. We just couldn't afford it anymore, so we set the home up for renting.
Worst of all, there were no property managers from where we moved. We were half-way across the country, and we had to become landlords. 3 months on the rental market- no takers!
We ended up renting to a distant family member who was an absolute NIGHTMARE. He never paid and for another 10 months, we paid the mortgage on top of rent. We rarely got a payment from our tenant but we were so desperate.
Then, we finally found a property manager. We evicted the bad tenant, and 1.5 months later we found a great tenant who pays every month.
We PCS'ed TWICE since then, and at the same time, we've done everything humanly possible to keep our mortgage afloat. My husband is a writer. He would take an insane amount of work to get paid enough money to pay our mortgage. Sometimes, even though I was training, I'd take writing jobs on the side for money. There was no way my pay covered the extra $700 mortgage and our $800 rent! So...there were many sleepless nights writing and worrying if we were going to make the mortgage payment. We wrote like crazy, but somehow...we made it through together. One day, we looked each other in the eyes and decided we wanted to keep our home, and we were going to make it happen no matter what.
I also had great anxiety over my clearance. In fact, that was one of my motivators to stay afloat in the mortgage because I wasn't finished with training and losing my clearance meant losing the chance to become a member of the career field I wanted.
My husband and I have been extremely lucky. Thankfully we are OK for now and current on the mortgage and I'm done with training. But if our tenants miss a payment....or a major repair is needed...I don't know what will happen. I'd have THOUSANDS more dollars now if we would have just sold the home. Unfortunately, now, we have no savings and are thousands in debt. But....we stayed alive, and we still have a home in the end.
I'm so happy to share my own story with this board, and also hear other people who are or were in the same position! I thought I was alone this whole time- like I was a "bad" person for not being able to pay my mortgage. Hearing your stories has helped me accept my own situation and try even harder to make things work.
Now all we're waiting for is a promotion to help ease the stress even more. smiley Everyone stay strong out there! And no matter what, things will work out in the end. After all, when all is said and done, you have each other, your family and your sense of honor. Never let any bank or selfish financier take that away from you. |
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Amber
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:33 PM |
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Hmm.... like all of you our situation is similar. Here we are in a bad financial position , husband commuting for the next 3 yrs (4 hrs a day) just to be with his family, cant sell our house, had a bad refi, re-enlisted and NO BONUS for his 6 YEAR REENLISTMENT undecided, AND he will lose his clearance if we forclose and not be able to do his job ... has anyone actually tried the buyout situation  |
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Joel
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:33 PM |
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| Same problem here. My house has been on the market for 4 months now without even one looker. We will into the same problem with renting also. We would have to lower our house rent to less than half of what we pay for mortgage to get any bites. I have a wife and 2 children and I returned from Iraq this year in April. Once I came down on orders in June I tried everything to get out of the orders because I only have 2 years until retirement and I knew my house would not sell since it is almost brand new and all kinds of newer houses going up around me. Right now I am TDY enroute to Washington state from Georgia. The family is at home in Georgia waiting for either the house to sell or next best is my retirement to come up here in 2 years. It will probably be more like 2-5 years because someone is going back to Iraq and you know what that does to retirement...... |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:32 PM |
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Rob,
Agree with Susan that you should use caution putting money up front for debt relief promises. I have heard good things about NACA, a non-profit, national organization (link below). Would ask that you share your experience on our new thread about "debt relief" on this forum. Also, request you join VR SAM and hundreds of others in forcing Congress to act to assist military families at www.moresam.net. Please let us know how things go. Joe
http://www.naca.com/index_main.jsp |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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susan
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:31 PM |
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Hi Rob,
Haven't had a need to use the modifications places you are referring to. Do be careful when choosing a place; I've read they are popping up everywhere and preying on homeowners who are desperate to get help. If you are working with a non-profit agency chances are they won't ask for any money down. You might want to try the HUD approved Housing Counseling Agencies. These agencies can provide advice on buying a home, renting, defaults, foreclosures, credit issues, and reverse mortgages. Good Luck.
Here is the link http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm
Susan |
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rob
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:30 PM |
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Does anybody know if the modification places work
If it were possible to get my loan modified down to where it appraises to I might be able to afford the mortgage or might even be able to sell it for that price.
I have talked to several, some say they guarantee that either a percentage, loan amt., or something will be done or they will refund your money. This is costing around $2000 for them to get it done.
I have tried talking to my bank but of course they take
your complaint and 30 days get back to you etc.....
So if anyone knows if it will work I would like an opinion.
tks |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:28 PM |
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John, thanks for sharing your circumstances and we hope your strategy works. I am not surprised that the DIS investigators are seeing a lot of folks in this situation during clearance updates and certainly hope that the unusual circumstances are being taken into consideration.
I hope you will take a moment to help others by joining our campaign to force Congress to acknowledge and act on this issue by clicking on www.moresam.net
and asking them to get this disparity fixed.
Best of luck and please stay tuned.
Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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John
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:28 PM |
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| Like many here...I'm in the same boat with orders overseas and due to leave next month. I knew when I was leaving and put my home on the market two years ago in anticipation of thie fallout, but just missed it....well that time has passed with no offers. I've also consistently lowered the price and nothing! So I weighed all of my options and thought what was best for me and family. After careful consideration and talks with financial experts on every avenue....we've decided to let the home go...that's right (forclosure). In anticipation of this and the fact that it takes no less than 6 months for this process to take place I stopped payments 6 months out from PCS and used that additional money to pay off other things (credit cards, loans, etc.). My philosophy is that it takes 7 years to clear this up on my credit report and I honestly believe this will occur before the housing market comes back to where I could only break even on the home. As for my clearance, I recently had my interview with the agent to re-establish my clearance. In the interview I fully disclosed my situation in this housing market as no fault of my own....in response I got an approved clearance for another 5 years. I was a little worried about it, but the interviewer put me at ease when she told me that 7 out of 10 people she interviews in our area are in the same boat. DoD is well aware of this and as long as you come clean and explain your situation, you should be okay. Now if you have other financial delinquencies other than your home....you might have a problem...but I don't and have always held a 750 credit score until now. Lucky for me though, I'll be able to hibernate overseas for 4 out of the 7 years to get my score back on track. |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:27 PM |
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| Thanks for sharing your circumstances with us. I have two recommendations that may help. First, recommend you contact The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, NACA. Here's the link. http://www.naca.com/index_main.jsp They may very well be able to assist you. Secondly, strongly recommend you go to our web site, www.moresam.net, and print the pre-written letters (you can add you comments) and send to every Congressman and Senator in your home state (names / addresses available). Ask you friends and family to do the same. There is also a button you can click to add your name to sign a petition with hundreds of others to send to powerful military non-profits and trade organizations to get them to weigh in with Congress on this issue. The ONLY way this will get resolved is when enough Military Families and supporters say enough is enough! We agree with you that it is absurd and disgraceful that our Military Families must alone bear the financial pain when PCSing in this down market! Hang in there and please check back and update us. Especially important that you let us know your experience with NACA. Thanks. Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:26 PM |
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Thanks for sharing your circumstances with us. They are becoming altogether too familiar and we believe it is a disgrace that Military Families must endure this.
