The Ramsey Show - App - Should We Buy a House From My In-Laws? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: October 6, 2023

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, specifically your money, your work, and your relationships. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. I'm Ken Coleman. He is George Cannell looking snappy today in his best denim jacket. So snappy. Snappy.

You haven't been called that in a while, have you? Well, you use proclivity, esteemed colleague. Yeah. I love the $10 words we pick up when you're hosting. I'm an old soul. I read a lot and these things just come out. I'm not trying to drop the 50 cent words. And snappy is certainly not. Well, back during the Great Depression when you should have been alive, those words were 50 cents. Now they're $10 with inflation, Ken. That's good, George. I like that. The Great Depression the green depression wow with that we are going to do

something special every once in a while by the way before we get to this i do want to say this uh we have a fabulous and i do mean this i don't pick this word lightly a fabulous group of audience members in the lobby today watching the show from all all over the world. All over the world. We've got some Canadians that were out there. We've got people from all across the country. And so I want to point out that you can come watch the Ramsey Show live. Go to our website and figure out the calendar. And hopefully these folks aren't disappointed that Dave's not here today.

They get us, two of the Daveettes. The Daveettes. But nonetheless, they're a great group of people and uh so we'd love to have you come join us sometime cookies and coffee coffees mug uh i'm having myself a delicious uh green tea uh with a little a dollop of honey in it so that's now you know ken's drink order guys there you go uh but but i bring this up because every once in a while we'll take a question from the lobby and so we've got a question from lynn and it's work related and so we want to protect the old identity there and sticky and so she's not on camera so you're wondering why we aren't showing lynn because the the sensitivity of this so we're going to help her out so lynn

uh take it away what is your question hey so I'm really grateful that it's you and not Dave because you're the guy I was hoping to talk to. Wow. We're going to clip that. Can we clip that, James? I'm going to frame it in your house. I think I'm going to tell my mom. This is exciting.

Between yesterday and today, we got to see everybody except for Dave. So that's a little sad, but I'm grateful you're here for my question. I'll tell him. I'll tell him. So I work in healthcare. I've been working in healthcare for about 13 years as a clinician. About three years ago, I moved into a hybrid role where I still get to be a clinician and I also am in leadership. And I've always really loved the place I work with or work for, the co-workers I

have, and I really enjoy supervising the about 20 employees that I have. The issue that I'm struggling with is there's about 10 of us in the leadership team and we're not always on the same page. And so it's gotten to be really difficult to kind of do employee relations and kind of work on the culture because we're not always on the same page and we don't agree on handling things the right way in the same way all the time. So my question is, how do I know when it's time to move on to a new place and say like, hey, this is just not the right place for me or when I really should like buckle down and stay and work on the culture from within since i am a leader okay so um is there a structure any structure within the 10 leaders are you all equal there is so there's like six managers okay and then there are four supervisors and i'm one of the supervisors

okay and so like the four of us are the same and the six of them are the same and then it goes on and so this breakdown of we can't get on the same page correct has that been taken up or is it primarily coming from the six above you um we've gone up the ladder with it it's that they really believe and like everybody needs to be a unified front. We all have to have like the same agreed response to everything. So it's hard because until you get agreement from everybody, we don't move forward. It's like a jury every day. Yes.

Yes, it is. So it becomes really hard because I might want to handle an employee relation thing a different way than someone else. But then I can't kind of move forward and kind of manage my one of my 20 employees the way they're like, I might want to relate to them a little different or whatever, but if the group doesn't agree, then I don't get to do it. Okay. I will tell you, I think that's bananas. I think it's bananas. I think it is absolutely mind-numbingly stupid. And it's created tremendous frustration for not only you, but I'm guessing for others. For others in the leadership team, and I think I see it because I try to be really engaged with my employees and I can see that they're dissatisfied.

Right. And I think it would be an easy, not an easy change, but there'd be a way to change it. But I just don't know if I have the clout from within that team to fix it. Well, it doesn't sound like you do. Yeah, probably not. And so to answer your question, do you leave or when do you know it's time to leave? I think when you have taken it up the ladder and you've said, this feels problematic. This is grinding us to a halt. Every time we have to just lead, we've got to go into a jury room and come out all together. And this is not a jury. This is not even Congress. This is a company. And I think because you've taken it up the ladder and nothing's going to change, I think you have to ask yourself, can you affect culture?

