You seem to think that buying any home in Detroit, Cleveland, or Indy will yield massive cash in your pocket.There are real issues to consider and plan for so you don't lose your shirt.

Pretty face with a BP T-shirt!

Even in California I know people who lost their shirts hoping for appreciation-it would have come if only they could have held on longer.

I don't really need to go there but I want to.. its life experiences.. we all spend money on things other think are foolish.for me I could give a rip about cloths and shoes etc.. other Like another partner of mine.. had to wear Italian everything from 700 dollar loafers to 250 dollar shirts and 400 dollar jeans and 3k Cavalli suits.. he talked me into buy two of those Cavalli suits for some guru type speaking I was doing.. now U can tell U are wearing 3k suit and such and they are very nice.. but now if I buy a suit I limit it to 1k for pants and jacket others maybe not so much . 

Then try to avoid all of the pitfalls that most people run into with out losing your shirt. 

What ever your doing today, Do it with the confidence of a four year old wearing a Superman shirt!

He then looks at me holding his face and says "I still want to give you a massage" I ended up having snatch this guy up by his shirt and pretty much threw him out of the door bouncer style.

with BORIC ACID, cut some 1 inch by 1 inch squares of light cardboard, like shirt cardboard and make a thin SANDWICH out of the paste.Put these around the kitchen and bath, inside of cabinets, very effective.BTW, the "mix some from another pile" thing with fire ants actually doesn't work.

If you are right, you can make money but if you are buying at the top of the market, and you will know that until it starts going the other way, you will lose your shirt. 

So that's my 2 cents, the competition is down - but who knows if you'll lose your shirt if you DO get the house but the market tanks.