What do you think about foreclosing on a condo that will never be above water again in a failing development?

I have the opportunity to move in with my girlfriend, who owns her house. I'm hoping to refi my condo so maybe the rent I'm able to charge competitively will cover at least 75% of it, but I know that the condo will never be worth what I bought it. The management was selling to young professionals and newlyweds before the market crashed, but is now renting what it couldn't sell (nearly 80% of the units) to lower-income families and refugees--a lot of people crammed into 1- and 2-bedroom units. Their rent is half our monthly mortgage payments. The place is trashed, literally--landscaping's being destroyed, trash everywhere, dumpsters always overflowing, college students moving in and throwing loud parties all weekend, little kids running crazy until late at night without their parents watching them--I consider it unrecoverable. The surrounding neighborhood--more failed condo developments and lower-income apartments--is becoming more unsafe. Most of my original owner-neighbors have moved out. Current condo value is 1/3 of its original appraisal, and I still owe almost 100k. Even professionals advise I walk away instead of paying for 25 years what I won't be able to resell for half its worth, even after the market heals because I'd have to rent the thing for 200 years to make the money back. I don't foresee needing to make any large purchases that would require good credit. I can't wrap my head around foreclosing, though. The company I work for is in debt and is planning to make layoffs or force furloughs during the next 9 months, and I'd rather be saving money. I know what the responsible thing would be--take the hit--pay thousands of dollars into an investment I won't make returns from, deal with the task of finding good, dependable tenants who'd want to live in a place like that and still pay a decent rent . . . So. I hate this problem. I'd like an opinion from a financial expert whose goal is to watch out for people's money, not someone who'll tell me what the responsible option would be. That option would make me miserable for as long as I'd have to deal with it. To be clear, this condo is within my means and was within my means when I bought it. I've a few months ahead on my mortgage. I bought it as a starter in hopes it would at least retain value and that I could settle here for at least ten years, not drop so severely and then have management seem to leave us in the lurch. Value adds are now off limits to everyone. It's not a luxury condo by any stretch--it's a starter home. They've closed the pool, gym, and club house because tenants have destroyed them--not to fix them, but as "punishment." HOAs are still the same, though. We've received water shutoff threats from the city because management's lapsed in paying the bill. I don't absolution--I want something fueled with professional experience, like what kemperk said--hang in there because you aren't going to throw money away and the market will right itself, or some other educated professional to tell me I'd be a moron with a conscience to keep paying into it.

3 weeks ago - 2 answers