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 United States 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 United States 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!
