The Chronicle Telegram reports from Ohio. "The idea seemed simple enough. Buy a foreclosed home through a sheriff’s sale at a below-market price; fix it up and then resell it making a small profit. It’s called flipping. Gary Cahill of Elyria knew the plan wouldn’t net him millions, but he and his wife, Janice, were eager to start a new hobby. But that was before a record number of foreclosures hit the county, leaving no neighborhood unscathed and 'For Sale' signs as far as the eye can see."

"'It’s not as easy as those television shows would make it seem,' said Cahill, standing in the updated kitchen of a home he owns on Xavier Street. 'I can’t even get one bad offer to turn down, let alone a good one. Now, I’m not even thinking about making some money off this house. I just want to break even.'"

"When banks start lowering their prices, people like Cahill realize they are stuck in a Catch-22 situation. If he lowers the price too much, he won’t make any money on the sale. But if he doesn’t lower the price, the house will stay on the market as buyers pass it up for cheaper bank-owned properties."

"'This is not Bank of Cahill. I can’t afford to just give this house away,' he said. 'I’ve put too much work into it.'"

"Cahill has come down on the price. He started out by listing the house for $159,000. Six months later, he lowered the price to $132,500. Now, he’s willing to let it got for $129,000. He is even prepared to pay up to $3,000 in closing costs."

"'It’s not like this is my only house. I have four mortgage payments to pay plus my business to run,' he said. 'I don’t know how long I can keep this up. I guess I’m going to have to get creative with selling this house.'"

"73-year-old Phyllis Stydnicki has a Jackson Avenue home she can’t sell. Six months ago, she stuck a 'For Sale' sign in the front yard, but only one person has even stopped to look at it."

"'It wasn’t that long ago that — if I was willing to sell — I could have gotten a good amount of money for it,' she said. 'I’m not defaulting on any of my home payments. But I’m still a victim of this foreclosure crisis. I put a 'For Sale' sign in my front yard in August, and it’s going to stay there until I sell or die.'"

The Middletown Journal from Ohio. "It wasn't just a home loan, Steve Nusky said, it was the first step toward realizing a dream. It took only a matter of months for Nusky and his wife to qualify for a loan to open their own bar. The Hamilton resident said he was surprised they were approved, since they already had a loan for $61,000 on their home."

"'I couldn't believe we were financed $100,000, but it's what we needed,' he said."

"In June 2005, the bar closed. At the same point, Nusky's marriage dissolved. In May 2006, he received his first letter threatening foreclosure on his home, which had been in his family for three generations. 'It's been a nightmare. It's like I never know what they are sending me when I get home at night and check the mailbox,' Nusky said."

"Meanwhile, in Trenton, Tracey Tindall said her family of five was excited about building their $220,000 dream home. By the time the home was ready to occupy in 2005, Tindall said she was a bit worried because they were told their monthly loan payments would increase from $1,200 to $1,400."

"'But we had keys to a brand new home,' Tindall said."

"Within a few months, Tindall's husband lost his job. They tried to work with the bank, she said, but soon received their first set of foreclosure papers. 'I know it's just business, but I don't know how these (mortgage lenders) can go home at night and sleep knowing someone might not have a home tomorrow because of them,' Tindall said."

The Courier Journal from Kentucky. "The number of homes sold by members of the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors fell sharply last month. 'We're operating in a very soft market. January numbers are not what anyone had wanted them to be,' said the Realtors' local president, Nelson Collins."

"The Southern Indiana Realtors Association reported 147 home sales in January, down nearly 20 percent from a year ago. The median price in Southern Indiana dropped 6.5 percent last month to $107,500."

"Lynn Thomas, a licensed real estate agent for about a decade, said mortgage foreclosures and steep discounts on new construction are keeping home prices down. She's advising some sellers to sit tight unless they absolutely have to move."

"Buyers are hesitant, Collins said, and some people who were approved for loans early last year are having a more difficult time obtaining similar financing now. 'This is just a cycle in the way that things happen in the economy,' he said. 'We all just need to keep our heads out of the sand on this issue, and understand that this too shall pass.'"

The Des Moines Register from Iowa. "The number of lawsuits that seek to foreclose on homeowners has doubled in Polk County over the past five years and climbed 75 percent statewide, records show."

"It's common, said Jane Hong, a Cedar Rapids bankruptcy attorney, to see families who have pulled equity from their homes through home-equity loans or lines of credit, which 'can be used like a credit card.'"

"'It's a great way to lose your house,' said Hong."

"She said many borrowers took second loans thinking their home value would continue to appreciate so they could sell or refinance. Instead, they found they owed more than the house was worth. 'They can't really afford to keep their home anymore because their debt has far outstripped the house's value,' Hong said."

"Rural Iowa is poised to be hit much harder by the nation's foreclosure crisis, as a greater portion of borrowers in small communities struggle to make ends meet, according to a Des Moines Register analysis of lending data."

"And even a few foreclosures can have a huge impact on a small town, said John Baker, an attorney with Iowa Concern, a hot line for financial and legal assistance for Iowans. 'The value of every property in the town drops dramatically,' he said. Vacant houses deteriorate, 'and it has a cascading effect.'"

"Mike Ross and his wife bring home about $2,300 a month after taxes. Their current house payment, car payment, utilities, groceries, cell phone and prescriptions total about $2,000 a month. They're paying about $50 a month on one credit card with a $700 limit."

"Good-paying jobs, especially those with benefits, are scarce in their town, they said. There was no room to pay a couple hundred dollars more on their house payment. 'And good luck trying to sell it,' Mike Ross said."

