A few years ago, my apartment was burglarized while I was away at work. I moved out immediately due to fear and not feeling safe into a different apartment. Although I moved to another location, I didn’t feel secure because I didn’t have an alarm system or burglar bars on my windows. I felt like a sitting duck. I couldn’t afford to find anywhere better to live than the place I had found because I didn’t earn a lot of money. I learned about an organization called Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa (CDC of Tampa, Inc) that help low income individuals like myself purchase their first home by providing down payment assistance. I didn’t have much savings or earned a lot of money, I grossed $29,699.00 annually at the time, so I qualified for two programs one was a non interest loan for $42,250.00 from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. I’m required to pay this loan back within 50 years, or if I sale the property, or if it is no longer my primary residence the loan is due immediately in full. The second loan is from the City of Tampa (a municipal corporation of the State of Florida) for $48,113.22, this loan is a deferred, forgivable loan as long as I reside in the home for 30 years, or if it is no longer my primary residents, or if I sale the property prior to 30 years of residing there the loan is due in full immediately. These loans allowed me to purchase a new home that cost $169,000.00, the down payment assistance programs put down a generous $90,363.22 and I was beyond thankful, I put down $500.00, as a result my 30-year fix interest rate from Fifth Third Bank brought my monthly mortgage payment to $619.35 per month and it does not carry a prepayment penalty.
When I purchased my home, I was told by the realtor(representative) that all the old houses would be torn down and replaced by new houses and that the city set funds aside to redevelop the entire community (I later learned that this was not entirely the case). I saw that new houses were being built throughout the area here and there, and that no one was living in any of the old houses directly around my future house and that a vacant tin roofed wooden home sat next to the home I wanted and another old wooden home was on the other side. There was an empty plot of land on the corner and all the other homes, omitting the two new brick homes that were in the process of being constructed were old wooded homes, some were boarded up and looked like they would be demolished.
The entire time they were constructing my new home I believed from the core of my being that by the time I moved into my new home at the very least the other new house would be finished and they would have started tearing down the old houses, and would be nearing completion on the house on the empty lot down the street. I was so excited, I thought I was moving into a developing community with other likeminded hardworking homeowners and thought everything was going to be okay…I was so wrong, I was oh so very wrong. During the entire year my home was being constructed I did not see any one living on my street block during construction. A few months after I moved into my house, I was thankful that my home came installed with an alarm system and that I used my credit card to purchase burglar bars to put on every window and door of my home because much to my surprise families moved into both of the wooden homes beside me (I later learned that the family actually purchased and didn’t rent out the old wooden tin roofed house and had several children). Families just started moving into all these old wooden houses that I thought had been marked for demolition.
I’ve experience nothing but misery since the first neighbors moved in. Someone stole every plant out of my front yard two by two until they were all gone, even the rug in front of my door and the water hose. My mail box has been back over more times than I can count by my neighbor’s mom who drives while drunk. The kids play in my front yard like it’s a playground. Came home one day to find four teenagers standing on my porch, they said they didn’t know anyone resided there. I couldn’t afford to fence my entire yard so I used my credit card to fenced in the front with a chain-link fence to keep them out of the front yard at least (they’ve pushed in areas of the fence causing it to bow out of shape, but haven’t been able to tear it down as of yet). A police office brought to my attention that my home is located less than a mile from the projects (public housing, property owned by the government authority). Loud music, trash in the street, a porch full of people drinking, and smoking marijuana, kid playing in my right of way in front of my house is what I come home to after long hours of working. I have jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Everything I was running away from I am surrounding by. I sincerely do not feel safe living in this neighborhood. I wish I was all cried out, but I’m not. I work so hard for the little that I have, I just want better for myself.
I moved in my house in 2008, 10 years later and I still see no way out. Out of curiosity I just recently wanted to see how much I could sell my home for through a company called Opendoor. They gave me an estimate of my home value to be $146,000.00 based on comparable home sales in my area. After closing cost and service charges they estimated my net proceeds to be $132,993.00 (that’s if my home requires no repairs after they conduct a physical walk through). After I pay back $90,363.22 in loans to the City, I would only have $42,629.78 left to pay Fifth Third bank for their mortgage loan. For the past ten years the only thing I’ve paid on my mortgage is interest charges and very little principle payments, as a result I still owe Fifth Third Bank $68,455.60 as of 5/1/2019, I’d be short $25,825.82 if my walk away sale was $132,993.00. I do not have $25,825.82 to pay Fifth Third Bank, or money to put down on another home. I would sincerely appreciate help paying off Fifth Third Bank and help putting down a down payment that is large enough that would allow me to afford my monthly mortgage payments. I’m a middle-aged woman who will most likely be working to the day I die to make ends me. I just want to do it in peace.
I have an excellent credit score, I am very responsible with my earnings, I just don’t make a lot of earnings. Help me undo the biggest financial mistake of my life. I made a decision that is a reoccurring night mare. My goal is $75,000,00 (down payment for new home, closing cost, and Fifth Third Bank’s balance).
Please somebody, help me please. Help me get out of my house and into a place I can call home. My dream was to own my own home, my reality is a nightmare that I can’t escape. I see no way out without you.
My PayPal.me account is:
paypal.me/harmony28
I thank you in advance for your thoughtfulness and generosity, please give me a second chance.
Melody