I Was Given A House I Can't Afford! 

She wasn't given a house, she was given a mortgage

If someone ever gifted me a house with a mortgage its being sold immediately. Period.

She's fighting back the tears and a single mom. Bless her heart, I can't imagine the emotional tie she must feel.

Sell it! Then buy one that you can afford!

You could hear the pain in this poor lady’s voice. I hope everything works out for them

Tough situation... selling moms house & having to put an old man back to work.. I feel for her.

Why would you live in California with a $40k salary? With kids that's barely above poverty level, while in multiple other states it's middle class income.

Love how compassionate but firm he is. Such discernment.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a gift, it was a curse

Thumbs up to Dave for helping a single mom with solid advice, and giving her an opportunity to go through the Total Money Makeover as his guest. You can just hear the compassion in his voice. Thank you for a great ministry Dave.

I love Papa Dave. He is so compassionate. I wish I would have known about him earlier. Thank God I know of him now and my little daughter will know how to handle money through listening to me listening to him.

Her voice made me want to cry. She sounds like there's so much hurt in her life

Sell! That! House! She is so overwhelmed, shes consigned herself to living with her dad forever. Shes drowning. Sell. That. House.

Best bet for them is to leave California.

She wasn't gifted a house OR a mortgage. She was gifted a $260K equity on a house her mother took out a loan for. There is a HUGE, HUGE difference. The way I understand it, NOTHING but that equity actually belongs to them. What they really need is a good lawyer who can advise and help navigate them correctly.

Sell the house and use the proceeds 140k+ to pay CASH for a home in another state.

Sell the house. Move to an affordable city with affordable housing.

My son's supervisor inherited a house in a very exclusive neighborhood. He has no mortgage but can't afford to repair the huge house!

“I’m sorry y’all are going through this; he needs to go back to work now”

Yeah I think Dave has a point this is a sell-the-house situation, albeit it is a sad 1

If you sell the house, you can move to a more affordable city and literally buy a house in cash.

I love how generous Dave is with people.

Oh my goodness. I could hear the pain on that lady’s voice. I pray that she remains strong. So sorry that she has to go through it. :(

Prayers for her family , I feel for her situation 😢

This is a generous gift. Sell the house, become debt free and live the life that most don’t.

Man this broke my heart hearing the pain in her voice. May God bless this girl and may she be financially ok with her dad and may she fine peace in all of this. 🙏

Dad hasn't worked since his mid 50's. Solid guy

She was gifted a burden.

Dave is truly a great helper!! He is stern but honest and clear with his advice

Dave you are doing an amazing job. So many people don’t have someone with the knowledge and compassion that you have.

Dave you are always so generous. Thank you for helping this young lady. I hope she's doing better now.

The problem is people thinking living in California is "affordable" or "normal", a down payment on some flats in Cali can pay for an entire house in other states or even cities. They should move now, and get Pops a job.

Praying for this family!

Dave, it's really wonderful, the lady called you for help and guidance. Have been watching your shows. Your show is really an eye-opener not only in your country but worldwide. Its been a very learning experience for me watching your show. I am following your baby steps. Iam now in baby step 4 and 5. Thanks to you

Dave you have a BIG HEART.

God bless this lovely lady sending her m prayers.

Everyone is struggling the same way in California. It's insane house prices! Morgaes are high and pay is low unless you're a doctor.

This is just totally heartbreaking. I feel so bad for her.

Forget the gift tax. This amount easily fits within the lifetime exemption.

Great advice and nice delivery.

Sad situation! Prayers for her.

He's really not too old to work part time. There can be benefits from a retirement job other than the paycheck 👍😀

You could hear her pain. My heart breaks for her. 😣

Thanks for having the love for people Dave. Best wishes to her ❤️. Might be good to move to Nevada, Arizona, Texas or somewhere more affordable. It's crazy in California anymore.

Dave, thank you for your compassion.

She’s keeping the house

She's a mouth breather!!!

Late to these vids so a belated thank you to Dave Ramsey in going the extra mile to help Sonya get her finances and her life back on track. Thank you sir, I hope it all worked out for her.

People need to stop being sentimental about houses, houses are shelter, the people, and your memories with them are what is important. This is how people become hoarders, when they are so sentimental about STUFF that has any attachment to a person. Even people who are still living, standing next to them, saying "mom, choose me over the garbage" "but this garbage is our memories...." No, it isn't, memories are memories. Stuff is stuff. You have to be able to let it go or it owns you. She's struggling to keep something that the obvious solution for was to sell, nobody in this situation was thinking with their brains, they were thinking with their sentimental emotions.

there's a difference between being given a house and being given a mortgage...

She may have a custody agreement that says she can't leave the county with the children. 50% or more of income to housing is very common in that area.

Wow, what great advice

We are with you Sonya, you can make it!

Santa Cruz is SO EXPENSIVE too 😣

I’m sorry your going thru this, he needs to go to work NOW

I love it when we get to hear "Papa Dave" compassionately deal with suffering young women. Solid dude.

It's REALLY good thing she called in!

That gift wasn't really a gift. Hope she recovers soon

seems like daddy at 61 with his 2k income thinks he dont have to work

The sad part about this situation is that she cannot afford to live in California, even after given a house(after a death) with over a hundred fifty thousand in equity. I feel bad for her and her family... I will pray for them.

