When we got settled down south, and were starting to get back on our feet, we got an email from our friends Todd and Marie.  They were having their own problems over in Merrillville Bankruptcy seemed like it was in their future, too.  We were saddened by this.  Of all our friends they had been the most cautious.  Todd and Marie had moved to Indiana about 15 years ago, so they were not buying and selling real estate in an area they didn't know.  They lived in Merriville when it wasn't much of anything.  Many years ago, they purchased some raw land, and just by luck it was sited for development, and they held on for awhile and got their price.  This was good timing for them, as Marie had lost her job and Todd had been forced to accept a decrease in pay.   The profit they realized turned out to wet their appetites for land speculation, but in a reasoned approach. They never got carried away, even during the last several years when it was hard to go wrong buying even the worst shack.  The most real estate they owned  at one time was an apartment building and three single family homes.  It was the single family homes that did them in.