The perfect canidate for an NPR story

You know those people you hear about on NPR? The ones who have defaulted on their mortgages and are now facing foreclosure. Or the reports you hear about the toxic assets the banks have. Well after months of listening to those stories and thinking, glad that is not me, glad I am not contributing to those toxic assets, my tune has changed. I now find myself thinking I am the perfect candidate for an NPR story.

Today we filed paper work with Bank of America to sell my condo as a short sale. Bill has been unemployed since February. He has been diligent at searching for a job and we had seven months of saving. But seven months is up and Bill is still unemployed. And to top things off, we have lost both of our tenants. Come October paying two mortgages on 1 salary and unemployment benefits will be very difficult.

Three weeks ago we put the condo on the market for a second time (it was on the market last fall for 5 months - we got no offers) in an attempt to avoid having to default on our mortgages. 10 days on the market and we got an offer - an offer that was 15k below our asking price and 25k below what we needed to break even.

After much conversation and evaluation we decided a short sale was our best option. The buyer agreed. Now we are waiting to see if the bank will approve it. Our realtor tells us that our request is a drop in the bucket compared to what most short sales come in as, usually 100k or more. So we feel optimistic that the bank will find favor with us.

Back to my NPR profile. I feel like I am a likely candidate for an NPR interview because I am your average American who got stuck in an unlucky round of layoffs and an over inflated housing market. We have done all the right things. Both the condo and house were bought with very safe, responsible mortgages (30 year fixed). We had seven months of savings. But no of that seems to matter right now. We can not sell the condo for what we owe on it.

The good news is, we know and trust the God of the universe. The God who understands every last detail of this recession. He has promised not to give us more than we can handle and to work all things for our good and his glory. So our credit will take a little bit of a hit and our savings will need to be rebuilt but in the end all will be ok because God is with us and he loves us. I wonder if NPR would include the God part in my interview?