The Second Home Delima

CNN Money has highlighted the delima faced by home buyers who owns more than one home caused by slow market crisis. Click here for complete article.

Here is the story told in the article.

• By Stephen Gandel, Money Magazine senior writer
  November 2 2006: 1:43 PM EST
  
  (Money Magazine) -- When Chicagoans John and Judy Peeler decided to move to Philadelphia last spring, they blithely assumed they'd get more space for their money. Indeed, the couple quickly found a 2,500-square-foot, four-bedroom colonial in a well-regarded school district for $440,000, just about what they figured their 2,000-square-foot Windy City condo would fetch.
  
  Perfect. Or so they thought.
  
  Since then the seemingly ideal move has devastated their finances. The Peelers' Chicago condo has generated little interest, even after they dropped the price - twice - to its current $389,000. And it has been four months since they relocated, which means they've been carrying two mortgages and a home-equity line of credit at a cost of $4,000 a month.
  
  Having depleted their savings to pay for this, they've had to seriously cut back on spending. They went without air conditioning this past summer, despite sweltering heat and the fact that Judy was eight months pregnant.
  
  They've also put off fixing the brakes of their second car, which the mechanic says should be replaced soon. "We don't spend money on anything that isn't critical," says Judy. "Everything goes toward the mortgages."
  
  The Peelers are among the increasing ranks of "tweeners," or people who've inadvertently ended up juggling the costs of two homes as a result of the slowing market. Many victims of this fearsome financial trap have been wooed by the upsides of the new buyer's market: increased choice and better prices.
  
  "But they forget the other side of the equation," says Albert Hepp, owner of BuySelfRealty.com in Minneapolis. Only when they try to unload their old house do they realize just how hard it is to sell.
  
  Then, like the Peelers, they find themselves stuck with one more property and one more mortgage than they'd like or can afford.

Here are some other stories told...

here , here , and here