The other part of this question has not really been adressed but should be given attention. What are you doing to motivate the residents to pay? I've been a landlord and property manager for 10 years, and though it is not a glamorous part of the job, you need to get the tenants served with notice and get them out of the property.

Good luck, property management is not for the faint of heart when dealing with people who cannot or will not pay.

Theresa,

"OC Buyer's" answer is spot-on. Financial difficulties are affecting everyone but that does not alleviate our obligations. If you were dependent upon a tenant to support the mortgage, it doesn't matter, you had an obligation to pay the mortgage yourself.

Buying a new property at this time is probably not the best situation for you. As OC says, if you have the $ for the downpayment on a new property your previous and future lenders may see that as a very bad decision on your part. In fact, if you lost the house in foreclosure last year, you may be liable for a deficiency judgement in favor of the lender (you need to check with your attorney).

Maybe you should continue to save your money for a few more years.

Thom Colby
Broker & Realtor
Orange County, CA

Most lenders will not lend to anyone who has had a foreclosure within a 3 year period. The foreclosure will negatively affect your credit score for two years, and show on your report for 7 to 10 years.

-Steve

Unfortunately, getting financing after allowing a property to go to foreclosure is going to be very difficult. You will need to prepare to wait at least 5 years after the foreclosure to be able to purchase and you should realistically think longer than that.

This is one of the reasons I urge clients in distress to sell their property as a short sale. With a short, a buyer can 'bounce back' much quicker than with a foreclosure.

Best wishes, and you can visit my website for more information.

No, you can't. Your tenants didn't pay on your rental, which is a bummer, but you are responsible for that loan with or without tenants. Now you want a bank to let you buy another property when you've already made it clear that you don't follow through on contracts? Please.

We have a rental too and even if our tenants don't pay, we can cover the mortgage, property taxes and insurance. It's called being responsible with the debt you take on. You speculated and lost, contributed to the problem by speculating and now you want to take advantage again? If you have downpayment now, why didn't you pay the bank?