SCVRBT said, "Oh. I almost forgot- Before contacting the realtor to look at selling the apartment building, I tried to refinance the house. The appraisal came in at $950,000, which is $20,000 LESS than what I currently owe Countrywide on my home loan. So that won't work."
The focus on your efforts should be on what I'll characterize as a salvage effort. Things don't look good for the house, particularly when you add the costs of selling (I approximate 10% of the sales price or an additional $95,000).
The practical solution relative to it may be to stop making payments, enjoy the "rent free" six months it will take for
CW to complete the foreclosure, and move on as another victim of the crash of 2007-20XX.
The apartments may be another story depending on your equity position. That may include being a tenant in your own apartment building. SCVRBT, having lived through two of these downturns as what I'll characterize as an expert on the transactional side, and as a tenured faculty member having no vested interest in this downturn, I can afford to be blunt and honest in my response (if you are a California taxpayer, thanks for paying my salary). I hope you don't take my response as being too harsh. You need to look carefully at your options and recognize that this is a falling (and perhaps failing) market. Do what is best to protect income streams and not assets that are in reality liabilities because they are "underwater" in terms of equity.
Take care,
Daniel