Arati Patel built a house in Greenville, SC in 2007, but when she was forced to move to Washington, DC for a new job, she knew she couldn't sell it for enough, so she put it up for rent. In the last several years, she had all kinds of trouble with tenants and even had to have one evicted.
"It was a bit of a nightmare because I don't live in Greenville...I have no desire to go back to Greenville because my life is in DC," says Patel. "It was a lot of coordination and I am still trying to collect over $2,000 from my tenants."
Patel finally ended up selling the home recently at a large loss. She didn't want to do a short sale because the process is long and risky, and she didn't want to damage her credit.
(Read More: Record High New Home Prices to Grow)
While there are no real estimates of how many "accidental landlords" now inhabit the housing market, Realtors say they are one more cause of today's low inventory issue. Usually a buyer is also a seller, making the transaction a wash in terms of inventory, but if the buyer is not a seller, and instead becomes a landlord, inventory takes a negative hit.
Home prices have been rising steadily, up over ten percent from a year ago, according to the latest reading from CoreLogic. Prices are still well below where they were during the housing boom, when so many people bought into the market.
As millions come above water, others are far below. Forty-eight percent of borrowers in Atlanta are underwater, 37 percent in Miami, 54 percent in Las Vegas and 37 percent in Sacramento.
(Read More: Homes Selling at Fastest Pace Since Boom)
It will take many years of price gains for these homeowners to see the light of equity.
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