Money and stress and pinching pennies consumes their whole schedule, so they have no time to enjoy the rich things in life that aren't money.

For things to get back to normal: - everyone in the world (not just the US) will need to see their earning capacity completely restored - consumer balance sheets will need built up again -all of the lost productivity in the manufacturing sector will need to be restored-consumers sentiment will need to return to all time highs-governments (federal, state and local) will need to come to terms with trillions of new debt and massive budget short falls. this will be a big issue for states and localities that are already flirting with default (see Illinois)-pension funds will need replenished-corporations will need to deal with serious damage to balance sheets and return to net spending on R&D and capital outlays (the energy sector might be the biggest issue here). corporate debt was already at or near all time highs for several sectors prior to the crisis- Both national and local economies will need to see a return of animal spirits to the pre-crisis highs from both local business owner and in the tech industry.

Foreclosure moratorium and consumer right to request forbearance.

Otherwise, typically the county websites will have a search tool for those records.Obviously, it's more time consuming to go this route and there's no way of knowing equity.

Calling is more time consuming though so there’s always plus and minuses.

Hyper inflation maybe or US consumers can't buy anything overseas. 

That could include things like:Eliminating Any Consumer DebtSaving 3-6 months of expenses into an Emergency FundBuilding your credit back upJust my two cents! 

Consume everything there, and then read as many of the books you hear mentioned a\s possible  Be a sponge and you will soak up the value that many people smarter, wiser, older, and more experienced than us have offered for free!

No...it has gone completely the other way and instilled more fear into the consumer. 

The biggest hit RE will take is consumer confidence, and or debt traps people fall into if they have to take out personal loans/ HELOCs or credit card debt to pay the mortgage, rent, car payment etc.