Put simply, one of my properties has a note on it that exceds the value. For the numbers folks, I owe $120K on it. My guess is that it's worth about $90K. At one point, this same house was appraised at $170K, but luckily I decided not to do any home equity lines or 2nd mortgages back then. The one mortgage I had (and still have) was at 8%. Since that time though, I have mostly worked in the middle east and when I'm not working here, my time off is spent in SE Asia (good weather, good food, cheap living), so the house is now a rental. Luckily, the rent coming in, minus the mgmt fees, covers the note.
Does anyone know of any programs that can possibly help to lower the loan value? I know while I've been away there were some programs out there to help home owners. That said, I have a fairly high income, so I dont know if I would qualify for anything.
Just wondering if I should even bother or just bite the bullet, save the cash to come to the table with so I can do a 75% loan to value re-fi into an investor mortgage... I figure that would run about $50K but would obviously have a huge impact on the cashflow of the property. I have a hard time just telling myself to pay it off quickly as that same $120K buys me two fixer-uppers that I'll own free and clear and will absolutely out-earn a single $120K property.
Any feedback would be welcome...