First, thanks for taking the time to print / write your elected officials and please make sure you sign the on line petition (click of the mouse) as well. Then send the link to your friends / family and other like minded folks who believe we can do a better job at taking care of those who defend our country. By the way, as Congress contemplates a second round of "economic stimulus" doesn't it make sense to empower Military Families to "buy and sell" homes?
I would encourage you rent you home and to look for a solid Military Family that is likely to take great care of it. Homes that sit vacant are more likely to have issues than occupied homes. AHRN is an excellent, free site for Military Families and would encourage you to use it. I noted placed your home on our site, MORE SAM, and would also encourage you to consider www.militarybyowner.com. It isn't free, but it is reasonable and gets outstanding visibility worldwide by Military Families. I hope this helps. If you have questions, you can call me at 703 754-3036. We sincerely appreciate your husbands service and the sacrifices of our Military Families and will continue to do all that we can to get help! Hang in there. Joe Gladden |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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flightlesskiwi
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:25 PM |
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As I sit here and read this thread, somehow it's comforting to know that my family is not the only family in this situation. It's also painful.
My husband is in the Air Force and we bought brand new house in 2006, in the sizzling market of Central Arkansas. We did our research and thought we were making a great choice-- especially if the planned BRAC had gone through and all the Active Duty C-130 units would have landed at Little Rock bringing LOTS of personnel and families.
Little did we know not only would the BRAC change, but that in 2008, my husband would come home from his 3rd deployment, get back from his 2 week reconstitution leave to find out that he would be PCSing-- and soon. It took another eight weeks to find out exactly when he would be PCSing. Nonetheless, we'd already put the house on the market.
Six months later, our house has not sold.
Providentially, we put some money back to offset if we had to sell at a loss-- which with our listing price so low now, we would already be taking a substantial hit if it were to sell. Unfortunately, we have not even had one single offer on the home.
I have two young children, and being separated from my husband when he is not deployed is not an option for me. Thankfully, we will be able to squeeze by every month-- mortgage and all. That is, if when we get to his next duty station there is base housing available. He is TDY in NV right now and we are with him-- we will land at Cannon AFB -after- the massive influx of people that are coming with change of operations there. Another downside, rental housing is slim pickins at Cannon-- it seems the only way to get a 3 bed/2 bath house is to buy it. And that's something we cannot afford, nor would I buy a house after this experience-- especially in a market that has yet to hit bottom (after the final BRAC went through, the housing market at Cannon went through the roof-- along with new development).
We are weighing the possibility of renting our house out using a property manager, but I can't get over being emotionally attached to it (I am a clean-freak), and I can't view it as an "investment" especially if we are losing money on it (which we would be). Quite honestly, I would rather make the payments and have it sit empty than to make the payments while a tenant is failing to pay the rent and possibly ruining the inside. Also, the probablity that we would end up back in AR, thus moving us back into the home I love, is pretty low right now. Any recommendations there, I would appreciate.
Also, I'd like to change realtors, our contract with the current realtor is up at the end of this month. I'm having a hard time getting over not feeling a sense of loyalty-- even though I've been disappointed with his performance (he's not full time and never calls to report if there has been any traffic through the house-- we have to call him). Should I just get over myself?? And does anyone have experience with the ahrn movingstation.com service??
Anyway, thank you for reading my rant. I will print the letters to send to our Congressman and Representatives.
Thanks to everyone for sharing!! And thank you, Mr. Gladden, for caring and creating a plan. I hope and pray that the housing market goes on the up and that everyone hangs in there!! |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:24 PM |
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Kara, Couldn't agree more! Specifically, we believe Military Families should get immediate tax credits for losses incurred. We also believe this problem should be resolved (long term) with a program for career families similar to that enjoyed by other federal employes. Specifically assistance with closing costs and as guaranteed buy out program.
We hope you will log in to www.moresam.net , print, sign, and mail pre-written letters to you elected officials. We hope you will also check the block to sign our on line petition to trade organizations and military friendly non-profits to make Congress and DOD act!
Please keep us updated. Joe Gladden, VR SAM |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Kara
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:24 PM |
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Add our name to the masses. My husband is Navy. We purchased a home in NV, not at the top of our price range limit, with an extremely low interest rate, almost perfect credit, no other debt except school loans...all the things a responsible person would do. He was stationed to San Diego and here we are paying $2100 in rent (we are having to rent a townhome with only a patio just to save a few extra dollars on BAH to offset the mortgage), have rented out our home and still paying $1200 mo in mortgage payments.... that is over $3300 a month just for waking up in the morning. We have been frugal, responsible and educated homebuyers. We now cannot plan for our future, our kids future, because we are tied to a house we cannot sell. we don't qualify for a short sale (rental income is income and we are some how managing to make that payment to the mortgage company every month). It has been suggested that we let the renters leave and become delinquent on payments to qualify... but why should we have to ruin our credit, our dreams? Some people will remark, well you knew you would be leaving in a few years.... Yes, we did know that. We did not know, however, the market in our area would dive 30%, that we would not even be able to sell our home, or to rent it for a decent amount. Is it so wrong for a family to give so much of themselves to others, our country, and wanting to paint a wall your favorite color in a home you own, such a sin? My husband volunteered to serve his country. Our family, like thousands of other military families, give over and beyond of our time, our energy, our love and commitment to our country for the good of everyone. Why is it we are made to feel the token 10% military discount for select businesses is a "gift" and we should be satisfied with that, when our neighbors get sincere appreciation with benefits that actually matter to them and make a difference..... ie, buyouts?! I feel deceived. I feel like we have taken all of the right steps, and we are being swept under the carpet. I feel like the lure of military "being one big family" is one sided. the families do support one another, we watch each others children when our spouses are gone, we take care of each other when we are sick, we help each other in every form and fashion, but where is the help from our government? Who is watching out for us as a whole? Why are military families on welfare, food stamps, loosing their homes, going bankrupt, having their credit ruined? I wish there was a way to really portray the lack of consideration and welfare of our soldiers and their families. What keeps our family, like so many others getting up in the morning, is we love our country. We are proud to be Americans. Unfortunately, that is a double edged sword and our government knows it.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent. |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:23 PM |
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Pamela,
We wish you and your family the best. Please take a few minutes to go to the web site below and print the pre written letter to you elected officials. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can also sign a petition that will be helpful for getting the attention of military non profits and other trade organizations.
www.moresam.net
Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Pamela
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:22 PM |
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I think that this whole situation is absolutely terrible and something needs to be done.
