The financial markets performed quite well for the first half of 2007, with the Dow Jones Index crossing the 14,000 threshold on July 19. Then the subprime mortgage mess hit, reminding all investors that investments are indeed risky and must be priced accordingly. This marked the end of a big party in real estate—one that was refelected in popular “flip this house” TV shows and incredible speculation by amateur real estate investors who did not have the resources to weather a downturn in the market. It all seemed so easy: put a small pre-construction down payment on a property in a new development, wait for the price of the yet-to-be-built property to soar, wait again until the property is complete with yet another price increase, and, finally, sell to another “investor” for a sizable gain without ever occupying the real estate. It became clear to all: a house was no longer a home … it became a financial asset with windows!