Pay up, suckers!

[clever_title]

When the government and banks are trying to convince you to do something because it's "responsible" you can bet that it's a bad deal for you.

Faced with people defaulting on their mortgages because it's the sensible thing to do financially, mortgage bankers and the Obama administration are telling people to do the "responsible" thing and pay their

Comments

well..

[paulisdead]

of course it is important to be mindful, that if you walk away from your house, you are basically walking away from *all* houses, for a very very long time. Since you won't be able to get a mortgage again for what, 15 years?

Re: well..

[clever_title]

There are a lot of factors, but 10-15 years is probably reasonable. Of course, no one would recommend that you walk away from a house that you expect to be underwater for only a few years. It's only if the place is going to be an anchor for a decade or 2 that walking away makes sense.

If you're able to rent, save the difference vs the mortgage & expenses, and wind up with a decent down payment for a house in 15 years when you can get a mortgage agin, you're better off than paying a mortgage on a house that will have only a tiny bit of equity after that same amount of time.