That was a secondary part of your question. Or do I try to change culture within? I don't know how you change culture if you can't address your team. so I would tell you that you hit your lid it feels like to me on this opportunity it's time to start looking because I don't think it's going to change right and and I think it's only a matter of time if you were to just bite the bullet and kind of deal with it where you go from frustration to resentment right Right. That's what I'm afraid of, because like I said, I've always loved the company. I really love my coworkers. I really like the people I supervise. I don't want to become resentful.

But I also, as a leader, I feel like I have an opportunity, and so I don't want to abandon people. But it feels like it might be tough. By the way, for anybody listening and watching right now, what's maddening about this, George, to me is we have people in a leadership position. It's a group of 10 leaders and yet no one's actually leading. There's a lot of cooks in the kitchen. By the way, folks, you cannot lead from consensus. Right. I just want that to sit for a second. Okay. Yeah. You cannot lead from consensus. That's not leadership.

Leadership by definition is you're out front and you're going, this is where we're going. This is why we're going. This is how we're going. Who's coming with me? It's the Jerry Maguire moment. And this is just bananas to me. So I hate to tell you this because I know you like the company, but you won't like the company in too much longer if you keep this up.

You can't do this. You're not allowed to lead. So you are a leader in title only and so are the rest of them. So I hate to deliver the bad news. George, that's okay. We say leadership is influence. And right now you don't have the power to have any influence. And that could mean a lack of trust if you're continually running into this and you're the sole person on the other side of this going, hey, I don't think we should do it this way. That might mean you disagree with the values and principles and the sole person on the other side of this going, Hey, I don't think we should do it this way. That might mean you disagree with the values and principles and the way they run things.

And that tells me it might be your time because it's going to lead to resentment. And I'd rather you leave before when Dave says, when you're, when your heart leaves, your butt should follow. Yeah. And if that's you, it's time. And you seem very sharp. I think you're going to land in a great place.

But you could, you know, you could have one last ditch effort. Say what you said to us, to your direct leader and say, listen, I'm coming're going to land in a great place. Yeah. But you could have one last-ditch effort. Say what you said to us, to your direct leader, and say, listen, I'm coming to you privately, not with the group. I want to address this. And if they can't promise any change and they're not making progress, I'm starting to look elsewhere. You can take that shot. I hate to be a naysayer, but it's not going to happen. That kind of groupthink is very opposite of common sense. And we live in a day and age, folks, where leadership is needed more than ever,

but we have so many freaking leaders that are scared of getting criticized so they don't lead. Massive gap between common sense and groupthink. And this company is groupthink because they're all scared to death to lead. Oh, it's exhausting. Lead.

Oh, I need an aspirin. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. He is George Campbell, and we are here for you, 888-825-5225. Okay, special request from the audience. I wrapped up the last segment talking about you cannot lead from consensus. And gentlemen out there in the lovely green shirt wants me to expound on that. I will just give it 20 seconds. What that means is that you don't lead based on everybody agreeing with what you decide to do. And so consensus is like, I got to get everybody on board. They got to agree with me before I lead. It doesn't work that way. You can cast vision. I'll say, this is where we got to go. And if you're coming with me, great. If you're not, I get it. Move on. The idea of leading from consensus is what a politician does. They

check the poll numbers to decide what their next policy is. And so that's what I mean by that statement, and I stand by it. You will drive yourself mad, and you'll never truly lead if you're always looking for consensus. So I hope that makes sense to you, sir. I appreciate the follow-up question. All right, 888-825-5225 is the number. To jump in, let's go to Memphis, Tennessee, where Megan joins us. Megan, how can we help?

Hi, guys. Thank you so much for taking my call. You bet. Well, I have a question regarding my job. Well, and I'll start out. First of all, my husband and I are on Baby Step 2. Okay. I've done, well, I say we, but actually I did Financial Peace University, went through all of that, and we are working on the baby steps.

