I do not think it has anything to do with smart or stupid so much as luck and timing. I was lucky to be able to buy when I did and I also lived a very low profile life to be able to save for a down payment in 1990. I read what many of you write all the time. Except for a few spammers, I have never read anything that would indicate the majority of you are anything, but bright people. Maybe we need to define ourselves in terms of who we are more than what we own.