A few years later the boom hit and there wasn't a 4 unit in that city selling for under $1M.

With the oil boom and rapid rise in population over the past 6 months I would guess its a good time but I don't want to assume that.

Here is a thread dedicated to the topic:http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/99/topics/93120-deal-breaker--mortgage-rate-increase-threatens-boom

Then take over the loan, rent out the house for a year or so, let appreciate in this booming market, then sell it or refinance it into my name.Can they exit escrow?

Even if you could find out what a bank or collector bought a note for, they will often want more than they paid and sometimes more than FMV.

Definitely a booming city!

I could sense early on that he was leading up to lowering the boom on how much the program costs so I pressed him on it so I could waste as little time as possible.

Here is an example taken right off the San Diego Tax Collectors website.

And BOOM goes the dynamite!

Maybe things will get better in the next 6-8 years, but anyone who accurately predicted where we are now back in 2004-2006 was called an idiot.Lots of folks managed to do the property ladder during the boom.