But my struggle right now is with my job. I am currently an educator. I teach special education. and since 2020, of course, I know everybody's had issues with things happening, but that was just really a very, very tough year for our students, for us, with all of the virtual learning and everything, and I kept saying, oh, after 2020, everything's going to get better. It's going to be great, and it really hasn't, and so I'm struggling a lot with just physical, mental exhaustion, completely overwhelmed with the job just because it's not just teaching that we're doing.

We have so many other things that are on our plate. It's getting harder every year. And this is year 16 for me and I didn't initially start out in education but kind of went around about way to get there and I love working with my special needs students but I'm just tired yes and I don't know what to do okay tell me what you love most forget all the awful stuff what do you love most about working with your special ed students? I just love the way that they see things. It's a totally different perspective from what typically you or I might see things. Or when they just have that light bulb moment that something clicks.

And I work with students that are getting ready to age out of education, and so we work a lot on job skills and different things like that. And that's what my passion is, to work with those young adults and get them life skills, daily living skills. But I just don't know if teaching is the way I need to go about that. Okay, so, well, I know it's not. So let's go ahead, and based on what, well, I know it's not. So, let's go ahead, and based on what you said, I agree wholeheartedly with you. You've got to get out of the public school system, okay? But you don't necessarily need to get out of the same type of work.

So, I would classify your situation as someone who is doing the right thing in the wrong place. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. Okay. So, practically speaking in Memphis, Tennessee, who, and you don't have to have the answer, but this is the question you have to answer if you can't now, who is helping those young people, or should I say adults, who would have some of the same needs, have aged out of the public school system,

but still need that help with job placement, life skills, and such. Who's helping those people? Well, I think that's a big question in our area because we don't have a lot of that. Do you have some of it? We have some, yes, and a lot of it is parent-led. We've had parents that have started doing recreational things with a group of students in the area, and that's wonderful. But are there organizations, whether it be nonprofit or governmental, that, again, are not in the public school environment, are there organizations serving that group of folks? Yes. That's the answer. We start. What's that? I said I feel that that's limited, but there are some organizations. What do you mean by limited? Just the amount of organizations that are doing it? Yes. Okay, but have you looked at those organizations to see if they're hiring?

Not yet. That's where we start. That's what I do when I get off the phone. Perfect. No, that's great. Listen, and that's what I'm trying to do. Let's start there. I don't think you need to limit yourself there, but let's start there.

Let's kick the tires. What are you making right now as a teacher? About $70,000. Okay, So I'll be honest with you, it might be difficult to find a job making $70,000. Are you in a double income family? Do you need to make $70,000? Probably to keep that debt snowball going, that would be the best. All right. So now... Educator. Right. So here's where I want to pivot. We start with kicking the tires in the space that you're in, but then let's look, let's just pull back. And the reason that I asked you the question, Megan, what do you love most about working with those students in the special

ed system is I wanted you to hear yourself say, this is the kind of work that lights me up. And there's a level of instruction. Doesn't mean you have to stay in a classroom environment in the public school system, but is there a level of instruction, HR training, working and instructing people within the trades or maybe working for, you know, you start to go, where can I instruct people who need that extra hand up? Maybe they don't have to be in special needs situations, but maybe it's lower income people who are getting trained in a certain area by a government agency or whatever. You start to just look everywhere you can in Memphis to go, where can I serve people who need that extra help, need that dedication of a teacher, the heart of an instructor. Because I think you love instructing people, mentoring, cheering people on. Do I have

that right? You do, yes. All right then. So where can we make $70,000 or more doing that? That's the question you have to answer. And so you started the phone call, and George, we get this a lot. You start the phone call, Megan, where it feels very intimidating. This is a mountain I don't know how to climb. And I hope that I've been able to bring this down to street level and go, all right, I can look for that. And I think you need to find instruction and encouragement and guiding and guidance in that job.

And I think she'll be happy. What do you think? Yeah, I love it. And as you were talking about that, I thought, you know what? Some of the greatest entrepreneurs saw a problem without a solution, and they just created it. So maybe one day Megan starts her own organization. I agree. In Memphis that provides this.

