“”well I know this seems a little bit high, but once you get some equity you can re-finance, or sell this house and move into a better one with the equity.”… Of course, that’s what they all said back then… And hey, we believed them… Now we have to own up to our mistake and take responsibility.”

No, you believed him, most of the people posting here would not have believed him. Therein lies the difference and the primary reason why we were virtual heretics 2 years ago. This example is emblematic of how dangerous things have gotten in the realm buying a house. Relative to income and resources, it is a huge decision and not to be taken lightly. Rustico, you mention getting ripped off on a car. That is several orders of magnitude less than what FBs are going through now. Remember, you are talking about leveraging your future income….FUTURE INCOME. Money you haven’t even made yet when one decides to get into a mortgage. Sometimes, I think people don’t understand intuitively until they get laid off and they realize that that income stream is not a guarantee in most cases…certainly not in the private sector.