This all started in February 2007 when we put our home on the market, knowing we would eventually have to move. My husband then left to go to AZ for training in March and is still gone. We have two kids ages 4 and 1 and one on the way. We knew that we would need to move no later than September or October. I would love to stay in our home but family can only help out so much and if I cannot take call at my job, I technically no longer fit my position and they would have to hire someone else. I work full time at the hospital and take call and take care of our kids and am trying to sell our home by owner now beacuse we need to price our home more "aggressively" to sell. We did have a realtor, but had to sell by onwer to cut costs. We now have it listed for 259,900 and our mortgage is for 266,000, and this doesn't include buyers realtor fees. So either way we will never make out. My husband got his orders to Fort Campbell, KY and will have to report there in September.
I need to be with him and so do the kids before he deploys again and we aren't left with any reasonable options without ruining our really good credit. The government recruits these soldiers and expects them to just foreclose on their homes and not even think twice about it. We have never made a late pament on anything and it is just so horrible that any soldier has to worry about this instead of worrying about their families or even staying alive. So now our two options are for us to either do a Short Sale or a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, these both really affect our credit. This is just so unfair!!! Our husbands and wives put their lives on the line and can't even get the same benefits as other government employees whose jobs are just non-life threatening. The military continues to station us wherever and whenever they want us to............ then they should help us out with the situation that they have put us in. This is not right to put ANY military family through this, we have to go through enough physical and mental stress. I could just go on and on, but I really hope something is done real soon about all of this!
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share. |
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In Limbo
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:21 PM |
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Thanks, a little update on us…we have decided to move into a camper which will significantly lessen any rental obligation…this will allow us to continue making timely payments on the mortgage until we are able to sell. While this is not necessarily the desired solution it is nevertheless a solution that keeps us out of foreclosure.
I will continue to support your effort in any way I can, there are many families out there in worse shape than us. It is a bit disheartening to read some of the comments left on the story..it seems that some people believe that those of us in this situation are just asking for a free hand out.
I know for us, we were just looking for help from our lenders…did I tell you that when NFCU gave us the HE loan they did not base it on an appraisal, market value or the like…my husband simply told them what he thought our house was worth based on what houses were selling for in the neighborhood at the time…I questioned it but they NFCU said that was how it was done…hindsight really is 20/20…but I am trying to figure out where the hindsight should have been…on the greed of investors, lenders, brokers, flippers, etc…who have brought the market to its knees or on us for not questioning the financial institutions lending practices a little harder…who knows…
Additionally, I have read several articles which say that the VA stayed away from ARM loans but that is not true because that is what we have…a 3/1 VA backed arm…
BTW…here is the newest from Citi…evidently we have what is classified now as a “special loan” and the typical Citi rep who answers the phone is not allowed to talk to us about our loan…we must snail mail or fax a request to this department to get someone to talk to us…we have not ever been late…what the heck is up with that…a rhetorical question, I know…
We are willing to accept living in a camper and make any other additional sacrifice because at the end of the day that is accepting responsibility for our role but since the VA & NFCU, in my opinion, engaged in lax lending standards it seems to me they should be a little more willing to work with us. All we asked for was for the VA to help us get Citi to get us into a fixed rate and we can’t even get them (VA) to call us back and we talked to NFCU about a personal loan to offset the difference between what we owed and what we could sell for and of course they agree if we meet the credit criteria however they will report it on our credit as a short sale whether we pay it back or not…that is unfair and we have to ask ourselves if they are going to damage our credit either way why we should we worry about paying it back…you know what the answer is…responsibility… even though my hubby will likely lose his security clearance and once the short sale goes on our credit we will have a hard time renting, we will still pay the difference back…I hope all of the lenders, investors, etc…sleep well at night.
Again…THANKS for all you are doing…
To anyone else who has taken an interest in this issue...this forum is not getting enough attention and neither is some of the quick fixes...so many "upper entities" say there are not enough service members out there talking about this situation...please, PLEASE...the only way to change a policy is if enough of us get together and push for policy change...I know there are alot more people out there in this situation than I am reading here or have read about in other articles...GET THE WORD OUT!!!!!
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Daphne
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:20 PM |
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If there is any hope to bettering ours and other people's situation by sharing our situation, I'm more than willing to do so.
We were stationed at Ft. Meade, MD and since we were stabalized there for the duration of my husband's enlistment and had a new baby on the way we decided it was a good time to buy a house. The market was down and at the time didn't look to be going any lower at the time. Less than 1 year after buying our home we came down with orders for Monterey, CA.
With 3 months notice of our PCS we were in quite a tight spot. We found and hired a property management company and hoped that our house would have tenants soon. This was in January of 2008. Our house sat vacant until June 1 2008, all the while we were paying our $1420 mortgage in addition to $240 in utilities (to keep our pipes from freezing). While paying out $1680 a month to our vacant house, we were paying our BAH for the housing on base. After all our tax return dried up, we were counting on our tenant's rent to pay for our mortgage. No check arrived. Apparently our property management kept the 1st months check as their fee, without informing us. Then when we finally received our July check, it was for $350. Apparently they had deducted other funds without informing us. This has left us $62 short in paying our mortgage. Leaving us no money for food or gas.
My husband is an E-6 so we get paid decently, but with uncooperative property management companies and the idea of a $100,000 loss if we tried to sell our home we are really stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don't know if anything can be done but maybe if our concerns are seen they can be addressed. |
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In Limbo
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:20 PM |
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Mr. Gladden,
Not sure if our story is the kind you are looking for but here goes anyway…
My husband has been in the US Navy for 23+ years. We were more recently stationed in Hampton Roads, Virginia. We purchased a home in 2004 as a government 3/1 arm because we were told at the time that would be the only way we could afford a home because of VA limits at the time being $240,000. We were okay with the 3/1 because we figured we would re-fi before any rate reset. With the VA funding fee our loan was exactly $240,000. Less than 1 year later we learned from BANK 2 that we could get a home equity loan in which they would roll in a bill consolidation loan we had with them for around $35,000 and give us additional cash so that we could do some home improvements for a total of $80,000. With houses in our neighborhood selling at this time on the high end at $316,000 which is what BANK 2 based the loan amount on, we really didn’t think it was a big deal and since we were planning on this being our retirement home we figured we would be okay.
Last year my husband found out he would be unable to get a billet in the area and as such would have to transfer. Of course this was also around the time for a rate reset under the 3/1 government arm but it made no sense to try and do a re-fi if we were going to sell so obviously our rate did reset, it was only about $100 so it wasn’t that big a deal. The mortgage company changed it again recently another $100 more to offset what the market showed our new tax rate would be though. The transfer was scheduled for January of 2008. We put our house on the market in September of 2007 at $339,000 and dropped the price down to $325,000 which was our bottom line but we got no bites, not even a showing. We tried a FSBO and priced the house again at the bottom line to pay off both loans and realtor fees for the buyer, we still had no bites. Feedback from realtor friends said that a lot of realtors do not want to show FSBO’s and recommended we list again with a realtor. We did, at $307,900 which was obviously at a loss and during that time we had one showing and no contract.
