Build Your Dream House Now

(Money Magazine) -- With home values tumbling and the mortgage market still in crisis, you'd think that Billie and Rodney Wylde would shelve their plans to build their North Carolina dream home - at least until the market stabilizes.
Not a chance. The thirtysomethings are set to pour the foundation on a 2,100-square-foot farmhouse with a wraparound porch in East Bend, a few miles from where they currently live. Estimated construction cost: $140,000.