I can identify with you feeling sorry for the person to whom you sold. I felt the same when I sold my Scripps Ranch house last Nov. But, don’t forget that the “early adopters” on the housing bubble bandwagon were saying the market had topped out in late 2002. Some “really smart data driven” person who sold then would miss 2 years of 20%+ increases in San Diego.
Who can predict irrationality? By definition it cannot be scheduled or predicted except as a probability function.
So, I figured the 27 year old single guy who borrowed over $600k to buy my place could just as easily be boasting about his impeccable timing a year or two from now…
Anyone who seeks advice from a real estate agent on whether or not to buy or sell a house is just plain stupid and will probably learn a hard lesson in the meaning of “conflict of interests.”