Comment on DOD-2009-OS-0090-DRAFT-0045

Section 239.6.b.3—Maximum Home Purchase Price. The PFMV may not exceed an amount equal to the 2009 Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conforming loan limits. The limit should be the amount financed (not the purchase price) is less than the FM/FM loan limits. This restriction is not fair to military members who live in areas where the home values far exceeded the FM/FM loan limits. For example, I was stationed in Tampa, FL at U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) at MacDill, AFB. I have 3 children and the average housing price in the Tampa area (zip code 33626) for a 5-bedroom house in March of 2006 (I closed on my house 31 March 2006) was $610,300 (according to Zillow.com). This price exceeds the FM/FM loan limits by $193,300. In my example, I purchased a home for $520,000 and had to put $103,000 down to get under the FM/FM loan limit. I had an hour commute to work and was not living extravagantly. I simply wanted a house large enough for my family and in a good school district. If I were to sell my house today, the fair market value for my home is approximately $320,000-$350,000. I cannot afford to sell my home because I would have to bring approximately $88,000 to closing to pay off my loan and pay the closing costs. After paying $103,000 (I leveraged everything I had in savings to be able to afford this house) to get under the FM/FM loan limits, I do not have the money to do this. If the purchase price is higher then the sales price will also be higher. So, my only option—since I cannot stay in Tampa, FL to ride out the housing decline because my military career requires me to move to take command of a unit stationed out of Yorktown, VA—is to short sale or foreclose my house, which will cause me to lose my security clearance and effectively end my military career. Or, I could leave my family in Tampa, FL and move uaccompanied to Yorktown, VA and assume the added stress of being away from my family for even more time than I already am as I am deployed to Iraq right now. And I would not be able to afford my mortgage and the rent for me to have an apartment. I am caught between a rock and a hard place and really struggling to keep my head above water. It is causing stress on my family and me as I am attempting to lead my men to fight a war, deployed to a combat zone.