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There are aspects of my life that are much better and some that are worse. On the plus side, I'm doing well at my job. I've received raises and bonuses every year since I started with this company, even in 2008 and 2009 when virtually nobody was receiving them. On the negative side, I have a ton of debt. My credit cards are maxed and my house is worth 32% of what I owe on it (plus I have a balloon payment due in 10 years). I bought the house on the cusp of when the housing market crashed. I could barely afford the payments and but I thought I needed to act because prices had sharply increased for several years. Five years later, I can still barely afford the payments and it is a sinking ship.
I've realized that the best choice for me is to walk away. I can say with 100% certainty that 10 years this mistake will be done with and I can have perfect credit again. If I stay, I run the risk of a slow housing recovery and not being able to refinance the house when the balloon payment is due, forcing foreclosure and setting me back another 10 years. I'm not willing to take that risk so I'm taking action now.
So in short, the very short term is bleak but it's going to turn around soon. It's depressing to lose a house but I know what I'm doing is the best thing for my family.
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