[slodave]

That's the thing, Vas. Once the economy tanked there were not enough people that had money left and wanted a home, to sell the properties to. The mortgage industry also had to go through a major overhaul to try and prevent this type of lending from happening again, so houses sat unoccupied and loans were not being made. Those that lost their homes and there are a lot, don't have the credit anymore to buy another property, even one they can afford.

The mortgage industry is stabilizing out here and the economy is starting to look up, so there are more people that can get new loans and buy again. There are more houses than buyers, but you can get some amazing deals now.

This is where Rick gets screwed. He wants fair market value for his property, but down the street and bank owns a property about the same size and wants to dump it cheap. Easy decision for the buyer.