The Foreclosure

This is probably the most stressful and irritating thing we had to deal with in the last 2+ years. We lost our house to foreclosure. We became a zero-down, sub-prime statistic. Here is how it happened.

October 2008, Jenny and I bought a decent house with zero-down. Our budget was a little tight, but we felt we had plenty to live on after making the mortgage payment every month. We probably looked a little sub-prime on paper with our student loans and medical bills hanging around, but we were able to close quickly.

We had a great first year, but in late November 2009 we got a notice from the bank that the escrow account was overdrawn by about $2400. A little investigating showed us that we had been charged the wrong tax rate. We should have been charged Homestead Tax for owning and living on the property, but we were instead charged with Non-Homestead Tax which is about double the Homestead rate.

Escrow wanted to recoup this shortfall within 30 days of the notice, but we couldn't make that happen in the time allotted. Escrow's fall back position was charge the shortfall over 12 months (with fees) as part of our mortgage payment. This increased our payments by about 45%. We had hope that contacting the city would correct the rate and provide us with a refund for the over-payment fairly quickly, so we decided to run a deficit on the checking account at the mortgage bank that we set up for automated payments (and a lower APR).

Time marched on, and we made no headway with the city. They wanted proof of residency. We gave them months and months worth of this bill and that bill and they still weren't satisfied. Even after resubmitting whatever form they said was missing initially, our tax rate wasn't adjusted from that point forward.

By the spring of 2010, the computing power behind the checking account decided to close the account. As we were still unable to make the bigger payments, a deficit began to grow directly on the mortgage account. I began to dread every knock and every call. This began to trigger foreclosure proceedings that culminated in a Sheriff's sale in October 2010.

The six month Right to Redemption period wasn't any less stressful. We were still trying to get things straight with the city and the refund we were sure we were due could get us square with the bank. I was hoping that a private buyer at the foreclosure sale would extend an offer to stay on as renters.

In April 2011, the letter finally came announcing we had 7 days to vacate the property. It hurt. I felt like a failure as a husband and a provider. We yelled. We cried. We prayed. It became clear that it was okay to walk away. We found an apartment, and we found a storage unit. We had loads of help from those nearest and dearest to us, who were all shocked by the news. It turns out we had a little more than 7 days to get everything out, but by the time we were served with the court papers, we were at peace with the situation. We handed over the keys with out a fight, and found a little more room in our budget by letting go.

It seems like the deck was stacked against us from the beginning, but we weren't financially ready to be homeowners. That was a very hard lesson to learn.

The Buyout

I mentioned in last week's post that there were several intertwined reasons for my silence here. I will tell these stories individually these next few weeks. This is the first.

In spring 2009, a dark, tense cloud hung over P.I. Engineering. The recession had taken its toll on the company's bottom line, and micro-managing had driven morale to an all time low. By looking at the books, the TrainMaster group was showing negative return on investment for the company.

From inside the TrainMaster group, we were starting to see the first fruits of our labor as we were finally courting new customers beyond our initial R&D contracts. Our first strides of sales growth were quickly squandered by the "leadership" at P.I. Engineering.

Early autumn 2009 brought us the dire news that P.I. Engineering could not afford to keep the TrainMaster group on the books for very much longer. The rest of the team and I began prepping our resumes while P.I. Engineering searched for a buyer for our division. Later that autumn, the news came that Union Pacific Corporation had entered negotiations to purchase the TrainMaster group. Over six months of haggling and double dealing, contract scares and power plays stood between us and the eventual purchase date, June 1, 2010.

After those dark days, being a Union Pacific employee felt like I had reached the Promised Land. On the day of the buyout, we hired one of our most satisfied customers as our full time salesman, turning our now "off the shelf" training simulation into quick profits for our new company. It is such a great feeling to know that the people in charge actually care about our team and want to help us flourish.

