They saw the great depression.

None have ever doubled in any time frame, ever.The point I would like to make to all young investors or those that are doing this FOR A LIVING is DO NOT RELY ON APPRECIATION when making investing decisions.That's exactly what millions of so called "investors" did in the mid 2000's and with rare exception they lost their investments to foreclosure or short sale, ruined their credit, and caused the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Also, I posted a reply to this BP forum: Depression and Real Estate.

Developers have been focusing on the West Side expansion because land there was cheap and plentiful, which has help depress property values in what used to be the city center.

But I have really started dedicating myself to studying recessions/depressions seeing that everyone seems to be convinced we're headed into one I want to understand that/economics better, so pretty much I've stepped back from investing to much right now and started doing more study then anything else.Thank you so much for the comment, I apologize for my ungrateful butt not commenting earlier, thank you for sharing your amazing knowledge and time with me! 

Are improvements to a homes automatic equity in a depressed environment? 

I plan to be a buy and hold investor and have no intention of wholesaling or flipping at this time.I am looking at depressed houses in rural areas and I may use the license just to give me the freedom to look at property when I have the time.  

Also, what should you say to sellers who are depressed from the loss of a loved one?

As an agent, I did a short sale last year for a woman 59-60 years old who was depressed and having employment issues.

The number of sharks in the water right now is way higher than it's ever been.And then there was a complete lack of house building during the depression in the last few years, as the economy gets back on it's feet (slowly).