But I can paint walls, change/fix appliances, drywall, pretty basic household maintenance.

In the 2008 first time home buyer credit, could spouses both get the credit, or is it one per household?  

The term "housing bubble" became a household word from each of these events.People believe real estate markets are driven buy the individual decisions made of buyers and sellers and that's true.

I don't know where you got this from. 1/2 of American households live paycheck to paycheck.

I understand why in-progress projects will continue to be delivered, but their absorption numbers seem to indicate they think the formation of households will decrease as well?

People leaving and combining households to trim expenses and recover. 

Businesses, households, everyone.

Every single long term rental I have there has been at least 1 lay off in that household.

Since she's a single income household it is getting very hard for her to pay the mortgage.

In your scenario going by number of people may be easier: if you have two renters and yourself living there, 2/3 of household expenses can be deducted from that rental income: 2/3 of utility bills, repairs, etc.I hope this helps!