The Waco Tribune reports from Texas. "Thomas is a Central Texan who knows the heartbreak of foreclosure, something more Americans are facing as easy credit during the housing boom 'comes home to roost,' as one industry expert put it."

"Thomas, who did not want his last name used because of his embarrassment over his predicament, has lost five houses this year to foreclosure. His losses and those of others in McLennan County are piling up."

"Thomas hoped to retire more comfortably on the money he made from these homes, all in Waco, which he bought as investment properties. Instead, 'I’ve lost $100,000 or more, and my credit rating is totally and completely shot.'"

"Thomas bought the homes intending to fix them and sell them for tidy profits. He said he hired appraisers to help him gauge their values. In hindsight, he said, those values were not true. His properties languished on the market, 'and all of a sudden, I ran out of money.' All five homes found new buyers on the steps of the McLennan County Courthouse."

"Some say foreclosures are beginning to surge locally. 'Yes, sir, they’re just beginning to hit,' said (realtor) Mark Bowles. 'I’ve processed 12 foreclosures in the last three days.'"

"'It would be hard to say foreclosures are an economic-driven problem in Texas,' said Jim Gaines, a research economist at the Texas A&M. So what’s going on here? Gaines said blame lies at the doorstep of questionable lending practices during the housing boom."

"Since 2001, those wanting to buy homes enjoyed low interest rates and qualifying terms that were almost laughable. 'If you could walk, chew gum and breathe,' Gaines said, 'you could qualify for a mortgage.'"

"These practices 'are coming home to roost,' Gaines said, as homebuyers who probably should not have received loans in the first place are bailing on their payments."

"'I’m starting to see an increase (in foreclosures) on the upper end, involving middle-class properties in Waco, Woodway and Hewitt,' said Sean McCann, a local real estate agent who specializes in foreclosures. 'And word on the street is there is going to be more.'"

The Denver Post from Colorado. "In Montbello and Green Valley Ranch, existing-home values are falling as foreclosures spread. Burned-down houses sit abandoned for a year or more."

"For-sale signs carry notes of desperation. One offers a week-long Caribbean cruise to the buyer of a foreclosed house. 'Zero down? Poor credit? First-time buyer? Call for a free two-minute pre-approval,' another urges."

"From August to October, the median sale price on existing homes in Green Valley Ranch was $185,450, down from $201,000 during the same months a year ago. In Montbello, median sale prices dropped from $175,385 to $164,950."

"In Montbello, Bernadette Ukolowicz waited seven months for one lucky knock at her door. Three times she lowered it. Then she took the sign down. When most house sales in your neighborhood are foreclosure-related, it's hard to compete."

"In seven months, six people looked at her three-bedroom house. Nobody has since September. For-sale signs abound on her street. Three houses on her block have been foreclosed in eight months."

"'The house next door, it's been vacant six months, maybe longer. People across the street, they're trying to sell. Three homes down, it's vacant,' Ukolowicz said. 'Anyone trying to sell their home right now in the area is up against all the vacant homes. Why should I buy this house for $175,000 when the bank will sell that one for $130,000?'"

"Foreclosure prevention consultant Dottie Melton negotiates 'short sales' - sales that avoid foreclosures by getting lenders to buy houses for less than borrowers owe. In Montbello, she calculates that 70 percent of pending house sales and 68 percent of all sales in the past six months were either short sales or foreclosures."

"'Where's the homeowners in this? They're not there,' she said. 'You have a home on the market, and you're going to compete with 70 percent of the sales?'"

"Melton sees a spreading belt of foreclosures, however, that is now reaching middle-class neighborhoods in Arapahoe and Jefferson counties where homes were overvalued and buyers borrowed 100 percent of the purchase price. 'It's on its way. It's in my backyard,' she said."

"Green Valley Ranch, to the east, is still under construction. Its current developer envisions a community stretching from Denver into Aurora that ultimately could hold 20,000 homes. Yet these neighborhoods share troubling foreclosure rates and stagnant house prices that trap many homeowners who try to sell."

"In October alone, 65 more homes were foreclosed in the neighborhoods. Seventy percent of the foreclosed loans were approved in 2004, 2005 or this year. Nearly half refinanced previous home loans. Half of those homes already appear vacant. At one, a real estate flier offers a seven- day Caribbean cruise to anyone who buys it."

"One of the new foreclosure notices came to Anthony Neely and his wife, Thelma, who thought they were making all the right moves when they bought a two-story home in Green Valley Ranch in 2003. They put $24,000 toward the $277,000 purchase price of their home, thinking they had a cushion to sell if they ever got in a bind or needed to move."

"But their home isn't selling in a deflated market. Come December, the couple could lose every penny they've invested in it. 'We paid a high price, and we got a bad loan,' said a dejected Neely. 'We saved a long time to get that down payment.'"

"Neely lost his job and...making matters worse, the couple's adjustable-rate mortgage has started escalating. Payments have risen from $1,100 a month to more than $2,000, Neely said."

"The home had only six showings in four months on the market, including a lowball offer of $210,000. 'Even the bank is not going to take that,' he said. 'We are between a rock and a hard place.'"