I probably could have told this story soon after June 1, 2010. However, those dark days toyed with my emotions in a way very similar a more personal struggle that took place over the same two years. That struggle is a story for another day.

The Phoenix Rises from the Ashes

Two years is a long time, especially on the Internet. In the time since my last blog post much has happened that had to be kept quiet, both legally and self-imposed. However, those are stories for another post. Today, I want to talk about my goals, the grand plans for my life that I don't want to fall by the wayside of neglect and apathy.

Make video games

This is my dream career, but I won't just fall into the field. I'll have to work at it hard. I'll have to study up on game engines and platforms. I'll have to turn my stack of great ideas into working products and get people to notice. And it starts with Unity. Unity is a middle-ware product that can release onto the web, Android, iPhone, Wii, X-Box, and PlayStation platforms. I need to learn the interface, scripting, and overall design philosophy. And then do it. For free at first.

Meet my favorite makers

I want to be able to meet some of the celebrities that inspire me. The top three are:

• Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of many of Nintendo's best franchises.
• Steven Spielberg, arguably the best storyteller in Hollywood today.
• Felicia Day, the web's most inspiring rising star.

I'd also love to meet Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, M. Night Shayamalan, Weird Al, Peter Jackson, and George Lucas.

Get out of debt

This fall, Jenny and I will be leading Financial Peace University for our small group as part of Imagine at South Lansing Christian Church. We took the class a couple of years ago and started getting better, but never really got that Gazelle Intensity to tackle our debt problem. Nothing lights that fire like having to teach the material. It is time to be done with debt.

Build a house

One of the earliest shared goals between Jenny and I is the desire to build our dream house in north-western Lower Michigan. It will be a large house on a lot of land. It will have an arcade, a pool, secret passages, and enough room to host youth group and business retreats. I also want to build faux ruins in the woods on our property, including an amphitheater and an observatory tower.

Have children

Jenny and I have had trouble with this so far. I've had a surgery, and Jenny has tried several medications to no avail. We have hope that we will be so blessed in time, but we are ok with the wait for now. We will probably start working hard for it again after Jenny graduates next spring.

Be married 80 years

That means Jenny and I will both have to make it to 101 years old, and not get on each others nerves too bad. In a culture where spouses are changed as frequently as tires on your car, we want to stand out as a testimony to what marriage can really be. Part of this is living balanced and healthy lives.

Be gutless

I've had a tummy hanging over my belt as long as I remember. Its days are numbered. I started using MyPlate at LiveStrong.com back in May. You can see my current results to the right. My original goal was to be gutless by Halloween, but that may have been enough time to achieve the desired results. So if I don't make it by Halloween, I will do so soon after, and I won't let that belly fat come back.

Learn the ways of the sword

Part of being healthy is finding some activity to be your key exercise. Jenny and I plan to study sword fighting with the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts. I've always loved to pretend sword fight - with sticks, toy lightsabers, and NERF swords - but I've also paid attention to forms and maneuvers while doing so. When I stumbled on to ARMA's website, I knew it was the perfect match. I'll be joining the organisation soon to begin my training.

Grow as a lay leader in the Church

I am currently the Chairman of the Deacons at South Lansing Christian Church. I manage the team of deacons and try to be the best deacon I can be. I know my path leads to Eldership, so I must grow that I may be worthy to serve as an elder. This requires improvement in all areas of my daily walk with Christ.

Pray more

And better. Prayer is probably the weakest part of my daily walk. I don't make it the priority it should be. This needs to change. I need to schedule prayer times and topics until it becomes as natural as breathing.

Eliminate bad habits

To reach these many goals, I'll have to stave off the time-sink surfing and other things that rob me of my potential. I'll have to get focused to reach most of these goals. So I'm asking you, the reader to keep me accountable to all of this, including this last one that makes an even dozen...

Blog more

Right now, I want to post a new blog weekly. Hopefully, I'll have enough to write about. I have 28 years worth of stories, that should be plenty.