what other people do does matter in real estate though. I mean, remember how he neighbors get so uptight if a law isn’t kept up in some subdivisions. everyone knows the market depends on what every one else is doing. so it does matter what your neighbors are doing even with soemthing as trivial as their cosmetic upkeep, and it damn well matters in something as critical as are they even paying for the damn place. it’s one thing to say this is just part of the normal pattern, this is the way things go, and everything will sort out. but how does people not paying and banks not foreclosing, sort out normally? I don’t see it. i’m open to math; i love numbers; but this is just not ok; it is not ok for large swaths of the housing market to just be put on hold and people allowed to live for free because it is impossible to say what the house next door is worth. it’s not enough for me to say, well, your payment is a good deal, so who cares what the other guy is doing. I guess at bottom I refuse to focus on the payment; i want to know that the price is really the price. in a market that has meaningful data. I guess I was shocked when people i know disclosed to me thatt hey’re just not paying…compare this to a city like new york, with rent control. people get greatd eals on apartments, and others have to pay sup high prices in comparison to the rent control lottery winners. A high priced rental could still be a good deal, even though your neighbor is getting a screaming deal. the difference is that that is the law, and it’s a predictable suystem, and we know which units are controlled and which aren’t, and while it may not be entirely “fair”, it’s at least orderly. I don’t see any orderliness to this market, and I don’t see any way that the disorderliness in it can lead to profits for me. i see it straight down. i guess i lack balls.