Well, it was pretty easy until 2006. Now the hard time has begun. Despite anecdotal reports of short term recovery in recent months from a few regions, I personally believe that harder time is still ahead of us, not behind us. It's simply not realistic to expect a trend to continue for another 5 years. A slow down and 10-20% price drop is in fact good not only for the economy, but also for the investor. For an investor, the hardest is not making money flipping houses when the going is good. The hardest thing is to hold onto self-enthusiam to be able to adjust to a new environment, therefore protecting self from the potential hazards of downturn. Like Donald Trump said, "The success of real estate investment is gauged not at the good times, but at how well you handle the bad times". There are lots of investors still trying to deny the trend change. I understand this psychology because it was hard for me too. In fact, we need to realize that price doing down is very healthy and a very good development. It would open up more opportunities for investment. If you recognize the cyclic nature of RE market, you would love this cycle change. In the end, the inflationary pressure will eventually push housing price to new highes, that's a law of nature and won't change. I believe the entry point of RE investment can be timed. This time is a perfect inflection point to ponder that.