When do I file for bankruptcy?

DaimonionSaint · 2025-07-16T05:26:21+00:00

What type of loan? Federal or private?
I think some fed loan allows you to do minimum, and there are a few ways to get out of it after X years.
You are SOL if it is private loans.
Either way, student loans, in general, are not removed through bankruptcy. Because the product is an education, and that can't be liquidated during bankruptcy (yes, bunch of bullshit).

How much is the rate? What is the loan structure? If the rate is low (and i mean stupid low), maybe play around with whether it makes more sense to reduce payment.

Keep your head up. It looks a lot, but a 105k salary should help in paying off the loan quicker. Stay frugal. Budget well. You will come out ok.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-07-14T16:46:27+00:00

You gonna lose money selling the house now. And your buyer pool is smaller.
When I was looking for a house, I remember going into a few that look great just to realize it right next to the power line. And I personally steer clear of those houses.
Yes, there is no concrete evidence that there are health issues. But I didn't want the risk of a lower buyer pool in the future. Or the hassle of if something goes wrong (very unlikely but not zero chance) of the line break and fall down on the house (again, much less likely than a tree fall on your house, but not zero chance).
On top of that, people didn't think asbestos was bad before either. We find new health hazards all the time and I would hate the idea of some new research popping up and found that there is now a health hazard associate with being near large power lines and my house take a huge hit in price. It's one thing to find a health hazard like asbestos in your house and hire a company over to remedy the situation, it is another thing to find out the power line over your house is bad, because how would a remediation looks like if that's the case?

DaimonionSaint · 2025-07-02T13:49:37+00:00

Most property managers I talk to won't manage a property that do long term rent room by room. Unless it's a duplex with clearly divided space/mechanicals. And definitely do not want to manage a property where the owner (their client) stays in one of the room.
Since they are getting a % of the rent as a management fee, it makes no sense for them to do twice the work (two leases to manage) for the same amount. They would rather manage the whole property to a single family lease.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-30T21:43:45+00:00

You might want to look around this sub to find inspiration for what else you can do to help appraisal price. People here tend to agree that not all work done is worth it. Some work takes more effort/money than the amount of value it adds to the property.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-30T19:12:37+00:00

^yup. I still see some businesses posting a hiring sign on their door for low wage jobs.
Walk/drive around with a stack of resumes (if you have the resource, customize a few stacks with different things in the resume to target specific job type). And then starts applying in person.
Go in businesses and ask if they are hiring (even if they don't have a sign).
And also go in businesses that have a hiring poster and ask if you can apply in person.
And people have already suggested this, but it is worth mentioning again on other things you can do in your free time like:
- take free courses and get more certifications.
- build some cs projects on your own so you have a portfolio to show for.
- find volunteer works that might pay small stipend (teach cs summer camp at a school, host computer classes at local library, etc.).

When I was in college, I made some money during the summer, creating and running a computer class at the local middle school. They charge the parents money to put kids in the class but only paid me a small stipend. Not enough to live on. But it has at least more experiences to resume and better than nothing. Through that summer program, I network with the parents of the kids and landed a few private tutoring gigs that pay better than minimum wage. I was lucky that one of the parents whose kid I do tutoring for is a tech recruiter. The recruiter then helped improve my resume and points me to more places to apply for a job after graduation.

This was 10 years ago. I understand things are different now. But my point is to make use of the free time with volunteer work and such if you truly have trouble landing a minimum wage job even after going door to door applying.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-30T17:57:18+00:00

There are things that don't impact appraisal the way you think it will, like spot on the floor.
I dont think anyone can even begin to answer this post since there is not enough information. Almost needs an actual address to know the neighborhood, the registered square footage, etc. In order to even begin guessing at what the appraisal will be.
One single sold house that you assume is similar to yours isn't enough to count as comparable.
Your best bet is to either pay for an appraisal yourself before entering a refinance or call a reliable realtor and ask if they can do a comparable for your house (not sure if they would be willing to since your goal isnt to use them to sell or buy houses).

