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Can't Sell? Don't Take That Job In Phoenix

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If you're unable to sell your home, you may not be able to move, i.e., to take that job in another state or retire and move to a Florida condo, according to the New York Times. The paper considers the case of Michele Morgan and Sam Kirkland; Michele moved from Detroit to Phoenix for a job, but her husband Sam can't join her because he can't sell the Detroit house, which was appraised for $200,000 three years ago, but is now worth only $90,000 today (the couple has $125,000 in debt on the house). Hard statistics are hard to come by, but from December-February, the country lost 85,000 jobs, and the number of people that moved across state lines fell by "27 percent last year, after climbing by almost that percentage for each of the previous three years." But the Times fails to cover the real tragedy here: How people's marriages are affected by this market. Sam is now stuck with a cat instead of a wife (see Times photo).
· Unsold Homes Tie Down Would-Be Transplants [NY Times]