And right now the first step is let me see how other organizations do it. Let me make money. Let me get out of this debt. Use that as fuel for your debt snowball to go one day. I want to be debt-free so that I can go start that thing. And Megan, I want to add to what George said. He just said something, and that was really insightful. Maybe you just go get a really good $70,000 job and it's not the dream job. It's not like super passion and purpose. And I'm the guy that teaches do work that's purposeful. But maybe you go get a really good paying job that gets us through Baby Step 2 and then Baby Step 3, Megan, and then you're working on the side. Maybe you're

volunteering for this group of folks so that you're making progress on Baby Step 2, but your heart's still very much alive. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. And George, thank you so much for saying that because I've actually, that kind of confirmed my thoughts about something possibly in retirement that I actually start my own organization that has the different areas. So thank you for saying that. So welcome. Well, I just said what I think was already in your heart and we need people like you, Megan, in your community. That's right. So thank you for what you do. And yeah, Megan, to close this segment out, Megan's right. I don't know if you've ever volunteered or spent time around some of the folks she's talking about, but they have an unbelievable joy and an unbelievable innocence that I think we all

in this day and age could probably use. A hundred percent. So love Megan and the folks that work with our, I don't like the whole idea of challenged and all that. I just think they're special. They're unique. They're different. They got a whole lot to offer this world. A lot to contribute. And I love that Megan and the folks that work with that group of people do. They are a lighthouse to all of us in some dark days. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. George Campbell joins me. And we are here for you. 888-825-5225. Taking your money questions, your work questions. We'll take some relationship questions.

I mean, hey, why not? You've been married for how many years? 25. Add my five. 30 years. 30 years. 30 years of doing it wrong. That's what George and I are going to offer you.

That's what they want to know. The mistakes. That's the expertise that you come for here on the Ramsey Show. All the ladies in the lobby like that. They thought that was funny. Well, and Ken, I'm a parenting expert. You are. I've had a baby for six weeks now.

By the way, how's your sleep? Not great, if I'm going to be honest. I'm holding it together with an Americano and a prayer today. Okay, all right. It gets better. Thank you. It gets better. But boy, I'm glad I don't have to worry about bottles and diapers.

So many bottles. Yeah. But I got to teenagers, whole different level of stress. So just you young parents, you know, you're going to trade the physical exhaustion for emotional exhaustion. That's what's ahead for you parents of teens. Hey,

Financial Peace University is the fastest way to beat debt and build wealth. It's not my opinion. It's not George's opinion. George, do we have the proof or not? I mean, 10 million people doing it with success, I feel like is enough proof for me personally. Not bad. Not bad case study there.

I'll take it. So FPU, that's what we call Financial Peace University, is the most successful personal finance class in the world. It's helped millions of people, as George said, get out of debt and become millionaires and stop worrying about money. Over nine weeks, this class teaches you everything you wish you'd learned about handling money, including budgeting, investing, real estate, and more. And the best part of FPU is the community. Stacey and I have led multiple classes. It is a special, special thing to realize I'm not alone in this,

going through this with people who have the same goals. And get this, the average FPU graduate is debt-free, George, in two years or less. Impressive. Tell them where to go, George. RamseySolutions.com slash FPU to get started. And if you're thinking, well, I've heard the show, I've read the book. I'm telling you, you go through these nine classes, about nine hours of content with accountability and community, and you stick with it, it changes you. And so if you've been like, hey, I've been listening to you guys for a long time, haven't really done it, take that next step. And if your spouse isn't on the same page, I've been listening to you guys for a long time, haven't really done it, take that next step. And if your spouse isn't on the same page, this is the best thing you can do.

I agree. To get them on that same page instead of using Dave as a cuss word in your house. Uh-oh. There you go. All right, let's go to Los Angeles where Liz awaits. Liz, how can we help? Hi. My husband and I have three kids.

We're totally debt-free, and we have over $100,000 saved in cash. Nice. Probably going to be able to save another $100,000 in the next year. We are currently renting from my in-laws their house for super, super low cost, and they have no intention of raising it in the next 20-plus years. Is it a good idea if we offer to buy the house off of them? Is the borrower still slave to the lender if they give us a discount on the house? Or I just don't know if it's a good idea or not. Well, would they give you a discount? Has this been floated?

