A report from Newsday. "Hector Rodriguez sits in his nearly empty home in Hicksville longing for his wife, Annalucya, and 4-year-old son, Daniel. They have been separated since the spring, when Annalucya and Daniel moved into the family's new home in Atlanta. Rodriguez says he anticipated a fairly quick sale on the house, for which he is asking $380,000."

"Instead, the 45-year-old baker sits puzzled, wondering why his nice corner property hasn't moved since he placed it on the market earlier this year. He wonders how long he will be able to carry two mortgages."

"Rodriguez, like many homeowners trying to ride the wave of the long-running seller's market, says he didn't expect things to change on Long Island. 'The market runs in cycles, and for a long time it's been a sellers' market,' says Susan Fromm, a licensed sales associate in Plainview. She says real estate agents often will advise their clients not to buy before they sell. Some choose not to heed their agents' advice and become frustrated with the wait."

"'People are getting impatient,' she says. 'It's taking longer than they expect.'"

"'Everyone said I could sell the house in two to three months,' says Rodriguez. He says visits to Atlanta are few and far between. Between working long hours at his job at a bakery and trying to support two homes, he says he only averages a long weekend trip about once a month."

"Enrique Bonilla of Smithtown also finds it hard to be separated from his wife, Veronica. After visits to his brother and sister in Scottsdale, Ariz., the newlyweds say they thought living in Arizona would be an appealing change of pace."

"The couple put their Victorian on the market in May. By June, Enrique got a job in Paradise Valley. Veronica, a real estate agent, stayed behind to sell their home. 'I moved down there thinking I have a really nice house in New York,' Enrique says. 'Somebody will see it and fall in love with it. I got down there [to Arizona], and it wasn't selling.'"

"They did not buy a house in Arizona, so they are not carrying two mortgages, but their only income now is the recent sales commissions from when he was working in Arizona and the income Veronica brings in from temporary jobs."

"Denise Frobey of Bayport, says she stayed behind to sell her waterfront home, for which she is asking $749,999, while her husband, Stephen relocated to their new home in Pinehurst, N.C. Frobey says she suddenly found herself dealing with household responsibilities Stephen used to do."

"'I never had to do the bills before. This winter I will have snow. I never used the snowblower before because he was always here,' she says. They put their home on the market in May.""Rodriguez says in hindsight, he regrets buying the home in Atlanta before selling his Hicksville property first. 'You never know what's going to happen. ... Everyone should move together,' he said."