I have to admit that before I started to closely follow the real estate market, I didn’t fully grasp how the easy money was affecting prices.

Now most analysts are saying that even a 10% downpayment requirement would crater the market. 10% is nothing and can disappear just like that in a downturn.

Many on Wall Street who aren’t intimately knowledgeable about housing still think that housing appreciation has to do with a productive economy.

During the boom buyers looked at housing like a dot com stock option that will pay off “for sure.” Now that option is worthless.

Yes, I walk away from all my bad investments and call them water under the bridge, unless there’s a chance of recouping my initial investment, or unless there’s a business relationship to preserve.

20-30 years ago, you’d go to church or PTA meetings with your local banker. Now, your loan servicer is in Kansas, and the holder of note in Beijing.