A surprising large percentage of Florida homeowners who purchased their property in 2006 and 2007 now have negative equity on their homes, thanks to the excessively high prices paid when they bought their homes. Negative equity means your mortgage exceeds and gobbles up any ownership interest you have in the property you bought. A frightening and disheartening scenario for homeowners indeed.

The wealthy homeowners in Palm Beach County have been hit the hardest with the largest loss in equity of upwards to 20%. Others who have lived comfortably off of equity lines are now having to put the brakes on as banks are getting increasingly nervous as the world economy panics amid looming uncertainty and unprecedented bankruptcy filings. Foreclosures number over a million nationwide.

Those who purchased homes during the market's peak and those who own in problematic areas with the greatest drop in home values -- such as Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona -- are more likely to suffer the consequences of having negative equity on their homes.

Some real estate statisticians speculate of home buyers who bought in 2006, nearly 40 percent now have negative home equity. As for those who bought homes in 2007, some estimate as much as 30 percent have negative home equity.

It goes to show you timing is everything in real estate. Buying at the wrong time can be disastrous, as can selling prematurely in a short sale to pay off your debts. The savvy investor doesn't buy into all of the hype, neither does he listen to the media being pumped through by multinational corporations marketing what they want us to believe versus reality.

I hate to see all of the foreclosures across Florida and families losing their homes. Yet it sure feels good to have shown some restraint in the days when "everybody" was going nuts buying homes beyond their means as they swallowed the lies real estate agents told them about "properties only increasing in value in Florida". The reverse is now true and "everybody" is scrambling to sustain their exorbitant lifestyles, which have nearly pushed them into bankruptcy and foreclosure.

It goes to show you that success in real estate is often determined by your ability to say no and go against the flow.

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