My husband did his transfer in January as scheduled and left us behind, however our BAH changed to reflect his new duty station which is lower than the duty station where the house is. That coupled with the rate reset and the other $100 payment increase now had us about $600 short every month. Additionally we had to pay $300 per month for my husband to live with my parents at the new duty station which put us $900 per month down.
With no luck selling the house and us being tired of not being together as a family we decided to rent, that wasn’t easy either but in May did find renters however it is only a 5 month lease. So now my daughter and I are here with my hubby and we are living with my parents because even though we have renters the rent is not enough to pay our mortgage payment every month being shy about $800 and we are paying my parents $950 per month. We could potentially rent something but would only be able to afford it through October which is when the renters will move out of our home. At that point if we do rent it is only a matter of time before we start falling behind. Additionally this is also the time of year our rate will reset again. My parents don’t have a large home and they are having financial issues of their own because of the economy and the type of work my dad does…we are actually increasing their financial burden simply by taking baths and doing laundry. We have already been separated enough with deployments, underways, etc…why should we continue to be separated when we are on the downside of my husband’s enlistment?
We contacted our mortgage holders and they basically said there was no help for us because we have never been late on a payment. We talked to BANK 2 about selling the house for less than what we owe and taking a personal loan for the remainder but they call that a short sale whether we pay the money back or not which damages our credit. We cannot do a deed in lieu because of the second mortgage. We talked to BANK 2 about a re-fi but can’t do that because according to the market we now owe more than the home is worth and BANK 1 won’t do a re-fi for the same reason additionally with BANK 1 because we had the house up for sale and have 2 mortgages we can’t even talk re-fi with them for 6 months after the house has been off the market.
Despite all of the lenders, etc…saying contact, contact…we will help you avoid foreclosure enough is not being done because we have contacted them and none of them offer any viable options that don’t destroy our ability to be home owners in the future. We recently contacted the VA and left a message with our assigned counselor, it has been almost 2 weeks and we have not heard from him.
Granted, most people, including ourselves would look at our situation and say we put ourselves here and as such we should suffer the consequence of foreclosure. But we don't believe that...we could have never predicted the way the market has turned. About a month or so ago, I talked to my realtor friend and she did a CMA and told me if I were to list again that I would list at $288,000, that’s about $12,000 short of payoff plus realtor fees…today I talked to her and with a city assessment of $282,400 she tells me I would have to list at $272,000.
Again, this may not be what you are looking for necessarily but if something doesn’t give somewhere soon, we will be one of those statistics…we are fighting as hard as we can to keep that from happening. It seems to me the government is extending more help to the guy who worked at McDonald’s and bought a $400,000 house than those who truly need it.
Thanks
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:18 PM |
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For everyone who is participating in this discussion...we realize that a fix to this very bad situation is slow. However, we have now been contacted by three news media organizations who intend to write articles on the very high rate of foreclosures among Military Families! My guess is that there many more who are beginning to recognize this "train wreck." We believe, and are very hopeful, that once the media gets engaged, other Military Families, the general public, and FINALLY the elected officials will become involved. Now is the time to call / write your Congressmen / Senators. Tell your friends / family to document their feelings on this forum. Thanks, and hang in there!
We are going to begin monthly updates on our efforts via our VR SAM e-newsletter. If you would like to sign up, please see the sign up tab on the left of this forum.
Especially on Indpendence Day, we at VR SAM want to thank you and your families for your service and sacrifices! We will keep working to better your benefits! Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Melanie
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:18 PM |
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| My name is Melanie House and I am the widow of John D. House, KIA 1/26/05. I am a Southern California homeowner and I am definitely struggling. After my husband was killed, I bought a 3 bedroom townhouse in Simi Valley for my son, James, and I (he is 3 and 1/2 now but was just one month old when his father was killed). My family, friends and in-laws all reside in Simi Valley. When I bought my place in 2005 the market was decent as well as my mortgage. I refinanced 2 years ago for a better rate. Now I am at the point of a huge jump in rates and my negative amortization loan being over. My mortgage just went up $1,500 last month (making it over $2,500) and it has been a huge hardship. Especially now with the market the way it is, my house is worth less than I owe on it. I would appreciate any information if there is anything out there for help. |
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Amy Jo
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:17 PM |
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| Just to put my 2 cents in! I was up for orders in April of 07. I put my house on the market in the beginning of March 2007 and still havent sold it after a year and 3 months and 3 realtors! Not to mention we dropped the price to make out even with no profit at the end of March. I don't know what to do. I am on recruiting duty half the country away. I'm 24, married, (no kids, because we are not stable enough now with the situation) and 2 dogs. I am living at home again with mommy and my husband and dogs. She is at wits end with the whole situation. We will have to start looking for a place to rent soon with no money to rent with! We've tried getting renters for our house (anything helps) with no luck. If we don't sell our home SOON we will be living on the streets I'm afraid. I've called so many people, talked to my COC and nobody has any answers. I will take the advise on here and write my congressman...until then our fingers are crossed. |
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Cara
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:17 PM |
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DSD, I would love to know more about "Geo-Bachelorhood", as that sounds like what we may be forced into doing.
I am a realtor in Houston, and my husband has orders due to his office being closed here. He is the flight chief for the medical recruiters here in Houston (the medical mecca of the country), yet they have chosen to close the office to save money. They will instead send recruiters from San Antonio TDY to recruit out of the Houston area...military intelligence is sometimes an oxymorom.
Although we are fortunate to be in one of the hotter housing markets, we are still struggling to sell our house. Ours is 22 years old, and we have hundreds of new houses being built around us. It just seems crazy to me that I will have to take money to closing in order to sell, when we were really hoping to make some money for the next move.
I work with clients all of the time that have "relocation packages" that provide them with a buyout of their present house AND help with closing costs on their new house. Here we are trying to bear this burden on our own, and we're coming to terms with the fact that daddy might have to move without us. There is a staggering difference between the BAH that we earn here in Houston, and what he'll be earning. It's about a $450/mo difference. So not only will we be earning less when he moves WITHOUT us, but we'll have to fork out money in order for him to live somewhere too! We have two sons, ages 13 and 8. The 13 year-old will be starting high school in the fall, and it sure would be nice for him to be able to start at our new assignment.
We've considered the whole renting thing. There are two problems with this:
1) We have a VA loan which states that your house has to be YOUR primary residence.
2) Since I am a realtor, I've seen numerous times what a headache being a landlord can be.
We've decided that we don't want to refinance just so that we can rent the house to someone who might take really poor care of it and cost us more money.
