Well, I don't know about everyone else and what part of the country you are in, but here in Florida we are having hard times.

My husband owns a construction business, and we are struggling to stay alive. It has been almost a year now and things don't seem to be getting any better. He had about 55-60 employees and now has none. He has gone from boss to actual working man again. We are working but because we are in a family owned business whom he shares with 4 brothers the little profits we are making are barely enough for the business mtg. and other expenses. I work and I make good money but not enough to not live paycheck to paycheck. I have not been in this situation in a long time but maybe this will serve as a lesson to us. I worked to blow all my money on unneccessary things for myself and my children. Always wanting and buying the best of everything and not depriving myself or them of anything.

We had substantial savings (or so I thought) but not nearly enough to make it this long. (I can't even imagine what how it would be if we had car pmts. or credit debt. All we have is our mtg. and ins., taxes and utilities, that sort of stuff.) To top it off, we moved into our 5500 sq ft dream home this year, complete with pool and all the luxury and upgrades you can imagine. How foolish have we been?? Very, I'm sad to say. I now sit in my big house and wish I could turn back time. I lived in a 4/2 nice remodeled home that was fully paid and that wasn't enough. I wanted more. During construction we spared no expense, pool w/ hot tub, granite, marble floors and even a $10,000 soaking tub, the best of everything. Now I live in regrets.

My husband is a hard worker and has worked hard for everything we have. Never has anyone helped us, we have done it all on our own. I am so afraid as we are in risk of losing it all. My other home is on the market but like everything else is not selling. It appraised at $210,000 so that was the starting selling price. We are now down to $159,000 and it is not moving. Someone suggested we put our new home on the market, but my realtor said there is not a market for a home at that price right now. And our other real estate investments are also on the market but sit in the same boat. I'm lowering it this week again. I'm freaking out and don't know what to do.

I am however a new woman, never will I be in this position again. Spending left and right to no end. How foolish of me, lesson learned.

This along with everything else is consuming me today so I thought I would share with you. Please keep me and my family in your prayers. I pray that God gives us the strength to get through these hard times.

I can't keep you in my prayers :rolleyes2: but here are some thoughts:

Have you considered renting your first home? I don't know what part of FL you're in, but I know that property values in Tampa & surroundings are pretty much on par with here, so I'm assuming the price point in your house makes for a house comparable to what the same price point would get here, and a $210k home (size-wise) would be a good rental prospect. Perfect for a couple or small family. Monthly rent is better than nothing.

If you can't afford the new house, I wouldn't not post it just because a realtor says there's not a market. All it takes is one buyer.

Does your husband have enough work to keep him busy? Is his business to the point that it's more lucrative for him to be an employee vs. an owner? Does he have spare time, in which he could pick up some side work or a part-time job?

Have you considered renting your first home?

We are contemplating renting this house. We can probably get $1000 per month. Only draw back, most good renters would prefer not to rent something mo. to mo. with the posibility of having to move out if and when it sells.

I have a cousin that drills oil wells in Texas and his employees make good money. I'm trying to convince hubby to just leave the const. business for now and go work over there. But he's not convinced yet.

Fortunately we prepared for this....and while at one point I had vast ideas regarding real estate and other baubles, moderation prevailed and I didn't pursue them with half-vast plans.....

It's hard not to spend money when you have it to spend. I work hard for my money, and part of the point of having it is to spend, aka enjoy (IMO). We are DINKs and we both bring home salaries that are well above average, so we have a large amount of discretionary income. Either of our salaries will cover our current monthly expenses. We live in a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house and find it's "too small" so we've been looking at something larger. Do we need something larger? No, but we like it. But we also like our easy mortgage payment we have now. At the same time, it's still so tempting to get exactly what we want.

My husband was laid off after 9/11. It only took him a month to find another job, but that month scared the crap out of me and really changed how we did things financially. We weren't in any danger and had plenty of money, but when you don't know how deeply you have to tap into that "plenty" or when it will be replaced, it's scary.

I'm a christian, I believe God answers prayers. I will pray for you. I tend to overspend too. I have a child in college and one who may start next January. It's hard to spend less than you would like to spend. Anyway enough lecture. God bless.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

It's hard not to spend money when you have it to spend. I work hard for my money, and part of the point of having it is to spend, aka enjoy (IMO). We are DINKs and we both bring home salaries that are well above average, so we have a large amount of discretionary income. Either of our salaries will cover our current monthly expenses.

Well, that used to be me. I'd say, why save it, I might die tomorrow and his new wife will spend it for me.. I mean every weekend I was blowing away about $1500-$2000. No limits for me. And it wasn't like I was living above my means, we were rolling in the dough.. Paid cash for everything, no debt. When we married we bought our home and paid it off in a year. Things were mighty good. Had plenty in savings, had plenty to spend. But now things are so different.

We are hardworking people and I know we will somehow manage to come out of this okay, but it is still very scary. IMO, stay put, spend, but make sure you also save a little. Things are tough now, who knows what tomorrow might bring.

