There's an old saying that goes, "It's a recession if your neighbor loses his job. It's a depression if you lose your job."

As you know, in early August of this year the Dow dropped nearly 400 points. Within hours, I received phone calls from producers at Fox News, CNN, and Bloomberg asking for my perspective on the near-crash.

The subprime mess is widespread, and it seems to be getting worse. It's certainly worse if you're about to lose your home.

Years ago, when I was just starting my real estate investing career, I came across a property with a for-sale sign on it. I called the broker and asked, "What can you tell me about the property, and how much does it cost?"

One of the best pieces of business advice I ever got was "You can't do a good deal with a bad partner."