The Voice of San Diego has a tip for speculators. "California's wealthy investors are choosing to invest less and less in real estate, a trend that local experts say should serve as a beacon to all real estate investors in the county. In San Diego, financial advisors who work with some of the region's wealthiest people are advising their clients to sell their investment properties."

"The message some financial advisors in San Diego are giving wealthy investors is clear: Those clients who can afford to sell their investment properties should do so. 'If you have an investment property, this is a wonderful time to get the heck out,' said Richard Ashburn, an investment manager and financial columnist in La Jolla."

"Ashburn said that unless a residential property is paying for itself through the rent it is generating, an owner should sell. Any owner paying $1,000 or $2,000 a month to cover the mortgage payments and taxes on their investment property should realize that it's time to get rid of that investment, he said. 'If you're in a negative cash flow situation, you're nuts to hold onto it,' he said."

"Michael Dorvillier, another La Jolla-based investment advisor sings the same tune. Dorvillier said the wealthy investors he works for have recently been moving to liquidate their real estate assets. He said the situation is analogous to what happened during the dot-com crash. 'A lot of those affluent investors learned their lesson with their Qualcomm stocks and their Enron stocks, and they don't want to see that happen again,' Dorvillier said."

"Anxious investors are likely to unload their additional homes or condos rather than their first homes. 'There's a worry that if people start selling [investment properties] then there will be a depressing effect,' (economist) Alan Gin said. 'It won't just be the million dollar mansion, but if people own $700,000, $800,000 homes that they've bought for investments, and they suddenly put them on the market, that will have a dampening effect.'"

"Ashburn said it is not what affect wealthy real estate investors could have on the market, but what their activity could signal about the future of home prices. If wealthy people are shying away from real estate, he said, it's probably for a good reason. 'They don't need to go knock themselves out for another $100,000, they've got all the money they need. What they want to do is be safe with their money, be wise and safe and cautious,' he said."