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I have personal experience in the slump in the real estate market, as perhaps you have. I cannot afford to sell my house, and the mortgage holder is unwilling to renegotiate terms to now lower interest rates. As I've left the country and my employment is now less lucrative, I'm not a candidate for straight refinancing in these tighter loan times. Yet, despite this, what I read and hear from the analysts, the past history of real estate, and my own more limited experience lead me to believe that all will work out, and sooner rather than later.

Of course, in our times "soon" means tomorrow. However, I don't believe the market will improve in the next months. In investment terms, though, long term is always more than a year. I do believe the market will improve within the year

Why? Well, for one, despite recent record-breaking drops in the value of my home of twenty percent or more, it remains worth more than I paid for it in 2001. Foreclosures and "fire" sales to escape high mortgage payments not withstanding, the crisis in home values remains more of a sharp decline than a total bust. Granted, people who bought more recently may now face short-term losses. And those who took loans on equity, as I did, also face difficult decisions and hard to make payments.

My own story is that I re-financed and took a second mortgage to finance projects on my house. The loan to value ratio was, at the time, eighty percent, considered healthy and by no means a "high risk" loan. However, the market drop means that I did not realize gains I might have on the home improvements, and my loan to value ratio now is much closer to one hundred percent. On top of that, I moved to another country for personal reasons.

Still, I have now managed to lease my house to cash-paying tenants. While I do this at a "loss," the loss really means a greatly reduced investment in the house. Rather than a mortgage, interest and tax monthly payment of over $1400, plus utility bills, I now will pay a little over $200 a month plus only the water bill for utilities, about another $50 per month average. And I can afford to wait out the market until the value once again grows on my house.

My personal outlook is that people will become more optimistic after the elections in November, no matter who wins. The hope of someone new in the White House, McCain or Obama, will improve consumer and investor views for the future. This will be enough to show improvements in all sectors, including real estate. Real

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