A pair of reports from the Denver Post. "The cooling housing market has homebuilders throughout the nation girding for fewer sales, larger inventories and stiffer competition for people in the market for new homes. Last week, Denver-based MDC Holdings, which operates as Richmond American, reported a 25 percent drop in quarterly profits, blaming fewer orders and a growing inventory of unsold homes."

"A competitive market caused orders for new MDC homes in Colorado to decrease from 594 for the second quarter last year to 291 for the same period this year. 'The magnitude of this drop-off is about as quick as we've seen in a long time,' said Stephen East, a homebuilding analyst."

"MDC plans to maintain just a two-year supply of lots. As a result, the company chose not to exercise some of its options on building lots. The two-year land supply is a strategy MDC has been following since the early 1990s, CFO Paris Reece said. 'We saw, in a market where land values cannot be maintained, certain builders can be hurt by holding too much land,' Reece said."

"Most homebuilders try to keep a four- to five-year supply of land, but because home sales have slowed, many have as much as an eight-year supply, homebuilding analyst Alex Barron said. 'A lot of them realize they bought too much land in the last couple of years,' he said. 'Now they're trying to sell the land to somebody else.'"

"'A lot of builders are..scrambling to get close to rail,' said Rich Davis, at KB Home in Denver."

"Homeowner Eric Elkins is struggling to avoid the real estate world's dreaded F-word. Foreclosure may be his only way out. Elkins says he can no longer afford his payments. He owes $285,000 on his Highlands Ranch house. But it's worth less than $250,000. 'I just want to get out of the house and not be too screwed,' he said."

"He bought it for $252,000 in 2002. Last year, Elkins put the house on the market for $299,000. At that price, the home attracted only three showings. Increasingly unable to afford his payment, he contacted his lender, U.S. Bank. At first, the bank told him he couldn't refinance again because he owed more on the house than it was worth, he said."

"He inquired about selling, but to sell a house for less than it's worth requires lender approval. Eventually, Elkins' lender came up with a better idea. 'He put me into two home-equity lines of credit,' Elkins said. 'It was all very creative.'"

"These new loans replaced his mortgages. One was interest-only. Both loans had adjustable interest rates. As for the value of the house versus the size of the loans needed to refinance it, well..no equity, no problem. 'He got an appraisal for $285,000,' said Elkins of his lender. 'I don't know how he did it. It was exactly the amount I needed.'"

"Unfortunately, Elkins' financial situation is still disintegrating and his payments keep rising. He put his home up for sale again in May. In June, he got an offer for less than $250,000. His broker submitted it to U.S. Bank for approval. The bank had to decide what to do about the deficiency. One option would be to grant Elkins an unsecured loan for the balance. Another would be for the bank to take the loss. The loss on a short sale is typically smaller than the loss on a foreclosure."

"The bank did not respond and Elkins' bidder moved on. 'This property will end up foreclosed on because the bank cannot respond quickly enough,' said Elkins' real estate broker, Gretchen Faber. 'U.S. Bank is completely uninterested in cooperating with me or with the buyer's agents. It isn't just U.S. Bank,' she said. 'All banks do this.'"