My Countrywide Situation - Need advice, tips.

[Joel Fraser]

Hello everyone. I am finally posting here after a few weeks of browsing the site. I am severely burdened by my current situation, and a bit embarrassed. I feel a huge weight inside me, and my stress is reaching a boiling point. I just turned 22. A year and a half ago, I met a real estate broker through a friend. I was young and hungry for investing. He showed me a few condos in Miami, and a few weeks later I was approved. The condos were nice, waterfront properties in a gated community. I bought two. The first one was a 1 bedroom overlooking a lake on teh 2nd floor. Cost me $196,000. Countrywide bought the note from GMAC. Its a fixed rate 30 year FHA mortgage at a 6.85%. The sweetener? a cash incentive by the developer in the amount of $15,000.The second condo, was a two bedroom in the same complex. I bought this one four months after the first, and was able to negotiate the price down to $209,000. This is a 30 year mortgage through Chase at a 7.35%.Here is the problem: the one bedroom went SEVERELY underwater. I owe anywhere between $80,000 to $90,000 more than comparable properties in the area. I had been renting the unit for $1,000 a month, with the intention of eventually catching the real estate turnaround in 2009-10. Boy was I wrong! The two bedroom I won't mention anymore in this post. It has been treating me well. I rent it out for $1,250 a month to exceptional tenants, and the mortgage is currently $1,400. I expect this unit to turn profitable in about 5-6 years with 5% yearly rent increases.About me: I am a financial advisor for institutional accounts. I get paid a base salary of $40,000 a year, bringing in a little over $1,300 every two weeks. My job is very secure, contrary to what many might think. I work in a small office and my company is very solvent. Previous to this, I didn't make too much money (prototypical sub-primer). I have recently acquired this job and I consider myself stable in that regard. I am also attending college at night majoring in Finance. Based on all this, my income should only get better with time.Why I am posting: My 1 bedroom condo came with problems from the onset. I had to spend thousands in repairs and had to take a major hit when my tenant turned sour. I spend a bunch more on an eviction. At the time, I was making a small wage at an investment bank internship and had to live off my $15,000 "incentive." I have recently moved into the unit. I might as well enjoy it, and I do. I love it. I have a beautiful lake in the back, all my friends live around the corner, and my university is a few minutes away. All the repairs I made have made the unit exceptionally nice. UNFORTUNATELY, my property taxes ballooned my mortgage payment (I have escrow) to $1,689 without association fees! Then to top it off, my condo association recently did a special assessment. Next year I expect my payment to top $1,700. NOT GOOD considering that consists of 65% of my monthly pay. I have also been going over the 15-day grace period, as I have to WAIT for my 2nd paycheck to come in before I can make the payment. I have over $200 in late fees built up. I can already feel the pressure of having to grind it out every month to feed myself and pay my bills.Here are my questions:1) I need a loan modification to bring my monthly payment down to the value of one paycheck. Considering that this is a fixed FHA loan that is CURRENT, do I stand a chance? 2) Can I present the case to Countrywide that my condo is severely upside down? I ran some comps in the area that were selling for as low as $80,000. I can easily walk away and deed it or short sale it, BUT I DON'T WANT TO. I like my condo and I want to keep it. However, if I don't, Countrywide is sure to take a $100,000 hit. 3) Will Countrywide frown upon my 2nd condo property?4) What options can I take? I have protected my credit with my life. The last thing I want is for my credit to drop below 600 for any reason. I need an option that will *protect my credit*, and allow me to make my mortgage payment with 1 paycheck. I would like to thank everyone for reading. I know my situation is dire to me, but I also know there are people out there worse off than I am. I wish them all the best.