How can I move into a larger proprty when my current condo is upsidedown in equity?

Question

I bought the house in 2006 and the house value is down 100k. I now make close to 40k a year more from when I bought the house. I wanna leave my condo because the value has dropped and now there's a lot of renters & people living there are ruining the community. At 300k the community was well kept. Now that some of the condo's are going for 150k there's a lot of crime, noise, and new rules since the last HOA meeting

Answer 1

Join the club. We are all in the same situation. And none of us know what to do.  If you walk, your credit score will drop to 550.  You will never buy a new car with Zero % Financing; no matter what the ads say.  You will pay 22%.

If you still have your original loan on the condo, the bank can take the condo and only the condo.  If you refinanced or added a 2nd loan, you are treated differently.  The bank can come after you for any money they lose.  It takes 18 months in court and they seldom get anything. But they could./

Answer 2

Best suggestion would be to rent it out - you can probably use the rental income to help you qualify for your new home. Walking away will cause you more problems - a foreclosure on your credit can deter you from buying a new home for up to 5 years.  

Answer 3

Well you might want to rent it out or the only other thing to do is sell it for a loss.  Too bad your economy is going to h**l in a handbasket.  Hard times my friend!

Answer 4

Only way this is going to happen is for you to buy the new property before defaulting on the condo since the default will ruin your credit.  The only other option would be to pay down the mortgage until you are no longer upside down and then sell the condo.  When you sell the condo, the mortgage must be paid off or the title will not transfer because of the lien on the property.  Since you are upside down, obviously the sale will not pay off the mortgage, so to release the lien, you have to come up with the difference