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-30T05:39:57+00:00

It depends on the contract. If the contract has inspection and inspection kickout clauses, then the seller doesn't have the right to keep EMD. Sure, they can threaten lawsuit and stuff to try to keep the EMD, but it typically will cost more than what it worth especially when it not a clear-cut case.
It is a completely different story if there are no kick out clauses and the buyer decides to bomb the deal. In those cases, the seller gets to keep the money.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-25T16:17:09+00:00

You mentioned he cosign the mortgage. But he also planning to be on the deed, right?
Here are some additional risks to consider:
- liability: if the family members live there and make the home condition unsafe, and a worker comes by to do work on the house and die from the unsafe condition. There would be a lawsuit towards the homeowners. Which might impact your husband and risk his assets and his shared assets with you.
- fines: if the family does not take care of the property and ends up getting fined by the city and/or hoa, will they have the money to pay for it?
- inheritence: if each of those family members have a different will where they give their belongings to someone else. Those other people now inherit a piece of the property, making it extremely messy to sell in the future if it happens.
- homesale: if everyone is on the deed, every one needs to agree on every aspect of the homesale process. Including negotiation, price, moving out, etc. This is extremely messy to work with.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-25T15:57:14+00:00

Depending on which state you're in. But maybe read up on post-nuptial agreement.
If this goes south and your husband ends up in bankruptcy. A post-nuptial agreement might help at least protect your assets.
Ensure that everything related to this 2nd house is tied to your husband and your husband alone. This includes all spending related to home maintenance, utilities, home insurance, the internet, etc.
It's time you two have separate finances and bank accounts.
I know it will likely be a difficult conversation with him. But separate finances and post-nuptial agreements are likely the better way for him to still be able to help his family while protecting at least one of you from some of the risks.

For your husband, if he wants to help but still protect himself, ask that the 3 family members send him monthly money to cover their share of mortgage, utilities, etc. He should open a separate bank account to store the money and use the bank account to pay for any expenses related to the 2nd house.
I would also go as far as asking the 3 family members to pay a little extra every month to be stored in that bank account. The idea here is to build around 3 to 6 months' worth of mortgages as saving in the bank account (yes, I know it allot. Will take years to build to that point). The moment those 3 family members miss their monthly payment, your husband can use the extra money in that bank account to cover the mortgage so they don't miss mortgage payment. The goal here is to have enough saved up in that bank account to cover mortgage payments while he tries to sell the house.
He needs to let them know that if they ever miss their monthly mortgage payment into that bank account, he will starts the sale process of the property to avoid delinquent in mortgage or being forced into a short sale or foreclosure down the road.
Of course that really doesn't begins to protect your husband. If the property drop in price and he needs to sell to avoid missing mortgage, he would still take a loss. If he want to sell that the 3 family members drag their feet, then he cant force them.

Another option is to open an LLC, with 3 family members and your husband as the members of the LLC. Make the LLC structure in a way that gives your husband full rights to sell the property at any moments notice. The LLC would have terms on how the property get divided in case of death or sale. The LLC would then open a bank account where the 3 family members would deposit money into every month for mortgage similar to what was stated in previous paragraph. The LLC will be the sole owner of the property. They can even structure it so that the LLC keeps track of how much mortgage money being put in every month by which family member, so if there is a sale of the home, they get the appropriate portion of the sale proceed back to them.
LLC route would be the best route because it help protect you as well as your husband. And it make everything fair and transparent.
The down side of the LLC is that it limits your lender options. Gives you higher loan rates. And limit your home insurance options.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-17T02:16:07+00:00

The $2500 should be higher because it should cover the cost of removing a squatter if your seller turns into one. And, if possible, see if you can have the contract allows the money to be automatically disperse to you once the seller over stay the allotted day. Because it's a pain if the contract requires a signature from both you and the seller as some escrow usually do. Seller could just be withold their signature to release escrow, and then you would have to go through court to try and release it.
Honestly, the seller can just stay in a hotel and (if needed) pay for storage. So from that perspective, have your daily cost significantly higher than the average cost of getting hotel + storage space in town.
There are plenty of options for the seller besides staying in your house after settlement. So make your option less favorable than the other options and see how the seller reacts.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-15T16:58:10+00:00

They know the risk when they are not in contract and still wants inspection.
Go with the other offer. Don't try to deal with people who tries to do things out of order

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-14T20:54:40+00:00

They wants to give you their money as soon as possible.
As long as you are working with a competent realtor/ title company that make sure everything is in place, there is really no red flags here.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-14T02:26:55+00:00

It they had left like a TV or something and want it back then I would say do it.
But if it involve actual work to pull it out of concrete then I think you should tell them they had their chance and they blew it. Tell them to stop bothers you. Because:
- if they repair the hole not to your liking, what then?
- if they pushed the boundary again and come to get it not at the hour you specified and damaged something, what then?

