About six weeks after accepting an offer on our home, today it is finally closed. This has been my biggest non-military related stressor for the last three months. Today now that it is final, I am left with such mixed emotions. I know how great it is for us financially, and how we effectively have no assets remaining (judgment proof); however, all I can think about is playing baseball in the backyard with the kids. Our home was awesome! Our backyard was huge with a full privacy fence. Our kitchen was wonderful! On a day I thought I would be so excited, I am left so sad with the memories from the last four years.

With our active duty military plans, it was going to have to go sooner or later. With the housing market in question over the next year, and the fact we can pay less?in rent than our interest was each month, not to mention insurance and utilities; we had to do it now. It also releases the final lien that the SBA had against any of our property. The SBA has been wonderful working with us through our mess, but I still don’t like the idea of being thousands of miles away knowing they have the legal right to foreclose on my family back home.

When you go to track our progress, you can see the huge dent that the house made. I have only subtracted the mortgage for now. I will wait until all the paperwork settles and get a new balance from the SBA before I deduct their amount. That means in a couple of days there will be another significant dip. Now that is something to smile about