This is why I used a realtor that owns and manages her own investment properties since she was a gold mine of accurate information when I first started.  

Brent Coombs it's the Golden Rule in action: he who has the gold (the house I want) makes the rules.

Mold is Gold. 

Listen to the podcasts, they are gold.

Golden Rule: They with the gold makes the rules. 

We struck gold without realizing it back in the 90s, and we don't want to be low-balled, and it seems like they think we're naive.What do you think?

I personally am not one to invest in individual stocks, so aside from passive investments like index funds, gold, etc., what are investors to do?

I've heard on some BP podcasts of investors purchasing buildings that have some sort of HUD contract (basically gold).

If you're on this site, because you want to invest in real estate in the future, then a +800 credit score is worth gold.

I am putting money in gold/silver (I'm not a gold bug, I don't think it's always good to buy, and it's certainly not a way to get rich, just a way to hedge against economic downturns, as it tends to go up when other markest go down), and rentals, as people still rent during down economies (though you have to account for increased evictions).