Case Study of Duplexes in San Jose

I'm representing a buyer on a very well-priced duplex purchase in San Jose. This little street of 7 properties which were built in the late 1950's rode the roller coaster of boom and bust. Three side-by-side duplexes all sold in mid-2006 between $770,000 - $795,000. Now two of those three units will sell between $500,000 - $530,000. One was a short sale which was in escrow for 4 months, the other a bank REO that should transact quickly. Of the 4 other owners on that street that did not play the real estate game in the last few years, they apparently have been sitting pretty, collecting rents and paying low Prop 13 property taxes. Go conservatives!