Our military, defenders of our country, deserve a little support when faced with these issues. Other employers are more than generous with relocation...why not our government for us? |
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DSD
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:16 PM |
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Similar situation in my house. Husband got put on assignment in February 08. Only way he knew that was he researched it himself, not notified by anyone else. While awaiting orders to arrive we have been with 2 different realtors starting at the end of February. First realtor was a waste. Was listed with them for a month and a half and only had one scheduled open house that did not happen. Cancelled and went with our current agent. Have had one open house since listing with her and no luck on finding a buyer yet. Husband finally received orders two weeks ago and has to report in three and a half weeks. We have options that have been made to us but they all include taking a huge loss on the house (Cannot do that!!!). As we have planned now, husband will report to the new unit and apply for geo-bachelorhood so that we aren't drug into debt trying to afford this house and a place for him to live there. As is, when he reports, we will be losing out on some BAH because the new post is at a lower rate for his pay grade. And I can not work out of the home due to the fact that summer is coming and our four children will be at home. WHAT CAN WE DO?  |
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Catherine
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:15 PM |
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| We were stationed at Pope AFB and got orders, because of the BRAC. We have been down in Charleston for 8 months, have gotten a couple of phone calls regarding our house but nothing. Luckily I was actually able to find a job this time, that works with my husbands stupid schedule, that changes all the time. If I wouldnt have been able to work, we would have barely had enough cash for groceries. With the housing market taking a huge dump there is no hope in selling it. I've looked into HAP and they looked at the Pope area but it wasnt approved for assistance. The sad thing is, is that I know of a couple families who were stuck in the same situation. One of my husbands friends came down @the same time and his family is still stuck up in NC. |
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us
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:11 PM |
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| Im glad you were able to sell your homes but some of us just are not able. I have had my home on the market, listed it everywhere, even advert. I will pay you to buy my house with no offers. 2yrs past now and I still have no offers, when your property value drops out from under you there isnt much you can do. now I am trying to negotiate to either sign my home back to the bank, sale for less than the loan, or try refinancing or get lower payments that we might be able to cover our mortgage. My house value was around 230K-300K and now it dropped below 200K in value the mid of 2007. And the bank that I did the loan was suppose to refi me in nov.07 (credit builder loan) now couldnt because of this. So I dont know if I will have the house next month depending on what I can work out with the bank, country wide! We rented the house thinking to help relieve some of the financial stress but it has been a night mare to say the least and now were in the middle of eviction so things are just rosy. I have a large family and you cant rent a home the size I need so we have to buy, so we are put against the wall when it comes to this situation and nothing we can do but wait to see how it all plays out. Anybody interested in buying a home in florida...lol |
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BeenThereDoneThat
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:10 PM |
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I have experienced this three times in 20 years and we have just gone into contract on our fourth home in an area where there is not a strong military presence. Army being stationed on an Air Force Base.
I am going to say that you need to educate yourself. We received orders 361 days after arriving at our last duty station, 361 days after closing on our house. Yes we sold it, sold it in 18 days and did not lose money, because we sold it ourselves. I listed it anywhere I could. There is another free source, www.ahrn.com I put it in every paper in the area with a color picture, I showed it to anyone that wanted to see it and it was open house every day. If you are in a bad position you have to be proactive in your resources.
Now that being said, I fear that us buying another home may put us in a bad situation, but we may just retire when this assignment is over, it is three years, guaranteed and we put money down on it, so if we were to lose money on it, it would be painful, but not so painful that we would not be able to move on. Issues we faced moving was there was lliterally nothing there to rent.....no housing available to us at our rank. So you do what you have to for your family. I have three children, teens and one 10. We needed a house large enough for them, so again you do what you have to.
But this program has always needed to be in place, we have scrambled each time to sell our homes, unable to hire realtors because we too would have had to bring money to the table, money that was too precious to give, but if you find yourself in the position of having to sell, DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO IN ORDER TO PROTECT YOURSELF, and find a way to sell it, positive attitudes and proactive movements will be more affective then total negativity. |
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all4myBoys
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:09 PM |
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Have you ever heard the saying, "If the Army wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one"? I am about sick over this situation. We cannot sell our home and because of that Daddy has to leave us until we can? Our 2 young boys have to go without seeing Daddy until we can sell our house? It doesn't make sense. Not only that, but we face the possibility of Daddy deploying to defend the country in Iraq...AGAIN. Shouldn't we be able to spend as much time together until that happens? We can't enjoy our time that we have as a family because we selected to purchase a home in America?!
Our boys are 4 and 1 and it tears my heart out that because we can't sell our house (it sounds so petty when you put it in perspective) Daddy has to move away without them. |
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Hopeless
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:08 PM |
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Joe, I very much appreciate your response however, I would like for you to know that I have been extremely proactive on this situation. I have contacted countless lawmakers, written numerous e-mails and provided info to every active duty or retired military member I know. I won't even get into the responses from certain government officials again...what a waste of time!!! What really got me was the response from all of the active duty personnel I spoke with. The standard answer is that "it's policy and there is nothing we can do about it."
I did a little research and found an article dealing with the BAH issue, now in and of itself was really no help but the NAV message did contain a contact name so we called and spoke to a commander and explained the situation. He essentially said nothing was being done about the BAH situation because no-one was complaining about it...I know why from my own situation...my DH went to his CMC and got the standard "it's policy" answer and he stopped there. I am going to include links to the article and the NAV message...maybe word will get out and people will at least start asking the questions that will raise awareness that this BAH issue is very real for many military families.
http://www.npc.navy.mil/NR/rdonlyres/5DDDD35C-7101-4690-84A4-3599C5F1E1BD/0/NAV08035.txt
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/02/navy_bah_rules_080206w/
Am I angry and frustratedhuh No doubt about it but less so at the actual situation and MORE SO at the government entities that could care less and the mortgage holders and banks that care even less than that. |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:07 PM |
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Response to "hopeless." Do they care? Good question and I fully understand your frustration and anger. Fact is, we have to make them care! We are trying to make an impact with limited resources. We are attempting to start a grass roots effort and need you to send this concept to every like minded person you know for comment. The more comments we generate on this site, the better the chance of makeing an impact.
To update everyone on what our plan is, we are trying to build an on line petition that can be emailed to all members of Congress. It takes us time to get this together and appreciate your patience. Please check back for udpates on this. Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Hopeless
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:06 PM |
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Well...any letters to governement officials are met with the standard "thanks for your support" garbage and have not addressed this issue at all...
Do you really think they care Joe, I certainly don't!!! We can't even get the upper chain of command to pay attention.
Our BAH has been lowered to reflect the new duty station while the family still lives and pays for the home in the old duty station...that is something that could be corrected very quickly but do you see anyone doing anything...no!!!
Government officials are too busy helping out the banks and irresponsible borrowers to worry about keeping military families together or going under in this mess.
As you can tell, I'm sure, I am over it...security clearance be D*&^d...it seems the only option is to walk away and let the chips fall where they may. |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 10:05 PM |
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This is Joe responding to "4mykidslove." I apologize for the slow response but wanted to offer our encouragement on your difficult circumstances and to let you know that despite the slow progress, and long road ahead, we are working many avenues to get relief. Realistically, it will be a long haul.
