First, thank you all for your kind words, concern, prayers, encouragement, and in Smitty's case, an incredible offer of help. Everything you all wrote means a lot to me and has been comforting.

I had come to terms with the fact that I was going to lose my home. I didn't even have to show up at the deed auction this morning if I didn't want to, because everything was in the court system and nothing I could have done, short of out-bidding the mortgage lender's only bid would have made a difference in the outcome.

The auction process was unlike anything I've ever seen. There were maybe 40 properties originally scheduled for today's auction. 1st order of business was to announce rescheduled auction dates on properties, and announce properties that were no longer for sale due to cured loans or were short sold properties. That was about a dozen rescheduled dates and one removal. Then the auction began with properties that had bids on them above and beyond the lenders' bids. The lenders' bids were all (I assume) just what they considered due to them and no more. I wasn't keeping an exact count, but it was around 15 properties that had bidders in the room making bids. A few properties sold for $50 more than the lenders' bids. Most of the other properties that actually went to live bidding went higher, with a few going as much as 30% higher. No one in the room knew which properties would go live unless they themselves filed the paperwork to be a live bidder on any specific properties, so there was no way I could know if anyone wanted to pay more for my deed than Chase wanted to pay. All of the properties that had live bids and live auction action were sold. Any other properties that didn't have a higher bid than the lenders' bids were sold without a specific vocal announcement of them even being there and up for auction. All potential bidders had a list of every property available, so under the auction procedures, the auction ended when the last property that had a written bid of at least $50 more than the lenders' minimum bids had been sold.

My home was one of those that sold for the lender's minimum. I was hopeful that someone would want it for more, because in that case the amount paid over the minimum would have been given to me. ...not meant to be.

While hunting/scrambling to find a place to move over the last week, I considered renting. Nothing I could find listed for rent was desirable either due to cost, location, or both. Believe it or not, I also started looking for a place to buy. I still had most of the money I had accumulated for my attempt to cure my mortgage, so a cash purchase of an older mobile home was a viable option. I found one. It is setup in an adult (read that to mean senior) park. I don't have to move it, it needs only a few minor repairs - a couple windows that wouldn't lock and a small window that was broken, and it has all appliances. It is about half the size of the home I just lost, but I think I can make it work. 22 years of active packrat behavior filling my home means there's a lot of stuff that I probably should have trashed long ago. There were a few minor details to work out, but it looked like a very viable possibility. Sometimes you just have to start over. I had hoped I was done with starting over years ago, but that wasn't the case.

I bought the mobile and paid cash! I now own it outright. 2009 property taxes on the place were $5.85. I think I can fade that.

The neighborhood (the trailer park) is safer that the one I'm moving from. In 22 years, I had two cars stolen and trashed, a motorhome that had windows shot out of it while it was parked on the street in front of the house, and had someone try to climb through my upstairs bedroom window while I was sleeping in the room! I'm now one of the youngest, if not the youngest occupant (haven't moved in but that's what the next couple weeks will be) in the park. Lots of retired folks with an almost instinctive neighborhood watch way of life. Lots of eyes around during the day when in most neighborhoods the residents are vacant are work or school.

I feel pretty good about this. There are significant changes ahead, but some (or most) of those will result in much less pressure on me, both financially and psychologically. My major concern right now is the time frame I'll have to vacate my home. Legally, I still own my home until the end of business on the 21st. On that date, they can have the county sheriff post an eviction notice on my front door giving me three days to get out. They can also offer me more time (which I could really use due to my road work schedule for the rest of the month) to actually get everything out and do some cleaning up. All of the balls are in their court right now, so I can only wait and see how they choose to serve them.

....and if I feel like moving to Tucson in a few years to set up shop in Smitty's backyard, I could bring my house with me! Pull the skirts and blocks, throw wheels and tires on the axles, and I'm tow-able to anywhere I might want to go!

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

Bob