"I Live Next To A Crack House"

Summary

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The Ramsey Show Highlights

Episode: "I Live Next To A Crack House"
Date: October 20, 2025
Host: Ramsey Network (Dave Ramsey & Sharon)
Length: ~8:45 (excluding ads)

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Brief Overview

In this episode, Dave Ramsey and his co-host Sharon counsel a caller dealing with financial challenges after a reduction in household income, while facing an alarming new neighbor situation: their home is now next to a crack house. The discussion balances advice on mortgages and refinancing with the urgency of personal safety, ultimately focusing on what’s best for the family’s well-being.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Caller’s Situation & Financial Background

• The caller recently had a baby, leading his wife to switch from full-time to part-time work.
• Their take-home income drops from $10,000 to $7,000/month; mortgage now ~40% of take-home.
• They have $150,000 liquid cash and owe $360,000 on the home they bought for $500,000 in 2024.
• Interest rate on their mortgage is 7.375%.
• They've become concerned about the deteriorating safety of their neighborhood due to a “crack house” next door.

2. Options Considered by the Caller

• Stay: Refinance or “recast” the mortgage with a significant lump payment to drop monthly payments.
• Move: Sell and purchase a smaller home with more affordable payments and (hopefully) a safer environment.

3. Financial & Safety Analysis (Dave & Sharon's Advice)

• On Financial Moves:

  • Refinancing/Reducing the Payment: Dave recommends, “I’d refinance it and put the 150 on it and just stay there. Unless the neighbors are so crazy that you have to move…” (03:06)
  • The caller expresses regret about not using their savings initially for a larger down payment, now recognizing the payment is a greater stressor than holding cash.

• On Neighborhood Safety:

  • Sharon bluntly states: “If I knew that what you’re telling me, I’d be out. I’m not going to keep my family there. It takes one crazy night.” (03:58)
  • Dave warns, “If you think your family is in danger, it’s a no brainer. Mic drop. I’m out of there.” (04:35)
  • Sharon points out the risk to the caller’s wife and baby at home. “You just never know when it spills over beyond there.” (06:16)
  • Emphasis that the possibility of crime or explosion next door makes all financial considerations secondary to immediate family safety.

4. Community and Tone

• The show takes a turn toward humor and personal anecdotes to underline the absurdity and seriousness of the situation.
• Dave makes comparisons to “Breaking Bad” and jokes about neighborhood legends, but consistently underscores the risk and the need to prioritize family safety.
  • “What is this, Breaking Bad? ... If you think you’re in danger, you should leave. No question.” (04:26, 05:56)
• Sharon reflects on her own family: “What I would put up with is very different than what Stacy would put up with.” (06:48)
• The mood is supportive, direct, and laced with Southern humor to keep the gravity balanced with practical advice.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dave’s Reality Check:
  “If you think your family’s in danger, it’s a no brainer. Mic drop. I’m out of there.” (04:35 – Dave)
• On Not Using Savings:
  “And now you figured out what to be scared of is the payment, not the cash?” (02:51 – Dave)
• On the Absurdity:
  “What is this, Breaking Bad?” (04:26 – Dave)
• Sharon's Bottom Line:
  “If I knew that what you’re telling me, I’d be out. I’m not going to keep my family there.” (03:58 – Sharon)
• Wife’s Opinion Matters:
  “Safe wife, happy life.” (06:56 – Dave)
• On Local Justice:
  Sharon jokes about local legends: “People have a way of dealing with those things in the holler.” (08:00 – Sharon)
• Humorous Wrap-up:
  “Things I didn’t have on my bingo card this morning.” (06:45 – Dave)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:12: Caller gives background and outlines current financial stress.
• 01:38 - 03:06: Discussion of refinancing, use of savings, and the house’s interest rate.
• 03:37 - 04:26: Sharon and Dave delve into neighborhood safety and the seriousness of criminal activity next door.
• 05:00 - 06:16: Examination of practical steps if staying (recast/refinance vs. moving) and emphasizing the need to act if in danger.
• 06:26 - 07:39: Commentary on what spouses will/won’t tolerate and the importance of family safety.
• 08:00 - End: Humor about rural legends and the extraordinary situation; reinforcing the move.

