In the last bust there were plenty of builders who went under and master planned areas that didn’t get completed. Not all of the land was raw, there were various stages of land development, the more devloped, the more likely it was finished. The remaining, partially developed land eventually went to other builders who managed to get by since they picked up the land for significantly less, the pitfall for the buyer was they also cut corners on construction materials as well. Looking at resale homes, anything in the 94-97 vintage is usually crap and suprisingly a 1991 house will look better than a 1995 today, it’s the totality of a bunch of little details. In the future, the 04 and 05’s will look better than the 08 and 09’s, the wine vintage similarities are endless. I have just noticed builders are re-working their models to stay competative, dropping anything and everything from the highly visible (granite and s/s appliances) to the overlooked (fixtures, rounded drywall, cable and phone outlets, ceiling fan wiring, moulding, cat 5, dbl ovens, hose bibs, x-mas light outlets, insulated roll ups, raised panel interior doors, vinyl windows, drywalled garages) look for cuts anywhere and everywhere just to reach a price per sq ft that is appealing. Over the next few years you will start to see fill in, builders pulling a “hermit crab” on failed developments.