23109VC –
I think you and your wife have made the best choice, both personally and financially to stay in the house. You are effectively living in a place permanently at roughly the cost of rent today. There are others in much worse predicaments.
As for having any aggravation over those getting big houses for less … Why not compute the cash value of the break you got on your first mortgage and thank your lucky stars. The bank actually gave you a gift that’s likely worth 6 figures.
If the initial rate was 7% and they have permanently reduced it to 5%, that’s about $140 K in savings over a 30-year loan.
