This week, the nation’s top real estate editors, staff writers, Internet journalists and freelancers gather in Washington D.C. for the National Association of Real Estate Editors annual spring journalism conference, chaired by Ken Harney of the Washington Post Writers Group.

This year’s agenda is packed with newsmakers including distressed asset authority Doug Wilson, president of Douglas Wilson Companies (www.douglaswilson.com), one of the nation’s leading court-appointed fiduciaries for distressed real estate assets. Wilson’s topic on a June 20 panel is “current trends in investing in troubled commercial real estate”, and will cover:

• What are the smart buys out there? What is being bought at a dime on the dollar — bargains that will make somebody a fortune someday?

• Who are the vultures who are buying today? What are the characteristics of these gravedancers? Foreign or domestic? Where do they get their money?

• Have buyers come out yet in significant numbers? Why or why not? When will prices be low enough to attract them? When will this activity click into a higher gear?

• Are there certain property types that offer more promise than others? Does anybody want raw land anymore? Are there any particularly ugly property types? Office, apartments, retail centers, hotels?

Wilson’s company has been a court-appointed fiduciary in more than 500 matters in state and federal courts and has overseen nearly $8 billion in troubled assets.

Watch our site for a recap of Wilson’s comments.