Hi, all, I'm new to the forum, and frankly, new to the world of investment.

The purpose of this thread is about what action I should take with my father's house.

I'm currently a math instructor in a community college with salary of 42000, and if I continue to teach extra course every semester, my salary will be up to 46500. I have about $40,000 of school loan debt, and starting July I will start to make payments (min: 300).

Now, my father currently owns a house in Charlotte, NC. He purchased it back in 1999, took out a mortgage of $140,000, currently, he still owes $119,000. The value of the house at the highest before was $165,000, but after two foreclosures in our neighborhood (zip code: 28273), it is now down to $141,000. Monthly payment for the mortgage (with Chase) is about $1200, interest rate is 5.87%, fixed.

My mother passed away a few years back and since then my father is struggling to keep up with the payments, he applied for loan modification back in Feb and still having heard back from it. I'm now having to make the decision to bail him out or not.

I have the financial mean to keep up with his mortgage payment, but then I won't have much money allotted for savings/investments even if I make minimum payment on my school loan. So I'm really not sure if I should keep on doing this or just let house go foreclose or sell it in a few years. Then of course, emotional attachment is involved here as my 13 years old sister still lives in the house. I calculated, I will need to cover around $800 a month for my dad if to keep them in the house. Perhaps I will claim the house and my sister for my tax refund.

Well, what do you guys think? What should I do with the house?

Thank you!!!