Charity Begins But Does Not End At Home
God only knows, God makes his plan.
The information's unavailable to the mortal man.
…Slip Slidin' Away
About a year ago, I mentioned how I was giving until it hurts by supporting one brother-in-law and his family here in the Philippines. Soon after that, I started supporting ANOTHER brother-in-law and his family. Charity never ends.
Just this week, my wife decided to help her cousin and her cousin's husband by buying them a house. Che and Gani will be responsible for making the house payments. Now that I have all the details from my wife and the realtor, I realize she didn't make a bad decision. After you read what I have to say about it, please continue to read and see what I have to say about another person who needs some help.
Their Problem
Che and Gani have extremely bad credit. While I don't know all the details, I know they can't even get a credit card. Despite the fact that Che's income alone is more than me and my wife's combined income, they can't qualify to buy a house.
While I was staying with them back in March, I found out the bank was foreclosing on the house they were renting. I seem to remember the foreclosure was to be completed around May 20th. Why they waited until almost the last minute to do anything about it is beyond me.
Our Housing History
The house that I and Josie sold in 2006 was the first house we owned. We lived in it for almost 12 years. When we sold it, we paid off everything and still ended up with over $100,000 in profit due to the inflated housing boom. My wife says I'm a genius because I foresaw the housing slump, and the economy downturn as a result of it, and made the decision to sell when we did.
Because of my foresight, we now own our house in the Philippines and are making no payments of any kind. Even though our combined income is low, in my opinion, we qualify for a house up to $140,000 in Phoenix. A house that two years ago probably sold for over $200,000.
The House
The paperwork for the house is at the title company and they're waiting for a $1,000 whatever payment. There's no down payment required because the house is being bought from another foreclosure. Josie will be making the payment this coming Monday.
The title company has to mail me a power of attorney, via FedEx, which I have to sign in front of a notary recognized by the US and send it back to them. It looks like I'll be making a round-trip to Manila pretty soon. Once the sale is complete, Josie will get the $1,000 back from the title company.
I don't know where the house is, what it looks like, or any of the details. Do you want to know something? I don't even care.
Besides the money required for the FedEx mailings, the round-trip to Manila and the notary fee, there isn't any real risk. If Che and Gani fail to make the monthly payments, and the house goes into foreclosure, that small amount of money is the only thing we'll really lose in the process. Josie and I have no intention of owning property in the US again, so the massive black mark of credit caused by a foreclosure doesn't bother us in the least.
Another Blogger In Need
Charitable acts for family and relatives are all well and good, but I'm always looking outwards to people who are strangers to me. I recently found that Lisa of "Got No Dough" is in serious need of help.
Their 1991 Nissan pickup truck was stolen about a week ago, with her husband's guitar inside. The guitar was her husband's means of income because he's a music instructor. When Lisa wrote that she needed a miracle, I suggested she put up a PayPal donation button and a Scratchback widget. She did and then wrote about her attempt at making a miracle happen. I was, of course, the first person to test both of them out.
I submitted her latest post to BloggingZoom, Digg and I stumbled it. Here's hoping it does some good!
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good luck
Thank you…I'm in tears.
And again, I think what you are doing for your family is great. Giving people an extra boost to get something that they couldn't get on their own will change their life forever.
Lisa’s last blog post… My Attempt at Making a Miracle Happen
I hope the effort I put in will pay off for you in the end. That's all I care about.
RT,
How amazing that you continue to give despite your own problems. You and Josie are amazing people. I wish you both the best. I sincerely hope Lisa gets her miracle.
Carrie’s last blog post… Photo Moment: Eclectic Junk Shop Window in Hanoi
I pushed for it as hard as I could. I hope her and her family are in a good situation relatively soon.
How nice of you to help out family members. You also might want to give them a lesson in budgeting. Just saying. It seems everyone wants instant gratification and they use credit/creditcards to get what they want. People used to save up for what they wanted. Hope your friend recoups from the sting of bad luck. Have a great day and weekend RT.
Comedy Plus’s last blog post… Two Wolves
Unfortunately, 2/3 of the population needs budget counseling. The best first step is to destroy the credit cards.
Good luck with this RT. I totally understand how life is in the Philippines (I spent two years living there and am now marrying a filipina in a week. Life is so hard out there, and we have been forced to help out her family.
I'm not required to help my wife's family. It's something I choose to do. If it was a burden, I wouldn't do it.
"Forced" is a pretty harsh term. We really want to help them, and even have a set budget to send if they need it. It is just such a hard life over there. We wish we could do more, however being still in college makes things hard.
This whole "credit rating" business is, to put in American terms, is baloney.
I hope these big Credit Card companies and Banks burn in Hell one day as they surely will for ruining lives…
hari’s last blog post… How to become a communist
I agree. All it takes is a mistake on their part and you're credit rating is ruined. It almost takes an act of congress to fix what they break.
You are too generous. I hope this doesn't backfire on you somehow.
Long term, if they do make the payments and the market goes up, everyone wins.
This seems like a good week for miracles.
Tim’s last blog post… Hit Me With Your Best Shot – I Can Take It
It could backfire. A lot of things could happen. Life's too short to worry about it.
Good work, RT. My family, the Chinese portion, are constantly "helped out" by moi. It's a burden, but hopefully everything will turn out well for them in the end.
Steve’s last blog post… standing out
Don't let it be a burden. You can help them without hurting yourself. Use some creative financing.
i think it's a blessing to be of help to family members and strangers in need. Have a great weekend RT!
ceblogger’s last blog post… Where Is Your Entrecard Widget?
Thank you!
You seem to be a good person.
I certainly believe to get we must first give. Kudos to you for helping others as much as you can.
I also believe that when we are on the receiving end, if we accept graciously and then show gratitude for that by giving whenever and in whatever way we can, then we will be blessed.
We are stewards over "things" we are given by a higher being and when we show that we can handle that stewardship then he can trust us with more of which to be stewards over.