I'm not thinking that real estate is the bay area is anywhere near its peak,  and even at our last crash it was still very expensive compared to the rest of the country.

Also, if you own investment real estate, your passive activity losses from real estate can be used against your passive income from oil, which means you keep more money in YOUR pocket and just increased your ROI.The reason I am investing more in direct participation oil is because one partnership I am in will be buying up distressed wells and leases that current owners cannot afford to keep because they are over-leveraged - just like what happens when real estate crashes, everything goes on sale!!

My wife is a Romanian immigrant, and her brother (still in the old country) did well in Real Estate investing in Romania before the market crash in 2008.  

Shasta)  When the market crashed we moved from Redding, CA to southern California, knowing that the crash was unlike any recession we had ever seen.

Wish I had read that one pre-crash instead of post crash. 

Maybe build up some wealth and then during the next crash... 

Isn't that how investors got in trouble when the market crashed?

I can't offer much, but I know two guys right now who lost it all in the crash and started over with yardsale flipping. 

Couldn't tell you where to find future growth information BUT I do recommend netflix and picking up some of the documentaries on the economy and crash.

My first purchase was a condo back in 2007, after everything crashed we had to sell at an extreme loss and just finished licking our wounds.