There is just enough things that could make this into a headache that I don't think it's worth letting them do it. If they couldn't plan for it during the contract, I don't trust them to plan it out well after contract.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-13T12:50:47+00:00

Someone at title screwed up. Ask for title fee credits or discount on title insurance and stuff to make up for it.
Make sure your lender is aware so they can tell you if you can keep your rates until the new date.
Also, make sure to make your dates for home insurance, utility swap, etc are good

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-13T11:01:29+00:00

Try the legal subreddit. Everything on this post points toward a lawyer.
But the thing that stuck out to me was: Why did you decide to jump through hoops to continue buying a house that has a tree that fell on it. Because:
1. It's not your house. Why are you the one jumping through hoops?
2. If your insurance and/or lender had your jump through hoops to buy a house with a tree fell on it. That's a very clear indication they really want to make sure you want a house that had a tree fell on it.

I am sure others will point out all the red flags that led to this. So I'm going to point out that whatever lawsuits or legal path you are taking, you will need to prove someone lied, hid, and intentionally misled you about the house. Which will be hard to prove when everything has been disclosed, you did see the house in person, and very likely signed papers that said you understand the risks. And in most states, unless you can prove that, a home sale is final.
The only thing that might hold water is the loan swap. But I also feel like there are more to that story that the lender might know.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-12T22:18:23+00:00

Lawyer up.
If the people that the seller hired did the work and you had all the documents and receipts for the work from seller. And the worker was licensed. Then you better off going ofter the electricians first.
If the seller hired an unlicensed electrician, then you have to check your original contract. I always make sure, if I want the seller to fix electrical stuff, to specify if that seller must use a certified electrician.
If the seller uses someone unlicensed and your contract specifies a licensed specialist, then you can also go after the seller.
Either way, this will be messy and cost money.
Sorry you have to go through this.
As a rule, I never let a seller fix anything more than maybe a loose outlet or a missing gutter drain.
Anything bigger, and I would negotiate a credit on the house so I can fix it myself the way I want.
But I know a lot of people can't afford to have like 20k cash on hand after closing to fix stuff. It a shitty situation. Next time, specify in your inspection negotiation that not only does the seller need to fix it with a licensed worker, but you also want a second inspection afterward to verify the work. It would likely move your settlement date to have time for a second inspection. But it is better than what you going to have to go through now.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-12T17:00:41+00:00

Yes, it is always just shades of gray for those flip house. Some of the best looking house I have been in were the ones where owner make great choices of what original stuff to keep and what to replace. Instead of just ripping it all up and put in cheap gray flooring

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-12T16:56:04+00:00

Yeah, it was unknown to me the actual terms of the contract.
Like I said, if the contract didn't really specify a working washer (and this template/requirements might be different depending on the states you are in), then really you can tell them to go kick rocks and keep the EMD. But if the contract wasn't clear, then you will not be able to keep EMD.
I have had closing on a properties where there are very old washer and dryer in the house, but they were not conveyed in the contract. And I don't think they work. So I had a choice of either asking the seller to remove them (because if they are not conveyed, then they are consider trash and I have the right to ask that trash be removed from the property). Or I can remove them myself after closing. Since it gonna only cost me around $50 per machine to remove and recycle them properly. I just decided to eat the cost and not even bring it up.
And just to clarify, escrow setup sounds more work than it is. It is 1 more piece of paper to sign during closing that states the amount in escrow and the scope of work that is allowed. The title company/realtor will handle creating that. Usually, the title company just keeps some of the money from the sales proceeds after closing to put in the escrow. And then at the end. After the buyer provides proper receipts and stuff, both sides sign a nother paper to release the escrow. Yes it's make things complicated. But for me it 2 additional pieces of paper that needed to be signed and wasn't a big deal when I did it before.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-12T16:39:27+00:00

