Realtor lied to make profit?

I'm sorry to hear you're so unhappy. But there is a very good chance that your agent really believed that Deltona was a good way to save money if your husband was going to be working in Orlando. A lot of people buy in that area for that very reason. Also, Deltona's prices have always been lower than the surrounding cities. Sometimes we have no choice but to buy where we can afford. It stinks, but we all have to deal with that, at one time or another.

As for trying to determine when the values will increase, none of us can predict that until after it has started happening. But it's highly unlikely that you overpaid. 2005 was the apex of the real estate boom for central Florida. You probably paid the amount that was the value of the home at that time. Real estate has never been a static-valued product. It always has, and always will be unpredictable. But what happened in this last sellers' market was unprecedented. We've never seen anything like it before, and we probably never will again. It's going to be a long time before the values of 2005 come back around. Unfortunately, we now have even bigger problems. Banks are dropping like flies, and of the ones that are still in business, most are insisting that buyers put down 20-30%. At the same time, people are making less money or losing their jobs altogether. But the problem is still bigger than that. We've been in a recession for over a year.

I really do feel for you. It's been hard for me to see so many people lose their homes, jobs, and investments. My own family has lost a tremendous amount of income from both my job and my husband's job, and our investments are precarious. But I'm thankful that we're not losing our home. Our family has realized just how much we were taking for granted, and how spoiled we had become. We've cut out everything that's not a necessity, and are still looking for more ways to save money.

But please don't make yourself sick! I've had severe Fibromyalgia for 9 years now. It's very painful, and if I let myself dwell on negative things, the pain only gets worse. So I choose to think positively. I dwell/focus on what we do have, instead of what we don't have. And we give thanks for every little thing that brings us joy, no matter how small. My daughter went on a missions trip to Haiti a couple of years ago. What she saw and told us about just reinforced our understanding of how many reasons we have to be thankful.

I hope you and your husband are able to find joy, regardless of the circumstances. Feeling sick and miserable is not worth it when you can't change the circumstances anyway. I can think of a few positive things for you... you're close to DeLand, which has a beautiful downtown area to visit. The St. John's River and several springs are close by, you're only about 40 miles from Daytona Beach, your husband still has his job, you have your own pool... I'm sure there's much more. And I hope you know that I'm just trying to help you cheer up and see how blessed you are, compared to so many other people. It could be a lot worse!

Feel better, and be blessed.

Lisa Hill, "The Smart Choice"
Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS®
386-761-6100.
http://www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com

Carol- I posted a blog about your dilemma and my own response, on one of my own blogs yesterday. I asked my peers if I had been compassionate enough in my answer. There were a couple of spots that drew their attention, and they gave me some constructive criticism. As a result, I changed my answer in those two areas, because my only intention was to try to lift your spirits, and address each of your concerns. But I wanted to apologize to you, if any part of my original response was in any way offensive to you.

I hope you're able to focus on the good things in your life, so you won't be so stressed out. As a REALTOR®, I completely understand your stress! Many of us are going through long periods of time without making any money at all. And our spouses are getting their income reduced as well. I don't think there's a single family or adult in this country who is not being affected by this economy. Hopefully we can band together and encourage each other, as we struggle through these difficult times.