Instead, it is much better to roll up your sleeves, and diligently hunt for the right deal, be highly selective to make sure you buy a great deal, force appreciation if at all possible, and get in such that you can stay in through thick and thin if you need or choose to ... this will open up multiple exits and tilt the odds in your favor ... heads you win big, tails you win a little, but the house always wins and you're the house ... if you are unable to stack the deck in your favor then the best thing to do is not play the game until you learn enough to from those that do ... people sometimes say that going for appreciation is speculation and if you get it it is only because you are lucky ...

Until then, play the game to win!  

For those of us committed to the buy and hold approach. Frothy markets make it tempting to sell! I would love to indulge with a milk mustache and take my profits to the bank and wait for the next recession to hit but ...

hey Danielalways play the advocate with older homeslook for all the right stuff that needs to be brought up to codeif the numbers make sense and you can get your investment to pay off in the long or short run then I would consider the purchasemake sure you look at comps on like properties in your area and also the rents you don't want to get yourself into a pickle by over rehabbingenjoy

I agree that CA is boom and bust state and that is partly due to politicians and the short term distortions mentioned ... it is a wonderful thing for investors who know how to play the volatility to their advantage, and can really hurt those who don't.

@Steve Vaughan  If Meghan is worried then she should cash out.. nothing wrong with that.Others play the long game it all cycles.. so nothing wrong with that as well.depends on your event horizon . 

If your not planning on being super active than continue to play the long game in areas that are safe from big market shifts.

Offer to work with them, but I would definitely play the "I don't have any money" card.

So the big bank LO had an incentive to play the "yah yah yah you will be fine, sure, here's your preapproval letter, yah yah yah" game.

I want to play the game like the big boys do.