"Baker, the attorney with the Iowa Concern hot line, foresees rural and small-town families facing similar problems today as they did during Iowa's farm crisis. But today's homeowners have even less of a safety net in some ways than rural Iowans two decades ago, he said."

"'The big difference between this and the '80s was when an acre of farmland dropped in value you could still produce income off it,' he said. 'Houses don't produce income.'"

"Iowans refinance for a multitude of reasons: to pay off debt, acquire lower lending rates or make home improvements. 'The loans with the highest rates tend to be refinancing or home improvement loans,' said Guy Cecala, president of Inside Mortgage Finance. 'That is the bread and butter of the subprime market.'"

"Higher-interest loans yielded higher profits, said Joel Rogers, president of the Iowa Association of Mortgage Brokers. 'Some people refinanced two or three times. Everybody was competing to do these loans,' he said. 'Investors on Wall Street had a hunger for this investment.'"

"Lenders loosened their requirements and standards for loans, and 'borrowers were able to qualify for loans that, in hindsight, probably shouldn't have been made,' Rogers said."

"Certain lenders or brokers who wanted to refinance a house whose value wasn't going up would simply find an appraiser to falsify and inflate the actual home value, said Kathleen Keest, a former Iowa assistant attorney general."

"'That's why Ameriquest and others started inflating appraisals. They said, 'We'll just make it up.' ... The inflated appraisals were rampant, just totally rampant,' she said."

The Kansas City Star from Missouri. "In Kansas City, the housing market for sellers wasn’t all doom and gloom. Average resale prices downtown have jumped by one-third in the last two years. Some other parts of the area have remained hot. During the past four years, The Star found, housing appreciation surged at double or triple the rate of inflation in almost one-fifth of area ZIP codes."

"Average prices in Brookside’s 64113 have appreciated 24 percent since 2003. On the Kansas side, old Leawood’s 66206 is up 43 percent. 'People are attracted to those areas because of that kind of consistent, safe track record,' said Pat Tholen, a Realtor of the Year in Kansas."

"A seller like Elizabeth Nelson isn’t sure whether or not to be hopeful. Last spring, she and her husband finished fixing up their Prairie Village ranch. They priced it at $617,000 because another home down the street was priced even higher."

"But they got no offers through real estate agents. Then they tried a for-sale-by-owner service. Still no offers. They reduced the price to $545,000. Still no offers. Now they are re-listing it."

"'It’s been frustrating because it’s taken a lot longer than I thought,' Elizabeth said. 'You feel like your life is on hold.'"

The Topeka Capital Journal from Kansas. "Residents of this blue-collar military town welcomed the forecast of an economic perfect storm in the Flint Hills."

"Years of population decline and monetary stagnation in Junction City were about to be reversed. Raw material for newfound prosperity was the announcement that more than 8,000 Army soldiers would be reassigned to Fort Riley. Something akin to a gold rush ensued."

"The rush to build has left the city deep in debt. The troops came, about 5,500 so far, but many couldn't afford the new homes and instead are living on base, in rental properties in Junction City or in other communities."

"Home developer Larry Sinks imagined a feverish construction atmosphere that would feel like the 'Wild, Wild West.' Carol Gould, the city's public relations director, promised expansion 'beyond your imagination.'"

"'It makes my head spin,' city manager Rod Barnes, giddy at the chance to be an architect of renewal, said at the time."

"New Fort Riley soldiers...complained of single-family home prices beyond their financial reach. 'We find a lot of houses to buy, but not a lot of units to rent,' said Alison Kohler, a spokeswoman at Fort Riley."

"Historically, Junction City has attracted 40 percent of the soldier population living outside of Fort Riley. That means the city could have reasonably expected to fill 3,600 new units. Problem: Junction City already has more than 6,000 units."

"Black mold had grown inside a duplex that sits empty in a new subdivision on the western side of Junction City. The new duplex is one of hundreds of homes that remain unsold since the bubble burst on a Junction City building boom."

"Unoccupied and exposed to the elements, the duplex has had much of its Sheetrock and carpet torn out because mold is a health hazard. It is a metaphor for the four-year building boom gone bust. Prices of new homes are falling because of an oversupply, real estate agents say."

"Four years ago, the town lacked housing, so new homes sold within a few weeks. Today, about 443 homes are for sale in Junction City, but that is expected to climb by another 100 to 200 homes that are in various stages of construction."

"'That is quite a bit of inventory,' said Laurie Crites, president of the Junction City Board of Realtors. 'I think it is overbuilt now. There was too big of a boom too fast.'"

"Last year, 504 homes sold in Junction City, with an average price $140,809 — which is out of reach for most soldiers. Crites said no one could build a quality home for less than $100,000 unless the land was free."

"Staff Sgt. Dorian Raines and his wife looked at numerous homes in Junction City and Manhattan before settling on a newly constructed house for $200,000 in Junction City. The Junction City home, bought a year ago, was his first home purchase."

"After living in the home for six months, Raines received orders to move to Fort Stewart, Georgia. Now, the house is one of nearly 443 homes for sale in Junction City."

"Raines said when he arrived at Fort Riley, he went to a small party where someone recommended he talk with Scott Johnson, a Realtor in Junction City. 'We looked at three to five homes — my wife loved this one,' Raines said."

"He wants $205,000 for his house, but getting his asking price might not be easy. Many new homes listed on the Junction City Board of Realtors MLS say 'price reduced.'"

"'It was a lovely home, perfect for my family,' Raines said. 'I'm still making payments. That is the one thing that is difficult.'"