We are constantly pinging on a number of military friendly media types, trade associations, military friendly non profit organizations and legislative folks.
I am hopeful that in the near future we will have an organized on line petition effort as well as an automated means of having everyone contact their elected officials through a mass email effort.
In the mean time, the most effective "bullet" we have is getting folks to encourage their friends, fellow military associates, family, and anyone who "gets this" very simple, obvious, issue to comment on this forum.
Hang in there. Don't give up hope.
Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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4mykidslove
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:04 PM |
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Okay, it's me again! I have read all your little articles about selling your house in a soft market.
We ended up dropping the price of our house by $10,000.00 and offered to pay closing costs out of our income taxes. We are in a huge financial hardship as we are going to have to pay to sell our house. Still haven't sold it. So... so... so.. rolleyes sad! We were actually hoping to get money from the sale to put into our savings. I can't believe that the service members and family members of the service members are put at such a disadvantage that we would have to use the money we get back from the IRS to help us "GIVE" our house away! I never actually thought I would be paying someone to buy the house that I worked so very hard for. It's very frustrating! It makes me want to cry….. because we have put over $15,000 dollars into this house when we could have just rented and put all this money into a savings account. |
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VRSAM response to Grandpa Jack
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:04 PM |
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Grandpa Jack,
Thanks for your comments, and thank you for serving! We will keep plugging away until we are heard! Joe |
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Granpa Jack Vietnam Veteran
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:03 PM |
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Military Families deserve better than what there offerd. The stress that they are put through by orders to relocate and not help, but will help other goverment families that are not in harms way. This truly is unacceptable and wrong.
Thanks Joe for offering this Forum.
Grandpa Jack |
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COLLEEN
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:02 PM |
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Hi Colleen, I know how you feel, if you cant sell then you need to get a property manager involved to possibly rent/lease your home until you are able to sell it. I know it is difficult, we had a renter in our place in less than a month. In our situation it is less than our mortgage but relieves some of the financial burden we are faced with right now.
So if you absolutly are not going to sell before you leave get a property manager involved and it will save you from taking on all the cost of your mortgage. You can usually find one that will help you for around half to a months rent as payment and then like 10-15% of the monthly rent to keep up with the property and tennants and send the rent/lease from the tennants to you every month. They are local and its more difficult to depend on a renter if you are out of the area to deal with, especially if a repair comes up, the manager handles all of that, for a fee of course:}
It is helping us a little but sooner or later we wont even be able to keep up with ours and hopefully something will come out that can help us in our situation, or sell the house would be great. Wish you the best in your circumstances.
vshocker |
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Colleen
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 10:01 PM |
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| We are also in the same situation. We put our house on the market 7 months ago, as soon as we got orders, because we knew the market was bad. We are on our second realtor, have dropped the asking price over $10,000, and we have 4 weeks until we have to move. We are beyond desperate at this point. |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:59 PM |
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Thanks for sharing your situation with us and thanks for serving. We are very aware of how difficult this is and certainly hope you get some relief in the near future.
I would like to address a couple of points you mentioned. You are correct that a number of other Federal agencies to have "protection" for their employees. As Realtors we have worked with them and are very aware of the benefits. However, I am certain that there are no such benefits for military officers and can assure you that there is a substantial number of officers in predicaments similar to yours as we work with a number of them as well. We believe that all "career" Military Families should have benefits similar to the other Federal agencies for the reasons you specifically mentioned. We believe that such a program will be some time in coming...it won't happen over night and it won't happen without folks like you and and other Military Families becoming very active in the political process. One such way to do that is documenting your situation on this forum which we will use to hammer the point home with members of Congress and other interested entities. In the near future we hope to have a link on this site to every Congressional member's email, but in the mean time, you should call /email / write your home state's Federal Representative and Senators and encourage your friends and family members to do the same.
Thank you again for your comments and concern. I ask that you stay tuned to this forum for updates and send your friends here as well.
Joe Gladden, Managing Partner VR SAM |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:59 PM |
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Grandma Mary, Dean, and Family,
Thanks for supporting your Military Family. I am hopeful more families will encourage their extended families to respond in support of this issue. Please keep checking back...we will have important updates in the near future. Joe Gladden |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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vshocker
New Member
Posts:1
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| 07-13-2009 09:58 PM |
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Ok all, as with you I and my family are in the same situation. I am Coast Guard and was planning on retiring in Florida, a 3 year stretch I thought,but received orders and now I am in Virginia.
We had our house up for sale for 8mo., no buyers, not even an offer, so I thought, well we will rent and refi to get a payment that will be below our rent.........WRONG!
I had to wait a month or two so I didnt have a prepay penalty of $8-10 thousand and when that time came the market fell badly. Now I cant refi and I was in a 2yr fix adjustable rate/to improve my credit. You know what that means. I have already bought a new house in Virginia and slowly but surely things are snow balling, I cant sell the house unless I am going to take 20-30 thousand of the debt myself. The house wont even appraise now for what it did 3yrs ago, not even 1yr ago.
I have 4kids with one on the way, not to mention we have an autistic child that takes alot of our energy and patience; but rewarding with how far he has come when doctors said he wouldnt do alot of things. I have a renter in the house that doesnt cover the mortgage and it is increasing, and to boot we cant afford it any longer and are between a rock and a larger rock and dont know what to do. We cant even get a buyer to offer anything on the house, its in a great neighborhood, largest house for blocks, but it just wont sell, and if it did right now my family and I have to come up with 20-30 thousand just to have someone buy the house. So what are we suppose to do, were serving our country and have to follow orders and the family couldnt stay behind because we cant afford to live there and I live in another state.Yes I have heard of a military buyout program but only for officers, so where is the justice for the enlisted.
We need help or we are going to be another statistic for the books. Im just waiting for a foreclosure letter to come anyday now, So if there is a buyout program that can give some relief I need to know soon. I just past the 7-10yrs. from bankruptcy and foreclosure after a bad divorce, now it seems that I am back in the same circumstances financially but this time due to military requirements that I cant change.
I worked so hard to get my credit back up and put my bad mistakes behind me just to fall back into ruining my credit once again, but this time its for serving my country. For all that we and our families go through for service of the military they should start giving back a little. Separation, financial stress, not knowing our own children/wife, is all the military has given its members here recently, does it pay to be in the military when family is involved? Wheres the recognition from serving our country? Divorce/ bankruptcy/ foreclosure!!!!
So where are these people in the buyout program for the active military, theres other govt employees that can get help and they are deskpushers. We are in the field protecting our country in the risk of leaving their family and in harms wayhuhhuh We dont afford the same privileges, we are less, someone needs to speak up and start showing us; the active military the recognition we deserve and when we are backed in a corner there is help for us. The military use to have housing for their members which offset costs of the economy, but we dont have that anymore. With my size of family I cant rent cheaper than owning, so theres no way around it, I have to be able to feed my family. I hope there is something that can help us along with the other people that are in a bind. All I can say that pertains to this thread, other than HELP SOH |
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Jess in GH
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:57 PM |
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Thanks Joe, the last three reply's have been our family members...Thanks for putting up this forum.
