Episode number two! In today's episode of the Fail to Succeed podcast, we explore two real life situations. In the first, a realtor in New York racked up $217k in debt and is trying to figure out whether to file in New York or their hometown of Austin. In the second, someone who inherited a house is trying to figure out whether to sell it before filing for bankruptcy.

Contents for today's episode:

0:20	Welcome to the podcast!
0:55	New York Realtor is $217 in debt. Where to file?
7:28	What to do with $50k in home equity?
14:46	Outro

$217 in NYC Debt. "Helllppp"

In 2017, a NYC realtor charged up $40k in credit card debt while she had a high paying job before she was a realtor and lived in Austin. She lost the job, and took a few lower paying gigs. She refinanced the $40k with personal loans that grew to $80k. Probably frustrated, she took a chance, moved to New York City in 2019 to start her real estate career.

Seems her career was doing something over the past year, but it takes a long time to build a successful real estate practice. Then, a year into her new career, the government shut everything down for the coronavirus. Now, she's moving back to Austin and trying to figure out where to file for bankruptcy.

First of all, I think it's amazing that she took the chance and went for it, as I posted on Reddit. I feel sad that her career got shut down before it really got started. One victim from the pandemic has been how these forced closures will damage the entrepreneurial spirit, but few tell that story.

We take the entrepreneurial spirit for granted in America (and sales is bedrock to it). The Great Recession did a lot to damage it ten years ago. The recent government shut downs will cause yet more damage. There are many tragedies in this story, and this is an untold one.

I desperately hope she'll restart her journey after the bankruptcy case.

As for where to file, there's a 180 day rule about where you should file that has to do with residency and other factors, but it's a little complicated, and there might be some advantages to filing in New York now or waiting a few months and filing in Texas, but she's going to need to talk to a lawyer.

Listen to the show for more details!

What do to with $50k in equity?

So here's an interesting story: a guy with a lot of debt (not sure how much) inherited a house, along with his brother, inherited his dad's house, which his dad owned free and clear of any mortgages.

If they sell the house soon, they could each keep maybe $50k, which implies the house is worth about $100k, which isn't a lot in today's real estate market in most part of the country.

According to the poster, $50k wouldn't "make much of a dent in the debt," so they must owe quite a bit.

The question is whether he should file the bankruptcy case now, or wait until after they sell the house. In my response, I went on a fairly long description of the bankruptcy estate and how it works, but another commenter had the better point of view.

That commenter suggested the $50k could be used, with careful and patient bankruptcy planning, to help create a much better future for him either through equity in his or her house or retirement, or something else that would contribute to his future success.

That was pretty great!

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