Should I sell?

Hello - I am not a citizen of this country. I bought a property in 2007 at $333,500 putting down 10% and taking an 80-10 first and second mortgage. I am seriously contemplating getting rid of it now since I am on a work visa and I am finding it a bit difficult to stay here. For example, I recently got married and my wife is still in my country awaiting for her visa. They put me through 4.5 months of waiting outside the country while I had gone for my wedding before letting me in. So, I don’t know if I want to continue to stay here. I will know in a couple of months. In between, i thought of selling my property so that I can make a clean exit. Given my visa situation above, I approached an attorney to see if I could go for a short sale. Given that I make over a 6 figure income, she says I cannot go for short sale. I told her that the next option would be to foreclose if I left the United States. Would the bank prefer that and she is not answering that question. However, I tried to evaluate my loss. So, I contacted a realtor. Per his estimate, the house can sell at $285,000. Taking away 6% in Realtor commission + transfer fees etc., I will net 267900. My loan balance is $286000 which means I would need to bring $18000 to the closing table. My questions are as follows.

  1. Should I rent out the property for the next few years assuming market will pick up? Point to note is my rent will not fully cover mortgage. If I rent, I will move to smaller apartment and make the lesser cost cover the difference. Atleast I wouldn’t have to come up with $18000. However, there is a dangerous assumption that property prices will come up. Is this realistic?

  2. Is there any way to negotiate a short sale with the bank given what the attorney has told above?

  3. Are there any other options to make a clean exit? In the worst case, if I have to leave the country and none of the above options work, I will just have to foreclose with the satisfaction that I tried my best.

  4. Or should I just sell and swallow my loss?

Kindly advise.

Hi,

What city and state is this property in? It is necessary to understand your market to answer this question!

            GR

will you owner finance the deal?

You must understand that the market value of property can change at any time. Changes are based on factors like improvements, market trends and the location of the business property.

Given your income, approaching the bank with a short sale inquiry is not only unethical but immoral. Moreover, it should be illegal.
Why exactly do you think it’s the bank’s fault to carry the consequences of the decisions made by you in the recent past?
List the gator and cough up the difference no matter how painful that would be.