Jess |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:56 PM |
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| Hi, This is Joe Gladden replying to Jess in GH. We are working at several different levels and with several different entities to get visibility on this issue. Thanks for sharing your situation and please encourage your friends / family, and anyone who supports this effort to hit this forum with their thoughts. It will be critical to our efforts. We certainly hope your family gets some relief on this situation. Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Dean
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:56 PM |
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| I'm a prior military member that luckily never had to go through this; mostly because I choose to rent instead of purchasing a home. One of the main reasons for this is what is being documented here and having the headaches/stress of selling/buying a home every few years in locations that are not always favorable to military members. I regret not having invested years of housing allowances into a home for my families future... it kills me to think of all that rent money going into someone else’s pocket instead of where it should be going - a home for the service member and family. I know of at least one company (Target) that has taken steps to alleviate the headaches and stress from its employees who are relocating for the company; it will purchase your house at fair market value if you don’t sell prior to your moving date (if you do sell on your own they give you a bonus). Can’t our government do better for our service members that are putting their lives at risk for our freedoms? They should at least guarantee you get what you paid for your home upon transfer; they could utilize the local military “housing office” to rent these units until sold; most already have the management/maintenance personnel they need to do this. |
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viet nam era veteran
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:55 PM |
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Our service people are also trying to make ends meet in this economy. But they are at a huge disadvantage, in that they are not in control of their present or future. Some allowance should be made for these service personnel and their families when they are transferred!!! When corporations move people,
buy outs of their homes and such are commonplace. Please don't put these people in a deeper hole, and ruin the future for them. After all our future depends on them!!
FRC---RA |
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Grandma Mary
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:54 PM |
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| My son and his family have to go to WA by July 1st. and they have to try and sell their home or be seperated as a family. This is terriable and there seems to be no help insite. The government should buy these houses and then they would have housing for the next family. That would be a win win for everyone. |
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Jess in GH
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:53 PM |
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| We too are going throught his...EVEN if we do sell we will owe up to $20,000 in closing costs...My husband is leaving in a few months, I have a special needs child and we DO NOT have an extra $5 to give to anyone!!! |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:51 PM |
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| Hi, this is Joe Gladden, VR SAM responding to "4mykidslove." We appreciate your sharing your dilemma with us. We are documenting all of these frustrating circumstances to use to convince trade associations, non-profits, and eventually Congress that our Military Families need relief. I won't kid you that this will be a fast process...but what you can do to help is to ask all of your family, friends, associates that are in this situation, or empathetic, to make their comments on this forum. In the near future, we are going to provide emails to Congress to make it easier for you to contact them...but don't wait. Call them, email them now if you can. Hang in there. |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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4mykidslove
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:51 PM |
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I can't even begin to tell you how upset I am. I am a 28 year old mother of 4, working a full time job, my husband is in the Navy and we are ALSO in this situation.
We were told not only that we were moving but, we were moving to where they told us because we have 4 children.
My husband and I have literally worked our behinds off trying to scrape enough money together to buy a house in the first place while trying to support 4 kids. If I wasn't working we wouldn't have been able to save enough for a house on his pay.
Well needless to say times up and he is leaving WITH or WITHOUT us. We can't get separation pay, we will loose BAS, but BAH will stay the same. So we are loosing money now that he is leaving.
I have no help. I feel like there isn't any type of cussion for us. They basically say well your family didn't come in your sea bag. San Diego cost of living is high enough but now to try and support two households with less money is insane. Not to mention me here with the kids, still working so we can pay our bills and trying to keep up on the house for showings.
I appreciate your efforts to try and help others in our situation. THANK YOU!
Hopeless Homeowner |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:50 PM |
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GaS, Thanks for sharing your situation with us, and by all means, we strongly encourage you to write your elected Federal Representatives and Senators. We also suggest you forward this link to every Military Family you know and others who are likely to be sympathetic to this issue.
To update everyone, VR SAM intends to begin an email petition to Military friendly Realtors and Military Families. We expect Realtors to sign up to encourage the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to take a stand on this issue. They have tremendous clout and should be supportive of this. It will take us some time to get the software established, but please keep checking in. It's coming, we are building momentum!
Joe |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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GaS
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:49 PM |
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I for one am writing my state legislators today. Probably won't help our situation much but if it helps military families in the future then it is time well spent.
When we transferred to our current duty station it was with the intent to retire here. We purchased our very first home after 18 years of military service, I mean if my hubby is willing to dedicate his life in service to this country he shouldn't have to wait until retirement to grab a piece of the "american dream", right!!! We purchased the very first home built in that neighborhood with very high hopes and at a very reasonable price. Unfortunately as the community grew so did the amount of crime. It got to a point where we had no choice but to move.
We are now in our 2nd home and have been happy as clams until it came time for orders. We chose our current duty station because it is very large and the rotation from ship to shore would be fairly easy. We have been lucky with that for the last 10 years. THE LUCK HAS RAN OUT!!!
As hard as my hubby tried we just couldn't do it this time and he transfers next month so our game plan had to change and we decided that rather than me stay here while he is in another state for the next 3 years that we will make his next duty station the place we retire. It is closer to family and actually makes more sense in the big picture anyway. BUT we can't sell our home and the idea of spending yet even more time apart is breaking our hearts and quite frankly our spirits. My husband is considering putting in his papers to end his 23 year career with only 3 left before his max because of this situation. I have to believe that somehow, someway we will get through this nightmare without additional heartache but somehow I don't see that happening. The fact of the matter is that everyday the value of our home is dropping and if it doesn't sell soon we will owe more than the current market value. If he leaves his military service and we stay then it doesn't matter, we can ride it out however why should giving up his career even be on the table when his employer could provide the same benfit to him as it does other federal employees. IT SHOULDN'T, simple as that!!! I am so frustrated to read the news everyday and see all of the ways that the government is trying to help out individuals/entities who acted irresponsibly over the last several years while we sit here facing the next 3 years apart or separation from military service because we can't sell our home with current market conditions.
Good Luck and thank you for all that you are doing!!!!! |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:48 PM |
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| Christina, we certainly appreciate your frustration. Please read the Military Safety Net concept paper on this forum and send to as many friends / families as you can and ask them to comment on this forum! We are serious about documenting this issue and forcing a resolution. Thanks and best wishes. Joe Gladden, Managing Partner, VR SAM, inc. |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Christa
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:47 PM |
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"Adding Salt to the Wound" We are in the same situation as many, husband got orders to WI and we can't sell our house. What makes it even worse is that they lower your BAH rates on top of it!!! So now we have his added living expenses (not at a military base) our BAH rate is lowered by $700/month and we loose separation allowance!!! We did not choose to seperate willingly, we had no other choice. I could not go to this small town in WI to make enough money to pay the mortgage here in VA plus rent a house up there!!! When the governement asks about retention, this might just be one area to look at. What about the enlistment bonus that they are offeringhuh?? Give put that money in a "fund" to help soldiers out in this kind of situation and mybe that soldier would not get out and have to be replaced!! Use the money to keep the already trained and experienced soldiers in and not to recruit and train the "new" soldiers.