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Final Takeaways

• Safety over Finances: Financial maneuvers make sense only if family safety isn’t compromised.
• Act Quickly if in Danger: Both hosts agree – if there’s even a question of safety, moving is the obvious answer.
• Trust Your Instincts and Family: The spouse’s comfort should guide the final decision.

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This episode delivered a blend of practical money advice and no-nonsense life wisdom, with humor and empathy, clarifying that wellbeing should always come before dollars and cents.

Transcript

[Host]

Brought to you by CHM a budget friendly faith based alternative to health insurance. Chministries.org budget we are facing a question.

[Caller]

On what to do with our home. So for background, we bought this house in May of 2024 and at the time our take home was about 10,000amonth and our monthly payment was between 25% and 30% as y' all would suggest. But some things have changed in our life since then. Primarily we have a new baby, so she's four months old and my wife is going to part time instead of full time. So our take home pay is going from the 10,000 down to about 7,000. This makes our monthly payment be around 40% of our take home. And we've also had a few other new circumstances such as like our neighbors have completely gone off the rails it seems and we're really considering moving both to lower monthly payment as well as to maybe get into a slightly better situation. We have identified three options that we would like to do so the first being to stay where we are and refinance when rates drop and try and trying to slow that monthly payment, maybe even recasting our mortgage because we have a fairly significant amount of cash liquid right now that we could put a significant down payment on there to lower the monthly payment or to move to a smaller situation where we'll have around that 25%.

[Dave]

Okay, you make seven. How long before you make 10.

[Caller]

Prior knits? Four to five years? Three to four maybe.

[Dave]

Okay. What did your wife do for a living?

[Caller]

So she is in data analysis. She works for an agrochemical company and so she does that from home which has been very convenient with the baby.

[Dave]

Okay. But she's gone to part time hours.

[Caller]

She has and she would, she's expressed that she would like to, to just be full time, stay at home mom. Because it's, it's just been wonderful having the baby and something we really enjoy and if we can make that work financially, that would be nice.

[Sharon]

How much cash do you have?

[Caller]

About 150,000 liquid.

[Dave]

What do you owe on the house?

[Caller]

360.

[Dave]

Where'd you get the hundred and fifty?

[Caller]

So a little bit, we've, we've been very frugal over the course of our life. But I wanna.

[Dave]

Why didn't you put it down on the house in the first life?

[Caller]

I think we were a little scared. We, we, we're very conservative.

[Dave]

And now you figured out what to be scared of is the payment, not the cash?

[Caller]

Yes, yes, absolutely.

[Dave]

What's Your interest rate?

[Caller]

7.375, which is not great.

[Dave]

Yeah, you can get a 57 now. Yeah, that's a point and a half shift. Yeah, I'd refinance it and put the 150 on it and just stay there. Unless the neighbors are so crazy that you have to move, maybe hold a little cash back to build a fence. I don't know.

[Caller]

True, true. Yeah. It's been multiple arrests and large evergreen trees.

[Dave]

I don't know. I mean, yes, they grow fast.

[Sharon]

I mean, is there any safety issues for you? Do you fear for your family's safety because of all this nonsense?

[Caller]

There, there have been times mean explosions that have shaken our house and they.

[Dave]

Run in a crack house over there.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Sharon]

For real?

[Caller]

Yeah, yeah, for real.

[Dave]

Price is your house.

[Caller]

It was 500,000 and not an issue when we bought it. It's.

[Sharon]

I'm not speaking for Dave. This is not an official show response. My response is, if I knew that what you're telling me, I'd be out. I'm not going to keep my family there. It takes one crazy night.

[Dave]

The whole thing could explode. Yeah, for real.

[Caller]

There's a little bit of a change. There's a new owner, somebody bought it, but they're allowing the guy that continued to live there to continue as a living estate.

[Sharon]

Well, then it's still a problem on.

[Caller]

The, on the precipice of death.

[Dave]

But yes, he's on the precipice of death and he's running a crack house. What is this, Breaking Bad?

[Caller]

It could be a half hour show right here.