So we haven't actually got to sit down and talk with them yet, but the idea is that either we would inherit it later on, but I don't want to wait that long to just wait to see if we inherit it. And so I'm thinking that we'd be able to at least get some sort of a discount if we were to buy it. Okay. What would the terms be? Have you talked to them about this at all? No. So right now we're just renting. No.

But they have no clue. Like, have they even offered, hey, yeah, we'd be willing to sell it. Nope. They've just talked about renting it. This is all hypothetical. There's a lot of hypotheticals here, which we can't get too far with that. What do you think the house is worth? I think the house is worth probably $700,000. Okay.

And what's this discount that you've got in your head that nobody else knows about? So they're inheriting their parents' house. And so they were basically saying that once this house is either paid off on their mortgage, that we'd be able to either live in it and only pay them like a tiny bit or get like, I don't know. My husband is basically like wanting to just rent it forever and I want to offer to buy it since I feel like we have the money to buy it. Well, you haven't given me the price. What do you think the discount price is? And by the way, these are your in-laws, I'm guessing, yes? Yes. Okay, great. So what is this

discount price you have in your head that you'd like your hubs to float up the ladder? Even if it was like $5,000 off or even just like the fact that we'd be able to buy it directly would be kind of like getting a discount because in California, I feel like we couldn't buy anywhere else. I don't know why you feel so stuck with this house all for a less than a 1% discount. $5,000. I thought you were going to throw like $100,000 at me for starters. Why is this house special to you

um i just feel like it's the best deal we're going to get around this area let's say it's not a deal let's say they sell for market rate would you rather go buy another seven hundred thousand dollar house that fits your needs better that you love more if you're not renting at a discount anymore we really do love this house and you're wanting to stay there for a long, long time. Yes. It feels like the hubs wants to rent it until mom and dad pass on and then whatever happens happens. Am I taking too much liberty with that? No, he wants, yeah, that's what he wants.

He wants to invest the money that we're saving on really cheap rent. I kind of like that deal myself. Really? He wants to invest the money that we're saving on really cheap rent. I kind of like that deal myself. Really? Yeah. George, do you have an issue with that? No. I like that move. There's a few avenues.

I eventually want you to become homeowner, so the idea that we're going to rent for 30 years just to invest, I don't love. Well, you're not going to rent for 30 years. How old are his parents? They're only like 60. So I really do think it would be at least a good 20. Here's my thing. If you own it, you're going to also own the appreciation.

So what happens 20 years from now and you're done renting and they go, all right, we'll sell it to you. It's worth a million now. We'll give it to you for $990. And you're like, wow, thank you so much for the discount. Well, this is a fair point. That's also a concern. But I mean, does he know if he's getting the house in the will?

Is that already established? They're 60. That should probably be figured out by now, yes? Yeah, that's what was discussed. Obviously, like, I can't predict what's going to happen in 25 years. Are there siblings involved? No, no, no, no, no. Hold on a second.

Okay, sorry. George, good question. But what I'm saying saying is is it already in the will that you and your hubs are getting the house it would be split between the siblings oh well then didn't strike everything nightmare scenario waiting to happen strike everything i just said i would not rent the house what's going to happen is they're all going to go where we're going to we all agree we're going to sell this thing and take our profits yeah move on with our life versus or you guys are to have to buy them all out and come up with hundreds of

thousands of dollars to do this many, many years from now when the house is appreciated. And George, it feels like this could get sticky too if they offer to buy the house and the siblings are going, well, wait a second, that's in the will. Am I right? I answer questions the way I would handle them. And truthfully, I'm going to take this nice low rent and I'm going to save up a giant down payment and just go find another house. Yep.

