I would venture to guess that there is no "wealth effect" and that the rise in prices is going to be temporary, neither situation will influence RE.What will influence RE is jobs, consumer confidence, and a better ability to obtain a mortgage loan.

If you bought a place with rents assigned, that's what you'd get your rent assignments based on for both parties, time consumed and time paid in advance. :)

Then i thought, well if that bachelors cost me 50k (this would be low for even a state university,) and i invested it a modest 10% for 40 years, I would have almost 2 million.

You're in NY... lots of consumer protection, a letter on lawyer letterhead will likely change their tune VERY quickly.

Unfiled taxes, lawsuits, insurance actions, consumer complaints, etc.

I'm sure this was a very time consuming project with lots of behind the scenes work.

It was a good price but we are new to this and it's really time consuming (electrical upgrade, new water-heaters, etc).

I had written into my lease that consumable things like batteries and light bulbs were the tenants responsibility to change.

I guess if a homeowner stops paying his mortgage and can live rent free then that only leaves the regular inventory to be consumed by "lots of buyers" at retail prices.Additionally, I read where BOA , Wells Fargo are doing Deeds For Lease ( Rent Back to Homeowner programs ) for now.This means that the Homeowner turns over the deed to pay a fair market rent for a year or two.

And so do the ads, because national real estate brands blast away at consumers with marketing that ranges from TV spots and local signage to search engine optimization and social media.