@Jacob ElbaumDon't buy Zion very depressed.

She had  grown up during the Great Depression and knew about hard times.   

And, honestly, I'm sick and tired of being miserable and depressed--the job that I do I come into contact with and talk with people from all over the area and most of them are miserable and depressed too at the handful of other jobs available. 

There are pockets of the country that have chronically depressed economies, and their housing inventory still includes a substantial number number of REOs -- enough to sustain a healthy business.

@William Hochstedler  in other words a rising tide raises all ships.. there is no question that we have a completely new crop and many have not lived or worked through a major down turn.and many as you see on here complain that prices are too high because they bought in the absolute best buying environment in the last 100 years short of the other great depression back in the 30s.

You will end up buying the rest of the homes if in a depressed area.

I find the idea of no rental appreciation to be very depressing.

Very depressed economy for decades...

The majority of the coastline properties I am seeing now are old tear downs and complete rebuilds with the exception of those few, historically depressed areas.

This has been my bread and butter since getting started in RE and I find myself feeling depressed I'm not showing much land..