In Go(l)d We Trust?

From Las Vegas: Realtor works hard to survive tough times.

Gold and her husband, Andrew, worked banquets for casinos, earning - like many other resort workers - money to purchase property. Gold saw an opportunity.

A year after moving here, Gold got a license to sell real estate just like she once had California before quitting the business about 1985.

Gold, 62, bought nine homes and two condominiums in Las Vegas and four homes out of state. She couldn't believe her timing: When she started buying homes in 2001 and 2002, the median price of existing homes was $136,500. The price rose to $275,000 by 2005, and Gold's wealth grew to $4.5 million, not counting the six figures she earned a year as a Realtor.

"I came here in the golden age and realized this is a perfect time to make money. I felt for the first time that God blessed us," Gold says. "I was trying to create a future."

Firstly, the title is too easy to parody so the EE won't even bother.

"Everybody wants to move to Vegas," Gold says. "I believe in this market. It is not going away. It has started to turn around and this is the place to be."

Yeah, everyone wants to live in a lifeless desert that wouldn't even exist without water.

And yes, "belief" will keep the credit cycle in abeyance. And you'll be able to shake your finger at all those heathens and non-believers who are keeping your rightful success away from you.

After being able to make all her mortgage payments in the past through the end of 2007, Gold says she has fallen about $22,000 short each month on mortgage payments and is as much as four months behind on some payments. She lost access to her line of credit even though she is still paying it down. She also has to deal with some of her tenants' inability to pay rent.

Now you have the unique chance to tell everyone that "God's" economic cycle is shitting all over you.

The real estate market was hurting her income as a Realtor. Her once six-figure income fell to nothing because of no commissions in 2007.

Gold said she worries about prospect of foreclosure, but has no plans to file for bankruptcy. She remains adamant that she will survive these tough times.

"I am going to come through this fine," Gold says.

Tenants not paying rent? Losing $22K each month? I don't think Warren Buffett is shivering quite yet.