When You Own Your Own Abode, Bad Real-Estate News Hits Home
It is every homeowner's worst nightmare: that dreaded feeling that, maybe, the most important investment decision of your life is about to become a disaster.</br></br>A lot of people have been going through that agony lately, as a result of declining home prices in what had been some of the country's hottest markets, the Northeast and California. The well-publicized woes of some banks with growing portfolios of bad real-estate loans have only added to their worry.</br></br>Whether they are planning to move, thinking about a home-equity loan, or simply concerned about the value of what is probably their biggest investment, homeowners want to know how they are affected.</br></br>At the same time, many other people have been looking for opportunity in adversity. Is this the time, they have been wondering, to move up to a bigger home at a bargain price, or to latch on to that vacation home that up to now has always been out of reach?</br></br>Here is how real-estate experts answer some of the most frequently asked questions: