Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Stefan is with us in Denver. Hey, Stefan, what's up?
Hi, Dave. How are you?
Better than I deserve, man. How can I help?
So I'm in kind of a tight pickle here. About a few months ago, I was looking to move and I needed to move quick because the living situation I was in was not good for my kids. The neighborhood drastically turned and became extremely dangerous. And so I took out a bridge loan to kind of try to get me into a new home. And I was hoping that I was going to come in at a competitive price.
My price was already like $30,000 less than what my home was worth. And it's almost six months now. And my old home still hasn't sold. And I owe $169,500. by the end of the month. And their two options for me are not the greatest, so I don't know which one to do.
They will either purchase a home, but I still have to bring $7,000 to the closing, plus $2,000 carrying cost every month that's not sold. Or I refinance again with them at $143,000 and pay $33,000 at closing. And then sell it for, keep it on the market for whoever knows how long. I've tried reaching out to investors.
Who did you get this loan with?
With UpEquity.
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Chapter 2: What financial challenges does Stefan face?
Uh-huh, in a very short period of time.
Yeah.
Yeah. And I didn't realize that. And like I said, my situation, I mean, there was ramp, their crime was raising and I needed to get my boys out of there as quickly as possible.
You can't use that excuse anymore because now you've stepped neck deep into stupid. What you should have done is gone and rented a property if you need to get your boys safe instead of going into this, instead of stepping up with some loan shark. Yeah. So instead, you went and bought a house that was not required for you to get out of the neighborhood.
You could have got out of the neighborhood and gone and rented something. So anyway, we're here now. What do we do now? And you're not bankable. What's the house on the market for?
Right now, I just dropped the price again. It's at 170.
And is it free and clear?
No, I had. I mean, it was before the bridge loan. Like, what do you mean, like, free and clear?
Did you have a mortgage on it prior to taking the bridge loan? Yes, I did. Of how much?
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Chapter 3: What options does Stefan have to manage his bridge loan?
They're not going to come take the house. But these guys that you signed up with, whoo, guido, man. Wow.
Yeah. I really wish I hadn't done that. And I thought I was doing what was best for myself and for the kids.
Leaving was best for your kids. I'm not making that argument. But how you left, oh, man. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I wouldn't just put the house on the market, left, and gone and rented something. But that's behind us now, for those of you out there that are listening. So, yeah, restructure this somehow and get these goobs out of your life. Get Guido out of your life.
The lesson for the listener is when you're fearful and you do things out of fear, you have to really think – Every way about the decision you're making and when you do things in urgency So those are the two things I need to make you stop and go. Wait a minute Let me make sure I'm making the right choice and I'm not does that make sense?
Yeah, I can look back on the worst deals I've done in my life and they usually followed me being desperate Yeah, there you go desperate for me always equals stupid As soon as I get desperate, right after that, my brain quits working and I do something stupid.
Right.
And that's exactly what he did.
The logic behind wanting to move is exactly right, but that's just a good word to the wise.
Yeah. And when you do something stupid and it costs you money, when I do that, I have to write a check for my stupidness. I write in the four column on the check, stupid tax. Yes. You have to pay a tax when you're stupid. And we've all done it. And I have paid so much stupid tax in my life, which qualifies me to host this show.
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Chapter 4: How can Stefan restructure his debt effectively?
He had it since he was 18 years old. And I said, listen, I said, try it. I said, take a portion of the stock. Just take a portion of it and pay off a portion of the debt and see how you feel. And he said, I never considered doing that. It was in his mind, it was an all or nothing deal. And because it was all or nothing in his brain, he chose the nothing.
And so if you're on the fence, just try it. And do you want to know what? He got a hold of me later and let me know it felt so good. I sold the stock and I ended up paying off the rest of the debt.
I know lots of pastors that have said, try tithing for six months. If after six months you think that tithing to your local church is wrong, I'll give you a money back guarantee on it. None of them have ever had anybody ask for their money back.
Wow.
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Christian is with us in Fort Worth, Texas. Hi, Christian. How are you? Good. How are y'all? Better than we deserve. What's up?
So I am a college student, and I do have a little bit of credit card debt, but I also have a pretty big tuition payment coming up in June because I'm looking to transfer schools, and I don't know the best way to go about this.
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Chapter 5: What should Stefan consider about selling his rental property?
It's fairly predictable what's going to happen when you call the show. We're going to love you so much that we're going to be very truthful or even brutal with you when you call here. And that's because we want you to win.
And in the end. At the end of the day, you'll have a better trip for it.
The whole Ramsey brand is about trust because you trust us because we love you enough to tell you the truth.
That's right. Yeah.
And, you know, that's what this whole thing is about. And, you know, and then you get to hear the other side of it sometimes. And, you know, the young guy that called last week, I don't know if you were on. I think Rachel was on the air with me. And he said, I called you when I was 22 years old.
And you said, if you will do these four things exactly and don't argue with me, do them exactly, you'll be a millionaire by the time you're 30. He said, I'm 28. Six years later, and I'm a millionaire, and I called to tell you that.
I love that.
And it's like, he said, I did exactly what you said to do. I didn't argue with you. Yeah. And he goes, and I got there two years earlier, and you said I would. And I want to ask you about this other thing. And it wasn't a whining thing he was asking about. It was a legitimate question. But that was the preface to his question that he was calling in about, though. That's cool.
Yeah, that is very cool.
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Chapter 6: What financial situation is being analyzed?
That's correct. And what's their income?
They're they're fixed on Social Security, about forty four thousand per year. And we did a very detailed budget with them, came to about 40 per year in expenses. So that's close. But they think that they can maintain that long term with Social Security. But that's that's all they got. Wow.
Tight, very tight. Yes.
Chapter 7: How can I manage debt when facing financial instability?
Yeah, I agree. I would not use the $100,000 and only have $50,000 at 80 years old to pay off a $50,000 loan. But I really am scared. That loan is very destabilizing for the situation. So I do want to come up with some thoughts on how to get rid of it anyway. But no, I would not use 50% of... The little bit that they have to clear this little bitty loan.
Do they have any other assets that they could sell?
Not really of any significance, no. There's not a lake lot?
Chapter 8: What steps should I take if I feel financially abused?
No, unfortunately not. Okay. All right. Are you the sole heir?
No, I've got a couple of siblings.
Mm-hmm. Okay. What's the financial condition of you and your siblings?
We're decent. I don't know that any of us are in a position to, you know, bind together and pay that off for them.
I would love for each of you to throw in $17,000 and it to go away. Yeah, I don't think that that's probably going to be happening, unfortunately. Okay.
How's their health? Your parents?
It's okay. They're not like in dire health, but it's not great either.
My thought behind what Dave said is you probably stand to inherit the house, so it's money that you would get back.
Yeah, that's the reason I did it. But if they can't come up with the cash, it doesn't matter. It's not like the money's going away. It's going away for a short period of time until they pass and you sell the house.
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