F is for a lot of things... Like French Fries, for example. And Family, Fiscal responsibility, Fate, Flourish, Fear, Fritatta, Fold, Fumble, Flophouse, Friends, Feedback, Fun, Flashdance, Forecast, Forestall, Furniture, Fishbowl, Failure, Finance, Fire, Freedom and...
Foreclosure.
In today's mail, we received 7 more
NOTICES OF TRUSTEE'S SALE.
Seven. Enough to form an F.
As though the 12 total notices we've received via mail so far weren't enough, there was another posted on our garage door today for all the world to see.
We discovered it as we were leaving to see a movie-- an attempt to carve out a little bit of fun in this long weekend. We stepped out onto the driveway and there it was. In plain view. BAM! The thing that we've been trying desperately to avoid for months.
I tore it down immediately out of embarrassment. Hoping none of our neighbors would see. It wasn't until later in the day after having some time to cool down that I taped it back up for purposes of this photo.
How I felt? Like a big loser. Like a failure. And afraid.
Seeing that notice up there on our garage made it impossible to escape this reality. The last nine months have slowly been leading to this, I suppose. I just want to hide from it all. But... I can't. Because we're determined to see this through. To sell the house before the bank auctions it off. They may have set a date, but it doesn't mean this is over. The short sale is so close to being approved. Our Realtor keeps telling us not to worry. This week will determine everything. We should be in escrow by the end of the week and this auction date will go away. We just need to stay calm until then.
Regarding the Notice of Trustee's Sale on the garage door, my mom said, "It's just words on a piece of paper." And she's right. Words on a piece of paper. Letters that make up words. That spell foreclosure.
It's all a little too real right now.
(The top photo is my attempt at maintaining a sense of humor through all of this.)
The 'F' word we're yearning for: Freedom
12 Comments:
Thank you for sharing this challenge. A friend sent it to me. I admire your humor in the face of all of the anxiety. This is an excellent example of the positive power of the blog. So much of what I stumble upon leaves me uninterested or somewhat put-off as what I read seems self-indulgent. But reading how you are navigating through this tough time is oddly a comfort and helps me understand the purpose in posting. Good luck!
Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for your comment (and thanks to your friend for sending you the blog.) We are certainly trying to keep everything in perspective. And we appreciate the good luck. We'll take it.
Stephanie
This blog shows your best quality - your ability to always find humor during difficult times.
One of many admirable qualities of my old RA.
P.S. "No man is a failure who has friends."
Hi Steph,
It's hard to keep a sense of humor when shitty things are happening to you- but keeping it can get you though a lot- nothing you don't already know. I'm glad you and Bob are taking care of yourselves and each other. We're holding good thoughts, sending positive vibes your way- hoping your sale goes through.
Love you- with you-
Bob and Gail
(I'm not anonymous- but the other options didn't seem to apply)
I'll tell you what F is for...
It gets me enraged when two sides of the same company aren't talking to each other. A short sale (which would save oodles of Tylenol, wine and other pain killers) on one hand and an auction on the other.
I do hope it gets sorted out.
Wishing you both well.
Best of luck. This is a great blog.
Thanks for all the comments and positive 'vibes,' everyone. This is a big week for us. We're doing our best to help each other stay positive.
I'm calling Countrywide today. I'll post the outcome of that conversation. Fingers crossed.
Hang in there, my friend! You are in my thoughts.
Thanks, Ellen. I'm on hold right now with the short sale department at Countrywide. In order to postpone the foreclosure sale date, our short sale negotiator needs to submit a request. As soon as he submits the request, it's postponed for 30 days. So we could get this thing postponed by the end of the day today. Here's hoping.
I found your blog through the Planet Money blog. Thanks for writing about your experiences. I have my fingers crossed that the short sale will go through for you. I wish I were as hopefully about the entire US economy... my fiance lost his job in January (just weeks after we put in a mortgage application... that's on hold indefinitely now). He found a new job 6 weeks later but the new company is unlikely to survive the year. I'm finishing my masters in August and I have no real job prospects so far. We were going to be first time home buyers this year... guess not.
Hi Lisa,
Welcome! I love Planet Money! I'm so thrilled they blogged about Littof. Thanks for reading and for the comment. We actually just heard news that our short sale offer was approved by Countrywide. It's looking good right now.
I'm sorry to hear about your fiance losing his job! There is so much turmoil and uncertainty right now. I hope you'll peruse the rest of the blog because we address a lot of what you're going through. Our main focus through this crazy experience has been to use every little thing as an opportunity. An opportunity to learn, to grow, to re-prioritize our lives...
It's certainly brought us closer together and shown us that we can weather any storm. I think that your marriage will be stronger for all you're weathering now. At least that's one way of looking at it.
Keep reading. And thanks again!
Stephanie
I also went through a short sale/foreclosure last year and has worked with tens of clients with they explored the possibility of short sales. Thank you for putting in words what may of us feel (SEEING THE PAPER IN FRONT OF THE DOOR! ARGH!)..your posts are such a breath of fresh air...
-Joe
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