A Hedging Option For Your Home

You'd like to buy a home, but you're not sure if the market has hit bottom. And you sure don't want to be the sucker who plunks down his hard-earned money only to see his house start losing value the minute the drapes go up.

Sirius Value Protection says it has a product for you. The New York-based start-up has created a financial hedging device that it claims will protect against a drop in the value of your home. The product, for which a patent is pending, which will be available through major housing developers later this year, and perhaps as early as next month. The company hopes it will help draw skittish buyers back to the market.

Insurance policy or gimmick?