I just wrote a letter once saying I had been a good tenant, paid the rent on time, had no court costs, etc., etc. The manager's assistant suggested I do it, but said "don't tell them I told you to do this." I went in to her saying I can't afford what you want me to pay (which wasn't really true) without showing a lease for another place. Anyway, it worked and I ended up paying $710 a month, which was a $5 increase over my previous monthly rate and $15 less than what they were asking. I'm thinking of doing it again, even though I've gotten a big raise since then. I know they have a lot of vacancies now, plus it pisses me off how new tenants get the rent breaks, trash the place, then move out in the middle of the night.

Oh golly, DO NOT LET ANYONE CAULK your siding like that. It is a terrible idea. Your paint may be failing due to a lack of a moisture barrier allowing indoor moisture to migrate outward and interfere with the underside of the paint bond. If this is the case, caulking would only make it much worse, potentially causing internal wall moisture problems (rot and mold) and in addition, failing to solve the moisture problem will result in continued, repeated, paint failure. Before you pay anyone to re-paint, figure out why the last paint job failed so quickly, and correct that first. Moisture migration is one possibility, but poor pre-paint preparation is another likely culprit. Painting over too much accumulated paint is also possible; poor quality previous coats could also be a problem, no matter what paint you paid for last (paint is only as tough as the weakest bond in any underlying layer); poor quality paint or poor match between it and previous paints or inappropriate pairing -- the oil v latex problem -- are also possible issues. In short, find out what the problem is and solve that. It may be as simple as installing more indoor ventilation fans (kitchen and bath are the two most common ones); it may require complete stripping of the house down to bare wood. In the meantime, if your house looks ugly, you could touch up the peeling parts while you are figuring out the final solution. I'm sorry to be dumping on the advise of your friend's husband, but it would lead to big trouble, IMO. Can you post some pictures (close-ups) of the paint where it is failing. Perhaps we can help. There are characteristic patterns of certain types of paint failure. Also it would be helpful to know the orientation (east/ west etc.) of the walls where the damage is occurring and also the interior room arrangement. (That's going back to the moisture from indoors idea. For instance if the damage is directly outside the bathroom, then that would tend to indicate indoor moisture ....) Hey, the good news is we're trying to talk you out of the most expensive bid. Good luck! Molly~

I doubt they will let you out of your contract. Your home is partially built. They realize that they can't even sell the home that is on a premium lot, and you want to leave them holding a partially built home on a crappy lot. I think your chances are nil, but you might as well ask.

No personal experience, but things I've heard from others on the financial side: 1. If you want the bank (either of the mortgage holders) to write off the mortgage balances over and above the sale price, they will not do so unless you're behind on your mortgage payments. 2. Getting behind on your payments and doing a short sale will put a pretty hefty ding in your credit that it'll take a few years to heal from. 3. Banks (especially the 2nd mortgage holder) will sometimes negotiate something between you having to sign a note for the whole difference in sale price and mortgage and them forgiving the whole thing. Good luck. It's not an easy process.