Man Builds New Dating Site To Prevent Foreclosure

February 17, 2009 – 4:37 pm – No Comment

Phoenix – Arizona, one of the hardest hit real estate markets, is also getting hit hard in the job market. With layoffs by the thousands and the highest foreclosure rate in the country, people have to find new ways to generate income outside of their normal day jobs.

Chris Coriale, 36, a software engineer for a small private internet company, owns both a home and a condo in Scottsdale, one of the hardest hit areas in Phoenix. Almost all of the properties on the market are either foreclosures or short sales. Even with renters, the condo costs money out of pocket each month. The only properties that have sold in the last 6 months have been foreclosed, bank owned properties, so even thinking of selling right now is not even a possibility.

Back in November, his company let go 20 people so now the company is struggling to stay afloat. Having the same work load with less people puts more stress and pressure on the remaining people to keep the company going, and to keep it from folding.

The real estate market has been sour for over 2 years now, and that has taken its toll since selling a property that’s not distressed is impossible. In that time, everyone’s adjustable rate mortgages have adjusted raising their monthly payments. Therefore, homeowners that were barely making ends meet before now have monthly expenditures higher than their monthly income.

“Last summer, I had to dip into more than $15,000 of my savings to cover both mortgages while I was trying to rent out condo while it was empty for 4 months”, Coriale said. “The rental market is hit just as hard because the same investors that let their original investments foreclose are now buying distressed properties and undercutting other rentals so that they can fill theirs first”.

With all of the home values under water, it’s becoming more and more difficult to justify spending thousands of dollars per month on a home when your neighbor’s house is empty and on the market for hundreds of thousands less.

In a market with no jobs, no homebuyers, and a possibility of being let go from your current job at any time, people need to find other ways to make ends meet.

Therefore, Chris decided to try to create an online business where he could start building up a member base so that hopefully, the site will start making money in case his day job ends.

It all started as a hobby and a passion to learn something new a few years ago. Mr. Coriale put up a website where he would store his text and picture messages that he didn’t want to delete or lose in case his cell phones broke.

Over the years, the service turned into an email system that would store messages online like email, but also forward the message to the recipient’s phone. This would keep people in touch even without having a smart phone.

Chris saw an opportunity to turn his hobby into an online business. Therefore, he spent the better part of 2008 rebranding the website each night and weekend, and is currently working on marketing the business.

In the hopes of making his online business a success, Chris continues to work his day job, and market his online business at night. It’s a race against time at this point in building his online business and preventing foreclosure.

With the possibility of the Obama stimulus package being approved, things may take a turn for the better, but that most likely will take at least 6 months to a year.

During that time, there could be more layoffs, the renter’s move out, or additional expenses arise, so creating new income streams is essential in times like these. The days of just putting your home up for sale if you couldn’t make ends meet are gone and the corner Home Depot isn’t hiring anymore.

If you’d like more information, or to schedule an interview with Christopher Coriale, please email Chris at cjcoriale@gmail.com.