Local experts take the fear out of foreclosure

With more than 30 years as a real estate agent, Ranae Stewart has never seen the housing market so bad.

"The amount of foreclosures and short sales is rising tremendously," said Stewart, who is a broker with Exit Realty N.F.I. "In my opinion...short sales are going to be the new foreclosures and it's going to be around for quite some time."

The only activity seemingly leveling-off the local market is credited to the home-buyer tax credit, Stewart said. Still, there are a lot of homeowners in distress.

"We run into people every day that are going through or who have been foreclosed on," she said. "And most of them don't know what to do."

For more on this story, see the March 25 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.