In an attempt to recover from the huge losses on all the foreclosures (mostly from the rookie speculators betting on the come), lenders have come out with new criteria for loans.1.

For speculators, and some newer Realtors that so far have only experienced the mid 2000s and think that's how things work, the housing market loses for a long time.

The banks that stand strong today did not play the speculative paper game, and while they might have lost out on the huge profits of the bubble, they are still in business today!

I do think a lot of the speculators that were over inflating or at-least having the potential to over inflate the market have moved on and now the more serious investors are digging in and buying good value homes with major cashflow and upside potential.We are all over Houston from Texas City to Willis and Katy to Channel-view, so I do think this is a good sampling.

But if you want to play in the more speculative / high stakes areas that are gentrifying the most recently - you would go for point breeze, east liberty, downtown and lawrenceville.

I think it's definitely important to stay speculative of most everything and everyone, so I'm always moving with caution, especially throughout our first deal.

I realize that last paragraph involves a lot of speculation but any insights you guys have would be greatly appreciated!

Flipping is not investing; it's speculating.

I'm always a bit more cautious, and won't speculate that prices will just arbitrarily go up when I'm doing my due diligence.  

Few years back, most investors speculated appreciation when buying and succeeded.