I once listened to a colleague complain about someone he overheard complaining about
their business and it annoyed him to no-end, because he didn't believe she deserved to
have the amount of business she had...
I told him that he couldn't change the person he was talking about; he could only change the way he reacted to her behavior. From then on, his whole perspective changed and he focused more on his own business and made it a point to ignore that other person.
He went on to have a record-sale year and even earned a production award.

I only mention the above setting because I believe the same strategy should be applied to our current real estate market; we can't change it by any means because it is what it is. We can however, change the way we react to it by structuring deals differently or even if you're a seller that doesn't really need to sell - by not selling and renting out your home instead.

Other options on how to deal with cash flow and the recent credit crisis are
necessary, since the money supply is much tighter than it once was and this market is a
much different market than it used to be.

Creative financing may be a new-old way that buyers and sellers may have to do
business to get homes transferred, so people can still move-on with their lives. I know
sellers do not want to hear it, but pricing your home competitively (as an outstanding value) in
today's market is the key way to getting a home sold. 

This brings us back to the underlying reason for the general decline that some areas are 
experiencing. If the lending industry has less funding available, then it would stand
to reason that only buyers with cash will be able to buy homes eventually - and clearly,
this is not the way business will get done with our shrinking dollar  
and higher gas prices controlling the economy.

I believe it can be risky for a seller to carry back a loan, but it might be one of the last few
options left in higher price ranges to get a home sold.  By today's lending standards, we can all agree
buyers should be clearly informed upfront what it takes to get a loan funded,
since many buyers do not come to the negotiating table with much cash... and for 
some time there, we were being told that "100%  financing" would no longer be available since the subprime meltdown started affecting the rest of the market.

With all that being said, a lease option is another way a buyer could ease their way into
home ownership and a seller could sell an option to buy their home at a later date.  To
put it another way, a "lease option" is when a buyer pays a seller option money for the
right to later purchase their property while renting the subject home...

There are also federally funded programs for first time buyers available. Two that come
to mind are Cal HFA loans and similar loans made through the Acorn Housing
program. http://www.calhfa.ca.gov/homebuyer/

www.acornhousing.org/TEXT/homebuying1.php

Although they have income limits and eligibility requirements to abide by, it seems the income brackets apply to a large part of the general population.

There are also special grant programs made available through certain
cities and institutions that are also available, but there are only a few select lenders that are qualified to do these types of loans. 

http://www.sdhc.net/hafirstimebuyer1.shtml

www.ci.escondido.ca.us/depts/cs/housing/home-english.pdf

Other programs allow homeowners to apply for a Mortgage Credit Certificate to help with grants of up to 4% of the purchase price.

http://www.sdhc.net/giAffordHsgRes.html#HomePurchase

Make no mistake about it, the recent pull-back in housing has created many opportunities for entry-level buyers to break into this market.  Whether we have an idea of which way the market will turn is not the point here, the bottom line is... if a buyer is really motivated to be a homeowner for the long term, the funding possibilities are in place; they just need to be utilized. One thing is for sure, the recent buying opportunities will not last forever.