Hello there, here with a question!

HawkJr

I will try to make this as short as possible! I have a very underwater mortgage and am stuck on a horrible side of town with a horrible school system. My community is not rebounding due to location. I need to find a way to move to a better community. I am trying to decide between two options. I can save the money and pay the difference in how underwater I am (70k) and then sell. Or I can save the cash and buy a foreclosure in a better community and pay cash for it. Does anyone have any advice for me or other options that I have not thought of? I'm desperate as my daughter will be school aged in 3 years and I need to come up with a plan. Thanks!

bparkhur

Is renting the place out an option?

CuriousKiddosMama

I would look into renting too. If that isn't an option though I would try to pay off the house as quickly as possible to the point where you can sell it and get out. If the only reason you are moving though is for school, check out private schools, and local charter schools. Sometimes even the public schools will let you apply to transfer to another school in the district if there is a reason you want to go. Public schools in our area allow this for many reasons, school performance being one of them. That may be a great option for you if you can't get out of the house before your daughter starts school. Generally when you do switch schools though, you have to provide your own transportation- so you would have to pick up and drop off your daughter each day.

hoffse

I would look into renting too. If that isn't an option though I would try to pay off the house as quickly as possible to the point where you can sell it and get out. If the only reason you are moving though is for school, check out private schools, and local charter schools. Sometimes even the public schools will let you apply to transfer to another school in the district if there is a reason you want to go. Public schools in our area allow this for many reasons, school performance being one of them. That may be a great option for you if you can't get out of the house before your daughter starts school. Generally when you do switch schools though, you have to provide your own transportation- so you would have to pick up and drop off your daughter each day.

**Stuck in the box

I would also check out public school transfers.  I attended a public school out of my district for 10 years.  My parents paid about $100/month in tuition.  They were even able to get around the transportation issue by having the bus pick me up at my dad's work (he's a college professor), which was directly on the bus route.  

You might also be surprised by the cost of private school.  I live in a decent-sized city, and the best Catholic elementary school in my city (which is what we've been looking at) is about $5,000/year if you pay full freight (and they have reduced rates if you can show need).  Obviously that's more than public school, but it might be a better use of your money than trying to pull together $70K in the next three years to buy in a particular school district.  I will say that this happens a LOT in my area because some of the public schools are great and some are awful.  What inevitably happens is it makes the summer housing market completely crazy around here.  It's a total seller's market right before school starts.  That's not going to play in your favor if a similar thing happens in your area.

HawkJr

Renting isn't an option because I can only rent it for a small fraction of what the mortgage is. My house is very small and I pay 1k per month for the mortgage. Houses on my side of town now that are for rent at that price are beautiful and spacious homes. I bought this home as a place for me and my dog and now it's me, a dog, a husband and a baby. We are overflowing. Plus if I can move the the side of town I'm interested in, I will be closer to my mother who lives on her own since my father passed. It would be great to be near her.