Roll over, Baden Powell

From the Oregon Mail Tribune, we have House might put Scout council into debt.

A well-intentioned attempt to cash in on a red-hot real estate market has turned sour as the unsold home's mortgage now gobbles up a big chunk of the regional Boy Scout council's budget.

The "Scout house" at 1653 Kentucky Court was built to raise funds for the organization's Crater Lake Council, headquartered in Central Point. But rather than selling quickly for a profit, the house has sat vacant for about a year. If it doesn't sell soon, Boy Scout officials fear the project may end up costing them money, said Scout Executive Rick Burr.

The Crater Lake Council already has made about $30,000 in interest payments to South Valley Bank & Trust, Burr said. The council co-signed a $426,000 loan with local contractor Brian Monroe, an Eagle Scout and former Scout master. Monroe said he is not going to see any profit because he agreed to donate labor and solicited about $125,000 in materials, all to benefit the Scouts.

"There was too many houses on the market," he said.

After paying $140,000 for the lot in Blue Grass Downs subdivision, Monroe started building the house in summer 2005 and finished it a year ago. Listed with Coldwell Banker Pro West before completion, the two-story home is priced at $499,900, a figure that's been reduced several times.

"Every month, it's going down," Monroe said.

Guess the Boy Scouts were caught with their pants down, and the expression is being used in a figurative sense (which is quite rare when talking about the Boy Scouts.)

Shall we give them a "Housing Bubble Merit Badge", or a "Financial Foolery Merit Badge"?