Some of us just had enough of waiting, I rented for 8 years expecting the HPC that never came. Glad I found this site when I did back in 2004 in the days of cgnao et al, convinced me to park most of my STR fund in bullion when the price was £420/oz, sold the lion share at over £1000/oz and I now have a tiny mortgage on a lovely place I've had the satisfaction of renovating over the last 6 months. Was a bit stressful keeping that much stash at home for so long, now there's just a few sovs (and some silver) for any shtf scenario. Here in the North there are bargains to be had and prices did come down but stuff is selling also, no forests of for sale boards like in 2009.
I hate the current economic situation as much as the next guy and I worry for my kids future, but I made the move and so far, so good...
Good luck guys and adios