There’s nothing any group of people can do to prevent foreclosures or short sales or divorces or relocations or probate sales from occuring in their neighborhood. Must-sell is must-sell, regardless of the reason; and those must-sells drive the pricing in a down market just as surely as the must-buys drive pricing in an increasing market.

I don’t think it’s such a bad thing to advise people to take enough pride in their neighborhoods to prevent vandalism and looting among these foreclosed homes.

I will say that appraiser’s aren’t so stupid as to not account for the effects of condition or the terms of sale if they have to use a foreclosure sale in an appraisal. There are a lot of appraisers right now who haven’t been around long enough to know how to deal with this, but they’ll learn real quick – appraising in a down market is a great learning experience.