[Dave]

Yeah, I'm just, I'm hearing this. This is amazing. Well, if you think your family's in danger, it's a no brainer. Mic drop. I'm out of there. Okay. If you think you're. You can outlive the guy and outlast him and survive and he's either going to blow himself up or die or whatever's happening to him. Good Lord. And you want to stay there then recast the mortgage. But I wouldn't recast the mortgage and then move two months later.

[Caller]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Dave]

That's throwing good money after bad. If you recast the mortgage, you're staying.

[Caller]

And can we recast the mortgage and get the lower interest rate or no.

[Dave]

You just have to refinance. It's not a recast. You'll refinance, reset the mortgage, you refinance it on a new 15 year, start again with 150 more down, and then suddenly you can afford the payment.

[Caller]

Yeah, for sure.

[Dave]

That's if you want to Stay there. If you don't want to stay there, that's okay. And yeah, there's nothing wrong with either option moving down. She does not like the house enough to be willing to work a few hours a day to keep it. She doesn't like it that much. Yeah.

[Sharon]

I forgot to ask. How does she feel about the nuts next door? I'm telling you right now, Stacy would have already made that decision for me.

[Dave]

You'd be done, huh?

[Sharon]

Well, yeah. It's just. Why play with fire? If it's as bad as he says, and I believe him. I just don't get it why you would leave your family there.

[Dave]

Yeah, I. If you think you're in danger, you're out of there that instant. I mean, I don't know how it sounds. Very bizarre. Yeah, yeah. But if you're in danger, you should leave. No question. All other parts of the conversation aside, very simple. If you're in danger and track crack houses do explode, the whole thing can blow up. I mean, it's very explosive.

[Sharon]

So, yeah, if I have a wife at home with a newborn baby and that kind of stuff is going on, you just never know when it spills over beyond there.

[Dave]

I have any hope that the guy is going to be gone in a short period of time, that's different. But short being a month or two. I can deal with it for a month or two, but. But if I think he's going to. I've deal with this for three years. No, I'm out of there. Yeah, I agree. I agree with you. I'm not arguing with that. Very interesting. Wow.

[Sharon]

I mean, what I would put up.

[Dave]

With, things I didn't have on my bingo card this morning.

[Sharon]

Yeah, there's that rule, you know, What I would put up with is very different than what Stacy would put up with. And that's the issue. You know, it's like if she.

[Dave]

Wife, happy life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Safe. Wife, happy life. There's that one, too. Yeah. I just. I'm afraid my wife would shoot back.

[Sharon]

No, here's what Sharon would do. Sharon would walk over there, knock on the door and have a word with the young man. And not. And not in a meet, because she's not a mean person. She's a straight shooter, but she's not mean. I see her just kind of wagging her finger. Young man, you're not making good life choices.

[Dave]

Steel magnolia here. Wheezy is knocking on your door next door, Right?

[Sharon]

Yeah. And he probably listened to her.

[Dave]

Yeah, he's probably scared to death. If he knows what's good for him. That's right.

[Caller]

Little.

[Sharon]

Little East Tennessee fable. She tells a story, you know, about.

[Dave]

The time that a guy died doing this. You know, it's like. Yeah. We used to have a neighbor did stuff like this, and nobody knows where he is now.

[Sharon]

Now he goes by one leg Larry, you know? Now you know why.

[Dave]

Can't find the boy. We don't know what happened to him. It's the strangest thing.

[Sharon]

People have a way of dealing with those things in the holler.

[Dave]

Breaking Bad is next door. The guy is dying. He sells the house. He's got a life estate, and he's doing making crack next door. Breaking Bad.

[Sharon]

I didn't see that one today. I didn't see that one.

[Dave]

I was not on my bingo card this morning.

[Sharon]

I thought he was joking until he wasn'.

[Dave]

No, he wasn't joking. No. He said neighbors off the rails, but we didn't know which rails. Yeah, right. Wow. The more we laugh about this, the more it's not funny. I'd move. I would just move.

[Sharon]

Yikes.

[Dave]

Yeah, I'd move. And just accomplish several birds with one stone. Yeah.

[Host]

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