Posted On: August 22, 2007, 5:27 pm CDT

Posted By: concerned agent

you are right that no one held a gun to these peoples head but we all aspire to the american dream and when everyone keeps telling you there is no risk and the property will appreciate 10 percent per year, the vulnerable can be lured by the siren song of easy money. my daughter and her husband started to buy a condo in 2005 at the peak of the boom for 475,000, no money down, as an investment and the realtor stated flatly they could sell it in two years for 600,000.(exploding growth area in upper middle class suburbia). i was able to talk them out of it using the basic rationale so eloquently written by 'media mogul' in todays post. that condo is still on the market for 325,000 in one of the highest forclosure areas in the country. even level headed, intelligent people can be lured in by fast talking con artists.