I went looking for a house about four years ago. That was in 2013, a full 5 years post recession. I was surprised to see how many foreclosures were still on the market. I asked my realtor to show me, despite his misgivings about possibly buying a foreclosed property.

It was pretty much exactly how the article described it. I looked at about five or six lower priced large houses (5-6 bedrooms, 4-5 bathrooms, in the 4-5k ft range) and all were the same. They were all totally run down. Gutters falling off, carpets destroyed, holes in walls, kitchens in total disrepair. All kinds of stuff were left behind like there was a fire and the owners just fled.

My realtor also pointed out a few of the houses where the workmanship of the house was way below where it should be. The houses were built quickly for the boom. Corners were cut and it was clear even after five years, the houses would need a ton of work.

One other thing the article didn't touch on was the huge availability of retail and commercial space. There's a bunch of suburbs around where I live where businesses went under during the recession and nothing has filled those buildings yet. Retail is the same thing. There are businesses that either moved out or closed shops and those spaces remain empty, almost ten years after the recession.