An agent with Paragon Real Estate Group in San Francisco, Joe Marko is fond of giving his clients one piece of advice: “I always tell people that if the property is unique in some way and they like it, they should buy it.”

While some may suspect — because Marko stands to make a nice commission on a sale — an ulterior motive hidden beneath his counsel, there is something else to consider: Marko takes his own advice. He and his partner, Rafael Acevedo — both former flight attendants with US Airways who have been working in real estate for four years — are buying a home that is nothing if not unique: a former church that became a synagogue that was remodeled into a residence nine years ago on the “This Old House” TV show.

Q: I recently put my house on the market. I received a purchase offer from a buyer, we came to an agreement and signed a contract. But due to job- related issues, I am no longer willing to move and do not want to close the sale. Can I get out of this?

A: Seller’s remorse can be a very expensive disease. Presuming there are no loopholes in the contract, if your buyer really wants to own your house, he can sue you in a specific-performance lawsuit. He will probably record a “lis pendens” against your title to effectively prevent you from selling to another buyer or refinancing the mortgage.

FORECLOSURES ON THE RISE: As the housing market softens, a combination of consumer naivete and aggressive lending means owners with subprime loans are increasingly getting sucked down a financial black hole

To many people in the affluent Bay Area, losing a home to foreclosure sounds like a Depression-era relic or a Rust Belt phenomenon. Our real estate prices have defied gravity for so long; our job market is so strong; our cachet as a place to live seems so obvious. How could foreclosures happen here?