Yeah, it must be painful to be that far underwater. Many of my friends and relatives are underwater, some on multiple properties. I’ll probably be (technically) underwater the minute I close escrow on whatever house I may buy this spring, so it’s something I have to prepare myself for emotionally.
Despite five to six years of philosophizing and research the human dimension of the real estate bubble and crash didn’t really hit home until I started looking at REOs and short sales and saw all the kids’ rooms, graduation gowns left behind in closets, etc. I’m already pissed at my government and the financial system, so I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I’d bought before the peak and still got hammered by a regional overcorrection.
But NOTHING will fix this mess as permanently as restoring the balance of supply and demand … get rid of the excess big-box stores, get some productive employers out there, stop building surplus McMansions for a decade or so, and you should be in great shape.
And get in on the ground floor (pun intended) of the next boom … Stair-Glide installer for all the retirees who’d rather live in an inland McMansion than an “active adult” shoebox in Oceana.
