I have been seeing the market on fire for a long time and have started telling my friends, "don't buy now". No one can accurately determine exactly when it will happen, but it is definately on the way. The time to buy, unfortunately for the losing party, is after the crash. Housing will go down in value drastically and when this happens it has a ripple affect on other things, such as employment, consumer spending and federal obligations.

Right now the department of Federal Housing and Development is busy as bees. One reason is because President Bush was made aware of some problems in the industry, mainly with pressure being put on appraisers, by loan officers, to come in with high values and no repairs. I have personally been threatened with not getting future work. The second reason is HUD is worried. If you remember the savings and loan hearings, that is the legitimate concern again, now.

The only thing I can recommend is buying in an extremely rural location, where the supply and demand has not been established yet. That is also a good place to invest in land, which will never go down in value, provided it is problem free, environmentally and so on. Please rate and tell friends.

Suzie is a licensed real estate broker and certified residential appraiser with over twenty years of experience who hopes to improve the industry one step and one person at a time. Other professionals in the field including brokers, appraisers and educators have contributed as well. www.freewebs.com/realestatenews