Fleeing the Titanic: Short-Selling the “Money Pit”

This entry of “A Single Life” is the hardest I’ve had to write so far. I’m not proud of the financial choices I’ve made. However, if my experience can serve as a cautionary tale to someone reading this, I truly hope I’ve helped.

After having owned my two-bedroom, one-bathroom townhome for slightly more than eight years, I’ve thrown in the towel. I’m short-selling it. I do it reluctantly because I can no longer continue to pay a total of $2,400 in mortgage payment and monthly homeowners’ association dues. I should not be paying this much for a two-bedroom townhouse in a north Vacaville complex with renters making up half the residents.

I hadn’t planned to buy a home in 2006. However, a fatal shooting next door to my rental home in Fairfield prompted me to move. But I did so in fear, and I shouldn’t have. (I will try to limit my “should’ve, could’ve, and would’ve” statements in this entry.) I wanted to find a place that would allow me to keep my cat, Tuffy. So, after calling several mortgage brokers, one told me that I could buy a home without a down payment. In hindsight, I file this exchange under “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

So, armed with a Fannie Mae loan, I searched in Fairfield, Vacaville, and Elk Grove until my broker steered me to the north Vacaville townhouse I call home. The 40-year, 10-years-interest-only mortgage was for the full asking price of the home – about $299,000.

Two years later, shortly after the start of the Great Recession, the value of my home plummeted to $80,000. I, along with millions of other homeowners, learned a new economic term: “underwater mortgage,” in which the mortgage amount is more than the value of the home.

In 2011, I refinanced the mortgage through the federal Home Affordability Refinance Program, or HARP, hoping to lower my monthly payments. While I received a lower interest rate, the new mortgage lender added the principal and interest, so I ended up paying nearly $100 more each month.

Late last year, the Solano County Assessor-Recorder’s Office assessed my property at $150,000. While the increased value was encouraging, the last straw came when I received my annual escrow statement. Because of an increase in the property tax and insurance, my mortgage payment went up by $150 to $1,920. Add the $280 in HOA dues, that’s $2,400 a month. (The plurality of the dues goes toward water for the lush community lawn. During a drought, even.) The increased in my mortgage payment ate into my groceries budget. I was miserable and decided to look into selling my home.

I contacted a friend of a friend from church to find out what my options are. He turned out to be a local Realtor. After discussing the pros and cons of keeping the home, I signed papers allowing him to show my home.

What the Realtor neglected to mention is that, in addition to taking still pictures of my home, he videotaped the inside of my messy home and posted it onto You Tube. Had I known that my messy house would be on the Internet, I would’ve told him, “No!” But what’s done is done.

Long story short, we received four offers and accepted one from a young couple with a toddler daughter. Now it’s up to my mortgage lender to approve the short sale. Once the approval goes through, escrow should take between 30 and 45 days, my Realtor said. In the meantime, I am searching for a pet-friendly home, preferably a house over an apartment, because I have a piano and two cats.

Right now, I’m soured on the American Dream of owning a home. I will focus on paying my bills and boosting my retirement contributions. Maybe someday I will own a home. But next time, I will put some skin in the game.

Writing Diva

Building a Church on “Sacred Ground”?

New Life Church, which has been meeting in a school gym, a school multipurpose room, and a warehouse for its 11-year history, is going forward with plans to build its facility on five acres in rural Vacaville.

But getting the OK wasn’t easy. There was a conflict between Christian and Native American faiths. Each side strongly defended its position and beliefs. And while our church won, it wasn’t pretty.

I was one of about 25 people from New Life who attended the Vacaville City Council meeting Tuesday night to provide silent support of the project, a two-story church with a parking lot and septic system on a parcel bordered by Cherry Glen and Rivera roads just southwest of downtown Vacaville. Local resident Roberto Valdez appealed the Vacaville Planning Commission’s granting of a conditional use permit to build on the site, contending that construction would unearth remains of Native Americans possibly buried there.

Since its inception, New Life had been meeting at Fairfield High School and Laurel Creek Elementary School in Fairfield, where it currently has two services. New Life’s Warehouse, also in Fairfield, hosts two youth-oriented services. In April 2008 church officials announced to the congregation that we purchased five acres off Cherry Glen Road and have an option to buy an adjacent six-acre site. Since then, we’ve worshiped on the site three times, at least to my recollection.

Before we entered the council chamber, Associate Pastor Brad Stanhope told us that the appellant and his supporters were not the enemy.

Before Valdez spoke, Wounded Knee, a Vallejo resident and a member of the Mi-Wuk tribe, pleaded with the city council not to allow the church to build on the land, which once had a restaurant, hotel, and bar until the 1960s.

“How can you build a church on a (Native American) sacred ground?” he asked.

