They had purchased a beautiful piece of land with a wonderful and beautiful house on it.

Really beautiful. 

Also the addition with no permit history is a huge red flag.

A good idea and a beautiful building.  

If that agent doesn't have investments themselves that's a red flag.  

We are still in the red.

The first red flag I had was when the property was still vacant and was being shown to several prospective tenants but no one would take it.

Even when people thought it couldn't get more expensive it went up another 20% in Sydney last year.Vancouver and Sydney are very similar in that they are the most desirable places to live in their countries and until recently Sydney was also in the top 5 in the world but now only Vancouver remains there. both cities are land locked, and they are also both beautiful harbor cities. 

Portlandia is red hot still for inner city.. not Bay Area hot with 30 offers on one home but all homes that are priced right sell in 30 days or so. and my new construction all sells before completion with a rare exceptionmy Charleston projects ( we were on Southern Charm last night we built and  sold SHEP his new home)  all projects there we have done have sold before completion just ratified one today.. and they are selling with in 98% of ask.My turn key markets are strong.. with some stronger than others.. and those are all the turn key markets that everyone talks about here on bp  Indy, Memphis, B ham, FLA, GA, IL,TXetc... our fix and flips for retail which has come back strong in the last 18 months are doing well also.. not huge profit deals but very nice on an APR return basis and if you do enough of them :) well they all add up...

I just started a new job, recovering from a bit of a financial mess and supporting my two beautiful daughters that I'd like to leave a real estate legacy to.