Yesterday was a very happy day for us. As we have gone through the foreclosure process for over a year now, I must admit that it was strange to feel so positive again. Our spirits were lifted because on Friday evening we signed a lease agreement for a house.
After months of not knowing what the future of our house would be, we finally took a step on our own and took a little bit of control back into our own lives. If you ask anyone who is going through foreclosure or pre-foreclosure, they will tell you that not knowing how long you can stay in your house is very stressful. Looking back, I can’t believe we let ourselves fight the uncertainty for so long.
A few months back we tried to do a short sale that would have allowed us to remain in our property by renting it back from the new owner. Unfortunately the BPO (appraisal) came in real high, killing any chance of a short sale. This was a blessing in disguise, as the buyer for the property was Todd Kaufman. Todd is an investor with Alta Community Investment who wanted to purchase our house, and rent it back to us, giving us the option to buy it back in a couple of years.
Although the short sale didn’t happen, Todd Kaufman had other properties open up. So we ended up renting from Todd anyways, just at a different address. Yesterday we met with Todd at the new house to do a final walk-through of the rental and to sign the lease agreement.
Signing the lease felt like a weight had been lifted off of our shoulders. I never thought writing a check for a security deposit and first month’s rent would feel so good. I’m absolutely sincere about that. For the first time in over a year, we have a place that we know we can call home. No more phone calls, no more late notices, no more worry or stress. After many months of hard work we have finally take back some control of our lives.
Looking back, I think we tried too hard to keep the house. For months we were trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Once we began to mentally let go of the house, things began to fall into place. Our house was once a piece of our family dream; a piece that was to provide us security for years to come. But after a few left turns in my career, that dream became a road block.
In my martial arts training, I have learned that above all, do not fight. If you must fight, fight smart and fight hard. Over the past year I was fighting the fact that our dream of home ownership was over. Or in the very least, if not over, the dream is delayed. On the surface, you might think that the fight was to keep our house. The real fight, however, was with ourselves; the mental fight. We would not let go. We held on too tight. We refused to lose the house. The word for this is denial.
Once we accepted the fact that keeping this house was not going to happen, we finally began searching for a new place to live. Looking back, we should have done this at least a year earlier.
If we had to do this over again, would we fight to keep the house if we knew we could end up keeping it? Absolutely not. A year of stress, pressure, anxiety, and depression wasn’t worth it; even if we could have kept the house.
We are no longer prisoner to the auction date. Our future is no longer held in the hands of over-worked asset managers.
After our walkthrough of the rental was done, we tried our best to adequately thank Todd Kaufman for what he had done. For those who don’t understand why we are so thankful, allow me to explain.
If you are in foreclosure, it is likely that your credit is in tough shape. It is not easy to find a rental after you’ve just come through a financially difficult time. If you have pets, finding a rental just became 10X more difficult. Although Todd did not buy our house, he was still willing to rent to us. Had it not been for Todd, I truly do not know where we would be now. Our family and marriage have a fresh start. How do you adequately thank someone for that opportunity?
As I shook his hand after the walkthrough, I felt the whole past year hit me. I could feel my throat constrict and my eyes begin to water. Our hard work had finally made something good happen. Our kids don’t have to change schools. We don’t have to give our pets away. We don’t have to move out of the area. As if all of these great things were not enough to be thankful for, Todd’s property is beautiful inside.
We are moving into a house that was previously foreclosed and taken back by the bank. I can’t believe I did not see the irony until now.
It has been nearly 3 months since we lost our house at 961 La Grange to foreclosure. Today we learned that our house was in escrow, awaiting its new owner. Although we’ve moved on, it is still a little sad. I guess it is a little like receiving a death certificate for a loved on in the mail. You already know they are dead, but this news brings a new sense of finality. But that’s probably a good thing, as it gives us one less reason to dwell on the past so we can really focus on the future.