Needless to say I could go on and on...thanks for letting me "sound off"!!! |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:46 PM |
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Dee,
We at VR SAM really appreciate what our Military Families go through...have been there! We also believe the stress and trauma of buying and selling homes when moved by military PCS orders is for the most part unnecessary. We believe that it could be fixed by a well thought out program for military families similar to what the government does to take care of other federal agencies. We are doing out best to start a grass roots movement to push military leaders, military non-profits, trade associations to force Congress to address this issue. It will likely be a long involved process but we believe it can happen...but first, we need folks like you do ask your friends, family, professional associates, and all Military Families to make their voice heard by commenting on this forum. Please forward this to as many folks as you know so we can move this effort ahead. And stay tuned for more.
We wish you the best of success in selling you home and thank you and your family again for their sacrifices!
Joe Gladden, VR SAM, Capt. USN retired |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Dee
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:45 PM |
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| We are in the same situation as many of you. Daddy has already left and we are sitting here alone waiting. I have talked to many civilian friends who say that we don't have to worry because the military will buy our house. Oh how blissful ignorance can be. All of our friends are moving and the market shows no sign of turning in our favor. And, by the way-Daddy is living in a pop-up camper in the fam-camp at his new base. Isn't that a proud way for our military families to live? |
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VRSAM
Senior Member
Posts:250
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| 07-13-2009 09:44 PM |
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This note is responding to Babs in Scott AFB. this is Joe Gladden, with VR SAM, the moderator for this forum. We fully understand your situation and suspect thousands of Military Families are in the same situation...we were there more than once when on active duty. The intent of this forum is to continue to document the "pain" and eventually build grassroots momentum to get this fixed. We are just getting this forum underway, and it will start slowly...however I have one request and one suggestion.
1. I request you ask your friends / other Military Families to make the thoughts known on this forum. Please check back as we will be offering suggestions on how to attack this problem.
2. You can list your home FREE on two great web sites:
www.moresam.net and www.SeeAllListings.com. You can do this "by owner" or ask your realtor to do it. On both sites, you can also load photos. There is another excellent site that charges a nominal fee, but gets excellent exposure. www.militarybyowner.com.
If you have any questions / concerns, please let me know at homesformilitary@vrsam.com. Best of luck and help us help the Military Family. Joe Gladden |
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Joe Gladden, Captain, USN (retired) Realtor
Managing Partner, VR SAM
Veteran Realty Serving America's Military, Inc.
703 754-3036
homesformilitary@vrsam.com
www.vrsam.com |
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Babs
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:44 PM |
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| We are in the same situation. My husbands unit was going to close, then not, then close, then not again! We couldn't do anything with our house when we didn't know if we were moving or not. Well the unit finally did close and he was given orders only to have them taken back. He was told he could stay here but transfer to another unit. Three weeks later he was given orders again, found out he couldn't transfer units. He had to be at his new duty station in 3 months. We put the house up for sale with Assist2Sell, they were a nightmare. Not only did they never show our home, we could never reach them. We are now with a different realtor, Coldwell Banker, and they are very good. My husband has now been gone for a month, living on base and paying $37 a day! That adds up to more than our house payment per month! We have no choice then to be separated and it's very frustrating, especially with the holidays coming. Know of anyone moving to Scott AFB in Illinois?? We have a home for sale in a great school district! MLS Number: 2717315 |
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Carol Bowler
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:43 PM |
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| Wow, I hear you! I am in the same situation..... my husband has already transferred and my 2 year old daughter and I are stuck in a house that we can't sell!! Not to mention, we will have to pay for his barracks room since we are receiving BAH, so there's another $775/mo that we have to pay for housing simply because our house hasn't sold. There has got to be a better way to take care of military families. We are scared now to buy at our new duty station for fear this will happen to us again in another 3 years (or less). |
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Barbi
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:42 PM |
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| Wendy, I know now why my Husband keeps getting worried about getting "orders"when we talk about buying a house here in Kansas. He is in Iraq right now, and had only been at this duty station 6 months before being deployed ot Iraq. So here we sit not knowing what to do. Want a home (lucky to live in military housing) but want land so we can have our horses with us there. And we are so afraid of doing anything but it is a gamble with a big finacial risk attached. Especially when they expect the Soldier to be beyond reproach when it comes to finances, i.e., defaulting could be a carrier breaker for a Soldier! but yet they offer no true 'relocation buyout', only a relocation assistance in that they move your stuff. The civilian government workers that you speak of (I am one of them) generally have a 'choice' to move or not to move, the Soldier does not. So why shouldn't the Solider receive that same consideration or BETTER, as you said it is the Soldier that is putting their life on the line everyday for this country. Totally agree something needs to change and fast. With the current shortages of military housing, I am told that the wait list for military housing here at Fort Riley is now 11 months, reasonable rentals are very scarce if not impossible to find, buying is the only option for some military families. Buying can be much more affordable for Military than renting, not to mention a better investment and tax benefits! So why not allow the Soldier to make that commitment KNOWING that he will be ok IF the military suddenly needs him elsewhere. Give the military families and Soldiers a relocation 'buyout' program if attempts to sell their house fail, them the government temporaily buys out the house instead of foreclosing on a government loan! |
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Wendy
Posts:633
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| 07-13-2009 09:42 PM |
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| Well, you asked me to share so here it goes. It starts as of 07 Jan when we began looking for orders. As we began asking questions regarding certain orders, we were told "hey by the way your rotation date has changed and well you need to chose today!!!" At least they gave us 2 days. They could have chosen for us at this point. Just when we thought our "window" had begun, it had actually just ended!!! So, orders were minimal and choice was made in 24 hours and come to find out, choice made meant spouse/Daddy must leave in 2 months!! Yes, we were getting ready to put house on market but didn't realize it was going to be "now". Needless to say we weren't able to get it ready for the market until just after spouse transferred. This was end of Mar 07. We are now on our 2nd realtor, possibly going to 3rd one and market sucks. We have 3 children, 2 of which are 2 year old twins with severe food allergies which causes Mom to have to stay home as daycares are unable to deal with this and a job wouldn't keep her with the time off needed. No family, friends also transferred, spouse transferred....leaves for a bit stressful (more so than usual) life. Oh yea, and a beginning hormonal daughter!! So, we just find out our neighbors who are civilian government employees are being transferred and need not worry about housing market as they are able to participate in the buyout program? This, as my spouse is over in Iraq with his life in jeopardy but can't get these benefits!!! Why is this so unfair that our active duty must be treated so much less than the civilians? It makes no sense. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share and I will be taking your advice and forwarding to Senators and any others possible. |
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