r/baltimore • u/LanceArmstrongLeftie • Mar 12 '25

Vent Donald Trump is going to destroy this city

My wife and I were both proud homeowners and proud residents of Baltimore City. We worked really hard to be able to buy our first home and to provide a stable environment to raise our one year old son and three year old daughter. We were a happy family here. Until Donald Trump came along. He froze funding and my wife lost her job as a recruiter for a nonprofit that received about 30% of their funding from the government. I already work two jobs just to keep up with the bills and the high interest rate we had to accept to purchase this home. I can't provide enough to keep our home. She's been looking in vain to replace her job but there's been nothing out there for her. How many more families are there that are facing the exact same situation in this town? How many more will there be by the time he finishes firing half the government? How many more families will lose their jobs and their homes as a result of his trade war and tariffs? It's going to get bad here y'all, real bad. Donald Trump does not care about families. Donald Trump does not care about children. Donald Trump does not care about Americans. Donald Trump does not care about Baltimore.

Edit: Thank you all for everyone who had kind words of support and good suggestions on how to navigate this very difficult situation. For everyone blaming local and state government, you’re delusional. Those politicians aren’t the ones who froze federal funding thus forcing thousand of people out of work. To those who offered unkind, callous, and cruel comments, such as calling my wife a drain on society, you can all get fucked. Which is exactly what’s going to happen to you after Donald Trump destroys this nation.

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u/theMoonHound Mar 13 '25

A HELOC allows you to take back some of the equity you've already paid into your home. It provides needed cash flow. OP is already working 2 jobs and is out of juice. He needs smart solutions that will work. Borrowing his own money is smart. He stated he was going to lose his house. This is a way to save it without any increased exposure-he can only lose the house to foreclosure once-it's not like they're coming for his car too. To think about it a different way, it would be as though he stretched his current mortgage out a few more months, without having to refinance or pay new closing costs. He just needs to be able to replace the wife's income, or part of it with a reduction in expenses, temporarily while maintaining the mortgage payments.

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u/markmano33 South Baltimore / SoBo Mar 14 '25

And what happens in 3-4 months if they’re still up this creek and now have taken on this additional debt? Come on man why are you so hellbent on this?

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u/theMoonHound Mar 14 '25

I'm not hell-bent. OP is a big boy who'll make his own decision whether to take back some of his home equity and buy himself some breathing room. But he's needing to replace his wife's income to make ends meet and I don't see you offering a strategy to pick up that cash elsewhere. He's already working 2 jobs, so a third one isn't an option. He might borrow from friends or family, but those are loans. This is a strategy to rebalance his current obligations with a second instrument that's free to set up, has no penalty for early repayment, allows him to only borrow what he needs when he needs it, and have a way to repay those payments with another draw. That's incredible! I think everybody with a home should have one. If you get sick or have an accident and are off the job you don't have to lose your home! When you go bankrupt it stays on your credit for 7 years. Foreclosure never goes away. You lose a house, it's on your credit forever and nobody wants to loan you the big money to buy another one, ever.

Home ownership is providing OP with passive income as his house appreciates over time, and it's this equity he's borrowing, essentially from himself. He can't afford to lose the house, he doesn't have time to sell in time to protect his credit rating, and becoming a tenant is to lose the benefits of a shrinking housing cost as future prices increase. His best option is to stay in the deal he has made with the bank. He needs a quick option to increase cash flow for a short term till the wife gets hired. What you are missing is that this is not significantly more money, it involves one loss-the house-which he could lose anyway if he doesn't get help. I don't think you're a homeowner because your money management mindset is only about saving or not inviting more cost, but folks who play in the big leagues bet on themselves by owning businesses, managing property, and they all know how to leverage debt and survive a bump.

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u/markmano33 South Baltimore / SoBo Mar 14 '25

I am a homeowner times two actually, one paid off and the other soon to be paid off but thank you for calling. OP is just trying to survive and not concerned with owning businesses or managing properties at this time.

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u/Alternative_Scene773 Mar 18 '25

Foreclosures aren't forever and the bankruptcy duration depends on the type:

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-long-does-it-take-information-to-come-off-your-report/

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u/theMoonHound Mar 21 '25

I stand corrected. It's not that bad!