The Tampa Bay area has been in a slump as far as real estate is concerned, since 2006. My husband and I sold our home in November of 2005, just before things started to go south. We were lucky to sell when we did, because we got top dollar.

In our new neighborhood, there are several homes that were purchased and built by investors hoping to make a quick buck. You can easily tell which ones were purchased by investors, because they’re the ones sitting empty. They can’t sell them, and they can’t even rent them out. There’s simply too much supply, and not enough demand.