Here's what I like about the so-called housing bust. Every house is for sale. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realise this is a voyeur's dream. First off, before this creeps out, know this: I'm now in the market to buy a house.

I've been renting for the past couple of years and now is the time to buy. There's not only blood in the streets; there's full-scale haemorrhaging. I'll get to specific numbers in a second but this is the exact time you should be considering buying. There's no rush, however. You have a good year before the next stampede begins, but begin it will. So I'm taking my time checking out houses as they come up for sale.

When you go into a house that's on the market you learn a lot about the people who live there. You see the pictures on the wall, the degrees from select schools, the envelopes from the IRS on the kitchen table. You know their taste in cars, in computers, what sorts of books and videos they like.