A desperate seller is in a weak position.

But with interest rates at a 30-year low and a recession-stricken market flooded with desperate sellers, I knew it was my time to buy.

"We didn't know what a desperate seller was."

The end of 2008 saw rents falling as desperate sellers became 'accidental landlords' and this trend will continue at the start of the year.

Occasionally though, you come across a desperate seller, if Robson's son's purchase is anything to go by.

But it sure beat banging their heads against the unbreachable wall of silence that greeted desperate sellers in the crash of 1987.

Loads of desperate sellers have dropped their asking prices.

"Now I suspect that they are going to turn into a desperate seller."

"People would smell blood, a stale listing and a desperate seller, and put in lowball offers like $360,000, $370,000."

Houses languish on the market for months, or even years, as desperate sellers slash their asking prices.