Interim Community Development Director Maureen Carson said the site had been surveyed for any signs of a burial ground. The Native American Heritage Council was contacted, and it concluded that the acreage had no known burial sites. To appease Councilmembers Ron Rowlett and Pauline Clancy, the church agreed to recruit a Native American volunteer to monitor construction in the early stages. While the councilmembers sympathized with Valdez and his supporters, the Planning Commission was thorough in reviewing the conditional use permit application and environmental documents.

After the city council denied the appeal unanimously, some New Life members applauded. I was not happy about that. For one thing, clapping when two sides are passionate about this contentious issue is in poor taste. Second, the appeal pitted two faiths against each other. I found it very humbling.

Frankly, I don’t think Valdez is finished with his fight to keep the land undisturbed. I will feel better once the doors of our new church open for the first time.

Writing Diva

The Post-Racial Bus

Most weekdays I ride a commuter bus to work. The bus starts in Fairfield, picks up passengers in Vacaville and Dixon, and travels to downtown Sacramento, where it makes six stops before returning nonstop to Fairfield.

I drive my car to the Davis Street Park-and-Ride lot in Vacaville and take the bus from there. I know most of my fellow commuters by sight, some by name. We’re a varied group – different ages, races, backgrounds going to work or school. I have made two friends from riding the commuter bus.

This morning there was a disruption. A young African-American man with a backpack boarded the bus in Vacaville with about 15 of us. The Monday bus tends to fill up quickly. When the young man, who, I assume, is a college student, went to the back of the bus, he spread out his backpack on the seat next to him. One of the regular commuters, a man of East Indian descent, attempted to sit by the young man, who allegedly said, “You don’t want to sit next to a black man.” (I got this secondhand from another regular passenger, who heard the conversation.) The commuter sat next to me until his stop. The young man eventually apologized before he got off at his stop.

I found the episode a bit surreal. On December 1, 1955, an African-American woman named Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus, where blacks were ordered to sit. Instead, she sat at the front in the white section and was arrested for taking a seat.

After an event that sparked the Civil Rights Movement and gave us some of the rights all people enjoy today, I find it rather annoying for the young man to deny another commuter a seat, either because he wanted that space to himself or he had a chip on his shoulder.

So, I have a message for the young passenger: Grow up! It’s 2009, for crying out loud! For one thing, the transit district rules state that you cannot save a seat. Second, it’s inappropriate to cause such a ruckus on public transportation. If you don’t want anyone to sit next to you, drive yourself to school or work.

If you choose to take public transportation, leave your problems and racial hang-ups off the bus.

Writing Diva

Throwing in the Towel

This is an open letter to my friends and family and readers of this blog about a middle-aged single woman living in Vacaville, California.


I'm throwing in the towel. I have decided not to marry.


As some of you may know, I have not had a "significant other" in a decade. I've had friends try to fix me up with single men. I've attended so many singles function I've lost count. I recently had an account with eHarmony, only to have six of my matches get the boot from the on-line dating service for unknown reasons (probably because they're on-line dating scammers) and countless other matches reject me for "other" reasons.

It doesn't mean that I won't attend events to meet other single people or that I would close to door to dating. But frankly I don't think I will meet Mr. Right and I don't want to be with a Mr. Right Now. I've made foolish mistakes in seeking a life partner, and I'm getting tired of doing that.

I'm tired of spending money on on-line dating services. Also, although I've been advised to have my friends introduce me to someone, most of my friends don't know the type of man I want.

Before writing this entry, I read an obituary in the Los Angeles Times about Marie Barbare Edwards, a psychologist who helped pioneer a "singles pride" movement in the 1970s through her book The Challenge of Being Single. She died December 31 two days shy of her 90th birthday. Edwards declared that not everyone is destined to march through life as half of a "Noah's Ark twosome." Maybe I'm not, either.

So, to any of you who asks, "Why aren't you married?" kindly back off. If I meet someone, fine. If not, that's fine, too. My life is carrot cake. Frosting (or a mate) is optional.

Writing Diva

Recession? Depression? It's All Messin' With My Money!

The issue that induces the most stress for me is money -- that is, the lack of it. And the money mess in which California and this nation find themselves has become personal.

Last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a one-day-a-month furlough of state workers (Note: I work for a state agency.) and cutting two holidays as part of a list to cut spending. The state now faces a $40 billion (That's right -- billion with a "b.") deficit over the next 18 months. Democratic state lawmakers helped pass a budget bill that would at least make up $18 billion over the past two days, but Ah-nult threatened to veto it, saying the bill didn't have the economic reforms and stimulus package he requested. Damn.