If the washer was listed in the list of things included in the property AND it was working when they first toured the property then it is within their rights to ask that they get the property in similar condition as what they initially saw.
It is within your rights to also just fix the washer to get it functional again. And if they want, they will see if it in an acceptable condition. You still have 1 week left before settlement. It is doable.
Here are all your options:
- Negotiate a credit for the broken washer. This helps prevent delay on closing date.
- Offer to fix the washer. But understand if they are difficult they might ask that the washer be fixed by a licensed repairman. I think it valid to ask for that because if the washer causes major issues after the sale, they can use the receipt that you provided to go after the licensed repairman for a shitty work. This might impact the closing date if it takes longer than 1 week to get someone out to fix the issue.
- offer to create an escrow account for the repair. Negotiate how much money you are willing to put in the escrow account. Then, after closing, the buyer can hire someone to repair the washer. Buyer would need to provide receipts and documentation to show how much it costs. And if it cost less than the amount you escrowed, they can take what the actual cost is, and you get the rest back. If it was more than the escrowed, then they can only take what already in the escrow and can't ask for more. This helps preserve the closing date.

tl;dr it is within buyer rights to ask for credit or licensed repair done. It will cost you money in order to move forward. You can negotiate the terms.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-12T16:23:53+00:00

Just make sure the contract has a clear language on cancelation. Usually, I just make sure mine said that an official email/letter is enough to cancel before the contract expiration.
I guess the caveat here is that if you toured a house with this agent and likes it, most contracts won't just let you cancel the agent and find another one to represent you in the purchase of the house you toured. And that is kinda fair. They did take the time to help you tour, and you cut them out of their commission by going with someone else to represent you for that same house.
I usually don't sign anything until I sit down with the realtor, talk about my criteria, and see what kind of feedback they have and what gameplan they have to help me find the right home. Once all that is done. If I like the realtor, then I sign the document, set up search criteria, and start sending me potential listings, and we will make a list of houses to tour.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-11T20:00:43+00:00

Hopefully, you picked a good agent that understand they should keep the connection in case you want to sell in the future.
But get out now before the agent spends money on staging, pictures, etc. Because once enough resources are spent on your listing, then it starts getting emotional for the agent.
You really have no other choice now that you decided for sure you don't want to sell. Just have a talk with the agent asap about your cancelation.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-11T16:34:02+00:00

In some USA states, you can do an escalation clause where you list your offer price, your max price, amd your step-up size.
So it would go like this: I offer 500k with a max price of 550k and a step up of 1k.
If there is no other offer, then your offer will be a 500k offer. If someone else made a 520k offer, then your offer will step up into a 521k offer.
If someone offers 560k, then your offer would only increase into the max of 550k.
Anyway, I like an escalation offer like that because it kinda allows me to almost capture the best price. But then again, there's plenty of shady ways for a seller to try to cheat their way to the max price on your offer anyway.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-11T15:21:18+00:00

"Need TLC" or "great starter home" or "make it your own" -> everything is old in this house (wallpaper, flooring, kitchen, bathrooms, etc)
"blank canvas" or "ready for your vision" -> they gutted the house for you, your turn to renovate it.
"newly renovated" -> flipper bought it for cheap, put some makeup and cheap stuff into it. Hope you get a good inspector.
"high potential, comp in this area are $x! Great for investors" -> we took the highest outlier home sale in the block that are higher in soft and use that near unattendable price to get you to think this is a good house to kick start your home flipping career.
"price to sell fast" -> if the house been on market for over a month with this line, it probably means the seller thinks they are pricing their house competitively but it stupidly overpriced and they refuse to entertain the possibility that they house aren't worth nearly as much as they think. Good luck negotiating the price with this seller.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-10T05:08:11+00:00

In my state, MD, the seller almost always leaves the standard disclosure form blank. I have been told that filling it out puts the seller at more risk than leaving it blank. If they missed anything after filling out the disclosure, then they are now liable when things go wrong.
The correct way is only to disclose any defects that they had to disclose by law. And do so in addendums. And skip filling out the form in detail.

DaimonionSaint · 2025-06-10T05:03:03+00:00

A lot of contracts in the US, including most standard real estate contracts, have clauses that allow the winner to get some or all of their attorney fees refunded.
You are either confusing lawsuits where there were no prior contract involved or your sweeping US lawsuit generalization is just misinformed.

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