again, you're making these wild statements without any sort of rational explanation other than "the coast people know better" thing. 

And this ISN'T a 'pitch,' nor a 'rationalization,' but if someone other than these 'gurus' did meet people on a level playing field...

I didn't come to this forum to argue with adult children who are incapable of rational discussion...

When I fist scanned the title I thought it said you were from the government and here to help.One of the scariest phrases known to rational beings. :-)Welcome aboard!

It didn't have enough equity to make selling worth it and back then the rents to sales price ration was much sweeter in my area than it is now.

The rational is always the same.

I am a rational person  and it happened to me. 

Their is no logical rational for the CA market aside from too much money in the hands of people that do not understand the value of money.

It doesn't really make a difference to the planet,  but it makes you feel better,  so I guess you can rationalize it that way.

People who mention they are interested in looking into other types of investments will be open-minded enough to discuss REI further and weigh the pros and cons and potential risks rationally without being immediately dismissive.