Michael and Esther Maston had hoped the fertility drugs would work, but they weren't ready for the news that they were going to have triplets: a boy and two girls.
"We can't afford to send three kids to college" at the same time, Michael, a civil engineer for Rancho Cucamonga, recalled saying in the doctor's office that day in 2001.
Since then, the Mastons have been focused on saving for their children's college educations and building a retirement fund for themselves. The Walnut couple live modestly and don't spend recklessly.
But they thought they could cash in on the housing boom in Las Vegas, so they, a relative and another partner bought a three-bedroom house for $328,000 -- no money down -- in 2006 at what would later prove to be the top of the market. Their timing couldn't have been worse.
The crash in the real estate market over the last 18 months has left the group underwater, owing more than the property's current value of about $220,000.
"Michael and Esther are examples of the financial crisis that is currently facing our country," said financial planner Brad Stark, a principal with Mission Wealth Management in Santa Barbara. "Real estate agents, lenders -- and their own actions -- have put them in a situation they should never have been exposed to in the first place."
The Mastons, both 37, aren't blaming a real estate agent who may have misled them and they aren't looking for a bailout, though Stark suggests they take advantage of any help that recently adopted laws and regulations allow. With a tenant paying just over half the mortgage, the Mastons and their partners have cut their annual losses to about $6,000 each.
Even tax benefits from losses are hardly helping. Before they got into the Vegas deal, the Mastons typically received a refund of $2,000 to $3,000 on their income taxes -- money they could use any way they wanted. Now the refund has swollen to $6,000 a year, but it all goes to pay the mortgage, property taxes, homeowner association dues, repairs and other property costs.
"Right now, we're taking the money and throwing it in the trash," Michael said. "You can always look back and say you should have done something else. It's a lesson learned."
A gamble in Las Vegas
Initially, the Mastons figured they could hold onto the Las Vegas property for five or six years and make a profit. And if it didn't work out, well, they were young and could recover.
