Well the state of affairs in the market for real estate is in rough shape. The banks (Mostly the TOO BIG to Fail) are still continuing many of the same things that brought on the Financial Disaster. If You have a lot of extra money or income Now is a good time to put it into real estate. I do not know about Notes backed by real estate.It looks like the dollar could be headed to a Big slide in value and the housing market is still in a slide. Buy land outright or put money into Things of real worth like tools, food, Silver is down now or how about some solar or wind power for your house or business for when the value of the dollar slides even faster than it is. It is quite possible almost all types of energy will increase as fast or faster than food if the insanity out of Wall street and DC keep going. Make sure to call your state and local Representatives and tell them what you think, and be sure to support and compliment your good ones if you are lucky enough to have one. I think Most of us (Common ) People have MORE common sense than those one that have a Harvard MBA.