And if you end up able to buy this house at a great deal, then do it. But I would not put all of my eggs in this basket because there's too many variables. And it's going to get too messy. And the whole idea of of business and family getting mixed already gives me some heartburn. And I'd rather you just be able to own your situation

and not have all this weird familial drama involved. So you wouldn't invest the money that we're saving? I mean, invest is a strong word. I go, well, how soon are we going to get a house? If it's three years from now, I don't want to invest that money. If we're talking five years from now, then sure, five to ten years of time horizon, we can invest this money and see a meaningful return. So, like, if we were to invest in the next ten years, let's say,

and we just continue with this really low rent. I wouldn't rent for ten years, though. I would rather get you in a house three years from now when you have the money to do it when you're financially ready, you got a 15 year fix 25% of your take home pay in the area you want, the home you love then just bite the bullet and get the house and pay off the mortgage early and you own your life

you're not worried about what's going to happen with a will and what the siblings are going to do that just exhausts me yeah, I agree, that got a little too complex there and it just doesn't make any sense. And it doesn't sound like we're going to get the deal of a century on this house at a 1% discount. You can go find that. You can go negotiate that right now with a stranger on the block.

Oh, God bless her. Or maybe she needs a negotiation class because I could shock she threw the, well, I'm thinking $5,000 off. $1, Bob. $1. It's like, let's make a deal, right? Very interesting. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yikes.

All right, folks. George has a little bit of heartburn. I'll break out the Tums during the break, and we'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. George Campbell joins me. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225.

Our scripture of the day comes from Matthew 6, verse 34. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Our quote from Robert Orban. Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work. All right. Hey, a little intense, Robert. I didn't know that. Is that one of your life goals? No. I don't think I'm ever going to get there, Ken. I'm okay with that, though. I mean, getting up every day and checking out the Forbes

list, I mean, it's an exhausting recipe for a lot of freight nerves, I think, but I don't know. But nonetheless, there it is. All right, let's go to New York. Max is there. Max, how can we help? Hi. So I recently invested 20 months ago in a piece of real estate. I got it for $385,000. It's probably worth at least half a mil today, but probably like half a mil to $550,000. And the problem is I'm 25 years old and I've been kind of renting out rooms while living here to friends and everything's going great. But my co-signer was not a parent or a girlfriend. He's actually a person that I've worked with at a restaurant. And she recently told me that she would like her name to get off of the loan so that she could start looking for a piece of real estate for herself.

And my loan is not assumable. And the only way for me to get her name off is to refinance, which would double my interest rate right now. Oh, where's my Tums? Where's the max, max, max. Dude, this is like a dumb and dumber sequel. did you guys get into this mess so you can't afford the house and this friend is like hey bro i'll sign for you yeah i'm good for the money did you not think about what would happen later on down the line and whether or not they're going to want a piece of this and how they're going to get their name off so i thought about it and within, because I'm a contractor type. So I thought, okay, within two years, I'll be able to refinance. And because I only put about 5% down.

As you do when you're broke and can't afford a house. Yes. And my goal was to work up at least 20% equity, which I'm pretty positive I have now. Okay. So I went in with the mindset of, okay, you know, I'll fix this up. Yeah, and then interest rates would stay the same forever. And now, uh-oh. Yeah.

Okay, so your only option here is to refinance to get their name off the loan. And you're saying if I refinance, it's going to double my payment. I mean, yeah, it'll just definitely make it higher, and I've kind of broken even in terms of renting the rooms out. No, you're just broke. I mean, this money-making scheme of getting roommates is not panning out. You're about to lose this house. You can't afford it. Yeah, Max, have you run the numbers? Like, when you say go up a little bit, it's doubling.

What is that going to do to you? Let's say the payment doubles. Your roommates keep paying you the same. You're now underwater, aren't you? If I don't think, I mean, I have one more room that I can rent. I was just about to make passes. And what happens when they don't pay or when it's vacant? Then it's a bad move, I know.

So we've got to look at some other solutions here. One of them might be we have to sell this place that was once a dream has now become the nightmare. We stepped into it too soon, too early, with a friend who co-signed who now wants out of it. And, you know, I don't know what's, what's the, are they still friends with you? I imagine this is the friendship is not going to last very long. It's, you know, it's a surprise. There's no real hard feelings with it. Um, she was just, you know, under the impression that at that two year mark

that I would be, you know, we'd be ready to refinance and get her off, which I... And how many years has it been? It's been not even two years. It's been 20 months. Okay. And so what is the payment now and what would it be if you refinance? So I think the payment now is close to $2,800. and the refinance payment, I think, is, I checked about two weeks ago, but it was, I imagine, between $3,400 and $3,600. And that's with current interest rates? I think so, yeah. And that's on a 30-year? Mm-hmm.

