All Forum Posts by: A.K. Ahuja

Thanks guys.

@Account Closed - HOA was not anywhere close to $400 when purchased; I believe it was less than $100. Over time there have been HOA increases due to covering costs of significant damages to property from hurricanes, etc. A couple of add'l increases were proposed over the years, which I always opposed...but they got passed as I believe most owners didn't put in a proxy vote and/or just didn't care & walked away. Frankly, a $400/mo HOA for this place is absolutely absurd!

@AJ Felix - in addition to what Amy stated & similar to my prior response above, the decline across this zip code is one thing, but my immediate condo community has experienced a much more severe decline primarily due to many owners settling for foreclosures or short sales. That's what's really had the biggest impact - most of the owners were part of an initial investment group (incl. myself) when these units were initially built. Over time, most have written off their losses and essentially abandoned their units...driving down values while also adding to more supply of vacant units, preventing home values to go back up.

Thanks guys for the comments/feedback so far!

@Brandon Johnson - I'm not familiar with NESARA/GESARA so will look into those, thanks for the heads up!

@Amy Verges - my current thinking is similar, would love to get rid of it but an add'l $50k out of pocket is a hard pill to swallow. Other challenge is that I don't even know if we can find a buyer, as several other units in community are also on the market.

@Bill B. - this investment property is in Baton Rouge, LA. Unfortunately I think my particular condo community has been hit harder than the larger zip code, and definitely more-so than Baton Rouge overall. One recent stat mentioned the foreclosure rate in this zip code (70802) is 4x national average, and my community is definitely pushing that average up. My prop mgr recently told me that the community feels like a ghost town - many units are vacant and a large percentage of those have just been abandoned by owners for foreclosure or short sale. That's a big factor in driving the prices down to 1/2 of orig. purchase price. 

Hey guys - let me start by saying I'm not proud of this one, but faced with the reality and seeking guidance on how to navigate..

I bought a brand new 1BR condo in Baton Rouge, LA as an investment property back in 2006 for $120K. At that time (as many of you probably know) it was easy to purchase a home with a 1st+2nd mortgage and zero-to-minimal down payment without PMI...so that's what I did. Unfortunately over the years with market downturn, hurricanes, etc. property values dropped and many other owners/investors with neighboring units either foreclosed or did short sales on their condo units...further driving value down to half of what I originally bought it for. Currently it's valued around $55K-$60K, and I still owe $105K (due to prior int. only loans). I have it rented and fortunately it's been rented majority of the time I've owned it, but I'm still in the red each month and wondering what to do. I'd love to just get rid of this property and wipe my hands clean, but I really don't want to come up with an add'l $50K out of pocket. I've thought about short sale as well, and although don't want a credit hit wondering if it's a viable solution. Here are all details:

-Orig. purchase price = $120K

-Current value = $55K-$60K

-Balance owed (1st & 2nd mtg) = $105K

-1st mtg pmt = $685

-2nd mtg pmt = $180

-Monthly HOA = $400 (I know, this is freakin ridiculous)

-Monthly rental income = $747 (net), [after 6% prop mgmt. fee on $795 gross rent]

-Net monthly cash flow = -$518  (I haven't been paying the HOA for many months now, so I'm currently operating at a -$118/mo loss, although the overdue HOA dues are just piling up)

Goes without saying this is a bad situation...what should I do and what are my options?

Would you guys consider a short sale? (If the bank needs to verify income levels, I'm not sure I'd qualify as we can technically pay it off...I just don't want to)

Any help/feedback is greatly appreciated...thanks in advance!!