I believe it's been driven by years of ridiculously low interest rates, a huge and prolonged commodities boom/bubble along with foreign investor speculators.  

Failure to disclose has subjected many sellers to prolonged and costly litigation.3.

I feel that most new real estate investors fail to adequately understand the real risks of something going seriously wrong: 1) prolonged vacancy, 2) disaster tenant, 3) above average repairs (perhaps massive structural upgrades required).Some investors like the idea of earning a few hundred dollars in 'passive income' from real estate investments, but they aren't really passive if you have to spend all day managing them.

I find that most of the flip remodels consist of kitchen, bath, flooring, and paint, while the big ticket items that actually improve the quality of the home and prolong the life of the property are ignored such as roof, structural, mechanicals, and hidden items in crawl spaces and attics (water penetrations, mold, termite, etc).

The biggest problem is that I they just keep prolonging this and not only are my finances taking a hit but also my personal and professional career.  

Don't be like me and prolong it any longer than you have to.

If you wait, then you prolong future repairs.If you are good with what you have, enjoy living there and do it after.

I am 6 months in and he just prolongs my project.

There will be a prolonged valley before we see any real recovery due to the aging housing supply that the market will have to absorb.Therefore prices will remain about what they are now (hopefully we are at or near bottom).

Simple fixes that would have taken no time became stressful and prolonged, because I had to work around an irritated tenant.