Okay, and what are you making right now with the roommates renting? So currently $2,600, and I have another room open that I could easily get $700 to $800 for. Okay, and you haven't, essentially you've not been paying much rent at all? No. Okay. I mean, when I first got it, a cosmetic you know fixer-upper so a lot of the rooms needed paint and what was your long-term play on this my long-term play was to buy this house to um kind of just rent out until I could afford it on my own and then maybe kind of do the

the burr method and I rented this out with know, either a full family or the people that are still here, I'd be able to do the same thing on another piece of. Okay. First of all, you realize you're in the hostel business now. That's essentially what you're doing. You're running a hostel. And you're about to be. You're living in it with all these people.

I got another room. Come on. And it's just, this is wack're living in it with all these people. I got another room. Come on. And it's just, this is wackadoodle, I think, for this. What's your income every month? Every month, I make about four grand. Okay. So number one, you're going to have to float the difference as we deal with whatever the next few months look like.

So you're going to have to start paying a bunch of rent. I'd sell the house, George. You told him to sell the house. I think you need to get out of this thing. I truly don't think you're going to have to start paying a bunch of rent. I'd sell the house, George. You told him to sell the house. I think you need to get out of this thing. I truly don't think you're going to. Anyone who's, if you've kind of like, you've been watching the TikToks about the Burr Method and everyone in real estate business, like, dude, this is the way you become a real estate guru. Trust me. Well, this is the reality of it. Yeah, but run the scenario for him real quick, George. Cast vision. If he sells it right now with this equity. Yeah, but run the scenario for him real quick, George. CastVision, if he sells it right now, what would you get out of this? If you sold it, you gave your, you know,

do they get a share with the appreciation? So they actually they only did this and it seems crazy. This was someone that was my boss for a really long time and she wanted 0% you know, in it unless I

defaulted and then we would have to kind of rediscuss. But essentially, she didn't want anything. She just did it to help me. Out of the goodness of their heart. Okay, so how much money would you make if you sell it today for the $550,000? On the loan, I think I owe about $365,000. so i would make close to 200 and then you'd be out of this mess and you would actually gotten out of it what with the closing costs and everything i'd probably you know i'd take another 20 000 off or so i'd imagine let's say you walk away with 175 and

you're out of this mess and you're not having to worry about having six roommates just to fill the thing and hope one of them doesn't vacate and hope you don't have to evict one and hope you don't have to pay the rent to make up the difference. But right now, the refinancing at the current rates and paying $4,000 a month and trying to deal with this, it feels like too much of a nightmare for as young as you are and as much success as you could have in the future. Okay. Could you get a cheaper place if you sold it and put $175 down?

The thing is, in this neighborhood I'm in, you know, within an hour of Manhattan, there's, you know, it's very competitive and it's really difficult. It's New York City. It's always going to be competitive. Max, why did you call us? Did you want us to validate what you're doing, or are you even open to what we just told you? Well, I have the thing. I've been listening into the show trying to find a similar situation,

and I couldn't really, I guess, find one, and I figured you guys would tell me to just sell it. Yeah, because you're about to have a four grand mortgage payment and you make four grand a month. Yeah. That's the scary part. And you're a landlord, you know, running a hostel. You're going to be stressed out of your mind.

You've got to get out of jail card here. And we're telling you to take it. But I don't know if you care more about your mental, emotional, and financial health or disappointing people on TikTok that you don't even know because they told you to do it. It feels like you think we're giving you this unconventional wisdom. You got to choose reality, as my friend Dr. John Deloney would say. And the reality is this was a risky gamble that did not pay off, and it's time to get out while we still have our butt. Speaking of getting out while we still have our butt,

this has been a great hour. Thank you, George. Thanks, Ken. Thanks, James Childs and the team for keeping us on the air. To you, the audience, this is The Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Ken. If you like what you heard in this episode and want to know more about getting started on the Ramsey baby steps, go to ramsesolutions.com and click on the get started button.

We'll help you figure out the best next step for you based on your specific situation. Again, that's ramsesolutions.com and click get started.