If you see any commercial chain stores and restaurants popping up then you know they have been doing major demographic studies which show population is on the rise.

If inventory is rising and prices are dropping you'd want to try and find sellers that aren't trying to squeeze out every last dollar.

Do you see this increasing as interest rates rise?

The problem is that you bought the house thinking you could sell at that inflated price.

If you are like me you've grown up in a time when inflation was the big concern.

Promising pie-in-the-sky results if someone would just hook their wagon to your rising star.

From an investment stand point you want to keep your investment at 100% so it can always bring you appreciation and rising rents.

With the expansion of transit lines in the Los Angeles area moving at a historic rate and the rise of property cost (rent and own) in many areas, I see a lot of action in formerly less desirable neighborhoods.

Inflation will help you out in the long run and reduce the future value of this debt.

While it probably doesn't rise to the point of financial liability on the part of the agent, it is definitely an issue of incompetence/laziness on the agent's part.