To pay what he owes to his lender, plus the additional fees of selling, he's having to tap retirement funds, dip into savings and borrow money.
"It's been very trying, to say the least," he said. "When we bought, everything was just so overinflated. We didn't realize the bubble was going to burst, and it did."
Their agent, Stephanie Bamberger Yungmann with ZipRealty in Towson, said people flocked to homes around Patterson Park - north of Canton - in the days when prices were skyrocketing. Then, young professionals were priced out of places closer to the harbor.
"But now, because the prices have adjusted so greatly right around the water area, those places slightly off the water areas are not moving as quickly - or not moving at all, unless it's just a great deal," she said.
Falling values have contributed to the rising number of foreclosures and potential short sales on the market. Homeowners trying to sell short are under water on their mortgages, and they're hoping their lenders - to avoid the cost of foreclosing - will eat the difference between what's owed and what a buyer will pay. Buyers are making offers, but it can take weeks or even months for the lenders to respond, said Jim Gunsiorowski, an agent at Prudential Carruthers Realtors in Federal Hill.
Falling values are also creating a "shadow inventory" of homes that people intend to list once they think they can sell. In an online survey in July conducted for real estate service provider Zillow, a quarter of U.S. homeowners said "they would be at least 'somewhat likely' to put their homes on the market in the next 12 months if they saw signs of a real estate market turnaround." Gunsiorowski said banks seem to be taking the same tack, delaying foreclosure proceedings. He sees two key tests for the market: what happens when those homes go up for sale - and what happens when the first-time buyer tax credit expires. The last day is Nov. 30.
"This could be falsely pushing along the market, just like the 'Cash for Clunkers' is falsely pushing along the auto sales," he said.
The credit was important to Will Cocks, 28, who just settled on a home in Baltimore. He has already filed an amended tax return to get it. But he had been home-shopping before the credit was approved and said he wasn't "blinded" by the lure of $8,000.