My instant thought was to sell it that’s common sense

Open a Daycare from home , help kids and pay off the mortgage. Or add a back Unit. Same situation in Los Angeles. That's what I did. I made it! At 25 ✔

I am praying for this momma hard ! You got this !

dave came thru on this one!!

As soon as she said he doesn’t work I screamed, “So go get a job!” He can’t expect his daughter to support him when he’s capable of working. She’s drowning in stress & debt while he sits at home. 😡😡🤬

There is nothing abnormal or unsustainable about 50% of your income going to a house payment in the Bay Area. That's just our reality, we have higher incomes, but much higher housing prices, the extra income goes to cover our housing costs. I don't know what the caller does for a living, but no matter what it is she very likely can't make the same amount of money doing it somewhere more affordable. Depending on what her property taxes are (and whether they really are going to get socked with a $30-$40K gift tax), she may well be better off making $43K in Santa Cruz than, say $33K in Fresno or Phoenix. No way will she be able to make it renting in that area.

Santa Cruz home should double in price soon. eBay. Google. Facebook. RU-vid. Apple. All 30 miles away. My friend bought a house near there for $240,000. It’s now worth just under $2,000,000.

If the mortgage wasn't put on the caller's name, how come the Insurance didn't kick in upon the death of her Mother? Why does she still have debt?

I hope she follows his advice, gets the amended return filed, then gets "her" house on the market and gets it sold. If she sells it for a good price, she and her father will have an opportunity to start over. I'd actually recommend that they move somewhere where it's way cheaper to live. If they end up with $300,000 from the house sale, they could buy another house for cash in some parts of the country and have $200,000 left over. Then with her job, her dad's survivor benefits, and (soon) his social security, they could make it work, without him having to rejoin the work force.

That’s the bottom of the market for everything within a 80-100 mile radius of Santa Cruz. She would be lucky to get a 2 bedroom rental in the ghetto of San Jose for less than $2100 a month. So that’s either her and 2 kids in 1 bd and the dad in the other, or somebody sleeping in the living room. The dad HAS to work. He could do Uber part-time and bring home an additional $2k/month. They can’t afford to live there, but they can’t afford to move, either.

The voice she needed to hear, pretty cool call

Props to Dave for meeting the emotional weight of the situation.

Every single breath and every pause between words is a sigh.

How long Kelly been working there? 🤔 She stay handing out the free goods!

Goodbye Santa cruz hello San Jose maybe goodbye Bay Area all together

Everyone saying she wasn't given a gift. All i heard was when she sells she gets about 200k she doesn't have rn...

I disagree with the poor widow guy going back to work. They’re all need to just leave California. Period

If I had $1,000,000,000 I would not want a house that is large enough to be "valued" at $500,000. I am quite content with my 1100 sq ft paid for home on an acre, in the country, valued at $100-$110K. Few folks realize that we humans own nothing. Things own us! Life simplification requires us to remember this and keep things in balance!

Poor girl. I hope she figures it out.

Keep the house, participation out for ABNB rental for extra income. Santa Cruz rental is super hot, rent the whole house out, keep the backyard for your RV to live for free for life. Don’t ever sell cause you’ll be homeless if you sell.

Sell the house and buy something for $200,000 or $300,000 🤷‍♂️👍

Great advice Dave‼️

This episode made me think - I am all on my own - bought a house late in life and ALL I think about is money. Not in a destructive way, but I am making sure I am ok without anyone to lean on. If I was gifted a house, oh wow. I would NEVER leave my house (that I absolutely LOVE) to anyone who didn't love it too. TOO much work. I will most likely donate it to St. Jude's before I die.

Sell the house, buy a $200k house for the proceeds and her dad can live a decent life off of his $2k income.

Refinance it for a full 30 years your payment would only be like maybe 900, you could even keep 20 % equity you won’t have PMI. You can keep it until your dad passes away. Wouldn’t this be a viable option? Her dad could even sell it to her if they are having a issue with the bank.

I am amazed that there are so many ppl who have no clue about how to handle their finance.

Sell the house as fast as you can!!

Rent it out, pay the mortgage with the rental income.

I cannot afford to keep my house, but I rent out a room that helps me pay for the mortgage.

Same sentence( no comma): I'm sorry you guys are facing this he needs to go to work. It would help him take his mind off her passing too...

Sometimes we need to sell things we don’t want to. It’s a challenge but it will be better for the future

If I was making 40k in the people's republic of California - I'd move.

Wow she's stronger that a lot of people out there.

Try to rent out. if there is a basement or get a homestay student, or airbnb.

I think all of the Dave Ramsey people that watch his show we should pray in Jesus name for this woman. May the lord have his hand upon her during this time amen.

I was given a house, no, I was given a mortgage I cannot afford.

Fear and the trauma from losing her mother is the only issue at the moment. Once her and the father get a clear head, they should sell the home. The $200k profit will put them in a better position. They could put down on another home or rent an apartment. This will buy them some time to recover. The dad can eventually get a job and she could probably find a better job. Fear is their obstacle. Not a lack of money

“I’m gifting you debt, you’re welcome”

Problem is, many people pay 50% of their income in housing

This one breaks my heart. I think everyone involved had good intentions, but the numbers just don't work.