I'm a christian, I believe God answers prayers. I will pray for you. I tend to overspend too. I have a child in college and one who may start next January. It's hard to spend less than you would like to spend. Anyway enough lecture. God bless.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Thank you Lucy. I believe God never gives us more than we can handle. I have faith that things will somehow work themselves out. And on some level am sort of grateful that this has happened. Like I said I have learned my lesson.

I am also very thankful to God that we have our health and each other. I count my blessings everyday.

An acquaintance of mine is extremely wealthy, her money comes from way down the line. Her 3 yr. old boy is dying with a cancerous tumor the size of a baseball in his brain. All that money and there is nothing she can do. I pray for her and give God thanks that my children are healthy. These sort of things put the important things into perspective.

MP - FL house Mkt is not the greatest from what I hear from family. My parents have too big a house for retired folk, and had it listed for over a year. They took it off the market before the holidays, deciding just to stay put for the time being. My brother in Tampa can't buy another one (bigger needed w/4 kids) till he can sell his home - Not a single offer in 9 months.

The economy is scary everywhere, I walked away fr my career 2yrs ago when DH and I bought a ranch. Now I run it, and get nervous time to time did we make the right decision (DINKs also). I got my fingers crossed (add you to the list :rolleyes2:) and pray things turn around quickly - I'm starting to enjoy not getting out first thing in the morning dealing w/traffic and cubical life & would hate to have to reenter that world again, thankfully some smart choices we made (don't use Credit Cards - 100$ cash only / no car pyment / no debt etc) may keep that at bay.

Hopefully this will pass - and quickly. I think hardship is felt all over as it pertains to the economy.

Sadly both sides of my family are in similar situations right now. We live in the midwest which I believe has relatively similar home valuations as Florida. My in-laws purchased a brand-new as you said no-expense spared home last year and have been trying to no avail to sell their former home. To make matters worse the former home is in the 500+K market which has even fewer potential buyers out there to pull from. They are also thinking of putting their new home back on the market to see which sells first. Sadly the newer home really is better a better homve for them to be in as they look towards retirement. Despite being even more expensive it is smaller with the master bedroom on the main floor and in a maintenance free neighborhood. Their old home is a 6 bedroom 4 full bath, 3-car attached garage and a 3-car detached garage with a workshop & barn. It sits on 5 acres on the edge of town with an outdoor greenhouse, large pond and expansive gardens. All of which make it difficult for them to manage on their own as they get older.

My mother on the other hand just re-married last year and between her and her husband they own 5 homes. None of these homes have the latest or greatest anything. They are plain old middle class mid-america homes built between the 1920's to 1950's valued between 100-120K each. To sell them they have worked out two different solutions one of the homes after listing it with a realtor for a year they signed paperwork for the realtor agency to act as manager of the property and rent it out with the option to buy. Their thoughts on this is that either the economy will rebound and they will be able to sell it at a better price than now or since of the 5 homes this is the one that requires the least upkeep and is a larger community putting it nearer hospitals and such if they start feeling "old" in a few years (or decades) they may just move back into it.

A couple of the other homes they have managed to make non-traditional arrangements with buyers who didn't qualify for standard mortgages and might not otherwise have been able to buy a home. One of the buyers for example is a brick-layer who although he is paid very well while working he also experiences frequent seasonal lay-offs which made it impossible for him to get a standard mortgage. These types of homes sales basically put you in the role of banker selling the home direct to the buyer on contract. Mom has done this a few times, it can be a bit of a hassle staying on top of the buyers to make sure you get paid, but in the long run you can make bigger profits as you are also collecting all the interest from the sale of the house instead of a bank. Frequently if the bricklayer was having troubles making payments in the winter she would work out arrangements for him to work off some of his debt by doing handyman projects at some of her other homes.

Maybe with your husbands construction connections he might know of someone like the bricklayer that would be interested in working out an arrangement to buy your old home?

The market is terrible here in Wi too. There are many houses in the neighborhood, in fact in the whole town for sale. My kids have a house in another town that;s been for sale for 2 years. I don't know what the answer is. Empty house and homeless people....It's all such a shame.

Just wanted to say about the 2nd house. Even if you're looking to sell it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to sign a 1 or 2 year lease on it. Right now is NOT the time to sell. It isn't going to change overnight. May as well get GOOD renters, for 1-2 years, paying enough to at least cover some of your current mortgage on your house, and re-visit selling it when the economy is back up.

Especially since you could get more for your house once the recession is over.

Just wanted to say about the 2nd house. Even if you're looking to sell it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to sign a 1 or 2 year lease on it. Right now is NOT the time to sell. It isn't going to change overnight. May as well get GOOD renters, for 1-2 years, paying enough to at least cover some of your current mortgage on your house, and re-visit selling it when the economy is back up.

Especially since you could get more for your house once the recession is over.

This is exactly what I was going to recommend. I hope it all works out for you.

Well they just lowered interest rates. I have heard from several people who seem to just know about economics that they will be lowering them again.

The president seems to be pretty worried about this recession, so

just maybe if they keep lowering interest rates, people will start buying houses again.