In today's on-line edition of The Sacramento Bee, Ah-nult proposed not only a two-day-a-month furlough, but to cut 10 percent of the state government workforce. I wrote my older sister D if it's time for "Grasshopper" to worry. D, who is the most unflappable person I know, wrote back, "Yes, Grasshopper, it's time to panic." S#*%!

To add salt to my economic wound, the Fairfield-Suisun Transit Agency, which runs my commuter bus service, has proposed a substantial increase to the price of our monthly bus passes. The bus pass I purchase to travel between Vacaville and Sacramento costs $86. If the Fairfield City Council approves the increase, it will go up to $110. That's almost $300 a year! The transportation planner said the fare increase would make up for the state's proposed cut in transit funding that would take effect in January. Sonofab*&¢#!

So, this is my message (actually, rant) to state Republican lawmakers and their cronies who think that raising taxes would hurt the economy.

Look. We California taxpayers are going to pay for services whether it be through taxes or delayed deficit payments or the consequences of budget cuts. You can have well-educated public school students and families that have a financial safety net or you can have more crime, overcrowded prisons, and a less-productive workforce. Your no-new-taxes stance is short-sighted and dangerous to this state. And as far as your intense dislike of state workers, we are not the slackers you portray us to be. We work hard for the money we earn and provide valuable services to this state. Your proposed decimation of the state government workforce is something to be done at California's peril.

To the Legislature and Governor: Fix this! Now! Because y'all are f8¢@*^% with my money!

Writing Diva

"Separate But Equal" Not Cutting It in 2008

I know I'm going to get in trouble for this entry. It's a no-win situation in a turbulent election year.

It's a ballot measure that has not only divided California, but neighbors in Solano County.

Proposition 8.

The measure can be summed up in these 14 words: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." (Note: California Attorney General Jerry Brown reworded the proposition to read, in part, "Eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry.")

The ballot initiative qualified for the November 2008 ballot shortly after the California Supreme Court ruled May 15, 2008, that not allowing domestic partnership and gay and lesbian couples to be called "marriage" violates the California Constitution. A month later, on June 16, 2008, gays and lesbians were allowed to marry legally in this state.

Before I continue, I must fully disclose that I am a Christian. I attend an evangelical church in Solano County. But my belief is that God made gays and lesbians the way they are and that I don't understand why He would not allow two adults of whatever sexual orientation to marry, give birth to (by artificial means) or adopt children, and be in a hospital room with the other spouse. I know what the Bible says. I'm probably going to the eternal fireplace for this.

In my early adulthood I was prejudiced against gays and lesbians. But then, I knew very few personally. In college, I met a guy named Steve who was gay. We became good friends until we graduated. I have an older cousin who is gay who is like an older brother to me. Another friend who was my editor and journalism mentor came out to me 13 years ago. I was honored that he trusted me enough to tell me.

I mention these people because I don't know how I can justify saying, "I can marry because I'm straight, but you can't because you're gay." To me, it makes about as much sense as the oxymoronic "separate but equal" doctrine the U.S. Supreme Court favored by a 7-1 vote in 1896. This decision found that Homer Plessy, who was one-eighth black and seven-eighths white, was guilty of sitting in a railroad car reserved for whites only. In summary, the Court ruled that whites and blacks can have separate facilities as long as they're "equal." It wasn't until the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision that this doctrine would be struck down.

So, when a representative of the Proposition 8 campaign called and tried to convince me that under the initiative gays and lesbians would have the same rights as married heterosexual couples but would not be called "married," I laughed derisively before hanging up.

There are signs on both sides of Alamo Drive in Vacaville that support and oppose Proposition 8. There have been complaints of signs being stolen from both sides of the issue.

Proponents of Proposition 8 say they want to protect marriage. Then let's go a few steps further, shall we? Let's outlaw adultery. In the Bible, Deuteronomy 22:22 states: "If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil." (New Living Translation) OK, so death may be an extreme punishment for adultery. But prison time? Why not!

The proponents also say that marriage is for raising children. If that's the case, what would be the point of a perimenopausal woman whose biological clock alarm is ringing incessantly getting married? Should I be a "spinster"? Perish the thought!

My cousin's two daughters grew up just fine, as did each daughter's son. No one was "indoctrinated into the gay lifestyle."

Moreover, if Proposition 8 were to pass, what then? Take away children from gay and lesbian couples because they're unfit to be parents? Try that with Melissa Etheridge and her spouse, Tammy Lynn Michaels. Good luck.

Finally, if Proposition 8 supporters are afraid that society is going to crumble if gay marriage is sanctioned, I think, with global warming, famine, mass killings in Darfur, drug trafficking, gang violence, worldwide political corruption, and the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression, it's a little late now.


OK. Now I'm really going to hell.

Writing Diva