Ryan Frank has an interesting piece on Happy Valley, or "Foreclosure Valley" in the Oregonian today.
One part of the story featres the Andersons, an older couple who speculated on a $600+k house in Happy Valley and lost over $100k. That sounds like less than a 20% loss until you realize that they didn't put any money down, so it's a 100% loss. At least they cut their losses, unlike lots of others out there still holding out hope for a quick rebound.
The best line of the story though was this:
"She says she should have hired her own real estate broker for expert advice. "That was our mistake. My mistake," Aloma says, hanging her head, blinking back tears."
Expert advice? The same Realtors who didn't believe Portland prices would drop? The same Realtors who only get paid on a sale, so of course it's a good time to buy!
No Aloma, your mistake was not looking at reality and realizing that growth had peaked and was declining, that the party was over. But don't beat yourself up too badly, that data was nearly impossible to find in 2006. At least today it's not.
