Take a look around. It’s as though we are living in totally different times than just a few months ago.  Gas prices rose to well over $4.00/gallon and have since receded to between $2.00 and $3.00 in most places. We have witnessed the election of our first black President of the United States. Unemployment and job loss is at record levels. Here in Hernando County Florida the worst in our county’s history. And more and more local families in Brooksville and Spring Hill areas of Florida are losing their homes to some sort of distressed property sale or foreclosure.

I was listening to local am radio WWJB with talk show host Bob Haa on Friday morning who was discussing the rising rate of unemployment and job loss which is tops in all of Florida. While the news was not good, what struck me about the report was an interview with a gentleman who had been a professional of some sort and lost his job over a year ago. His severance has run out, as have his unemployment benefits. When asked what is on the horizon for him, he responded... "Well since we haven't paid our mortgage in so many months, I guess losing the house will be next."

I have realized that we really are living in different times. There is no shame in losing one’s home. Some almost speak of it as being chic. Just a few years ago people still saw a stigma in speaking publicly about the prospect of losing or having lost their home. Socially, when the numbers of people experiencing something grows rapidly and suddenly, fewer people feel the need to conceal their situation. The increasing casualness with which people speak of being foreclosed on should be alarming to all of us... it means that the stigma has been removed because, for so many Floridians along the Nature Coast, their inability to pay their mortgages has been deemed "out of their control".

Please don't misinterpret my point... I do realize that the factors leading up to many foreclosures these days are beyond any individual's control. As a Short Sale and Foreclosure Specialist, I have tremendous compassion for homeowners facing foreclosure and have heard clients share heartbreaking stories that have nearly moved me to tears. But I am concerned with the disappearance of the stigma of foreclosure.

I hope I am wrong, but typically, when the stigma attached to anything negative or bad is removed, it is slow to return, if it ever really does. Why is this bad? Well, now that Foreclosure or homeowners simply "walking" on their mortgage has little, if any, stigma attached, I fear that even once the economy rebounds that people will now view those options as an "easy way out" when money gets tight. They can just blend in with the folks who lost their homes due to factors beyond their control, avoid the stigma that was once associated with foreclosure and we, as taxpayers (and therefore, bank owners) will all pay the cost.  For a full foreclosure list and some of the best buys in all of Florida, be sure to look me up or any of our talented agents at Tropic Shores Realty, Hernando County's market share leader.

Let me hear from you. How do you feel?