Now, all that said, if everyone would take his approach we would collectively depress the market.

If the town runs on just a handful of major employers, if they are publicly traded, get the quarterly reports.

It's economically depressed but stabilizing, rents are climbing to a bit over half what they are in Asheville, and there are distressed sellers there who aren't getting multiple offers on their property.

This may actually be a reason to invest elsewhere- contractors in the more economically depressed areas, or with less of a nuclear housing boom, are far more likely to keep their commitments and actually do the work on time.

We also are not big fans of major city areas as many people are moving to the outer areas.

Little did I know we were entering the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. 

It''s stuff that needed to be done, it's just getting done sooner, and by me personally.I've been through a couple of major downturns in my business (dotcom bust, Y2K, 9/11, 2008). 

We were able to charge top-dollar when we lived there but since moving out the rents have been depressed a bit so we are getting less now.I don't know of the current FHA requirements but I think that now if you put < 10% down you are stuck with PMI for the life of the loan so make sure to factor that in as well.

The biggest issue I see is that unemployment doesn’t last forever and the fed said unemployment rate might be 32% by June vs a 24% worst during the Great Depression.  

Tired of throwing away money in rent, I moved back to my tiny hometown and purchased a foreclosure property in need of major TLC.