Have you been drinking the Kool-aid?

As homeowners: an ENTIRE generation (or two) has been "sold" a bunch of Bullsh*t. First, that your home is an investment. Secondly, that home ownership is an American "right". Your primary home is shelter, not an investment. It keeps you warm and dry when its cold and wet outside... You really have control over only three basic factors: where you buy (location), how much you paid for it (price/terms)and the rate in which you amortize (pay down) that debt. Everything else is speculative. Speculation in and of itself is not bad, yet when applied to an illiquid product such as real estate, you either "win big" or lose big". As for the 'right' to homeownership, I feel homeownership is a privilege. Not everyone is cut out to be a homeowner. We all know someone who bought a home in this past era of easy credit and lax underwriting who we know deep down inside (but would never say it to them directly) - that they were not cut out to be a homeowner, yet there they were drinking the real estate Kool-aid* and boasting of how easy it was. Now unfortunately to the pain of us all, that privilege which should not have been extended to so many is being taken away via foreclosure (that's a different topic).

Investors: "Buy, fix, and flip" was supercharged by the access to easy credit, fueled by lending institutions, wall street institutions, and others wanting their slice of the real estate boom. There are many, many ways to invest in real estate profitably, most of which work wonderfully when used during the correct market/business cycle. I myself, am primarily a "buy and hold" investor. I could care less if any home I buy appreciates in value. Appreciation is nice, don't get me wrong, but it is not in the top 5 criteria I look to in buying property. How much I pay for a property and how quickly I (or more aptly, my tenants) pay down that debt are the most direct influences on my bottom line.
As for the current market condition - this is likely the best time to buy real estate that I or my children will see in our lifetimes. The problem currently lies in the credit market's inability or unwillingness to fund investment purchases. Of course, if you have 30% down payment, stellar credit, 6 month's reserves for each property owned, own less that the FHA cut-off number of financed properties, you may convince an institutional lender to CONSIDER financing your transaction. For my transactions, I don't rely on institutional lenders or the credit markets to supply the capital needed (I also very rarely use hard money lenders).
Bottom line, as an investor if you are calculating on appreciation to make up for mistakes made elsewhere in the buying process, you have better odds in Las Vegas.

* My apologies to Kool-aid (I loved that stuff as a kid)