Cashman, I lived with my folks in Diamond Bar from 1991 to 1998. While it was only a townhome, granted, they bought at the worst possible time, 1991, and saw the value of their home plummet a good 20%, and this on top of the loss of value that had already occurred between 1989 and 1991. Ultimately they (we) rode out the downturn, it wasn’t easy or pleasant and it wasn’t fun living with my parents, they were a grumpy frustrated mess. All this despite the fact that they could afford their mortgage. They felt trapped, and that’s what kills you…you can afford a bigger place, a better place, but anyone with sound economic judgement will never sell their upside-down negative equity home until it either regains it’s value, or else they are forced to. You will probably never be forced to sell, but you will be trapped in that house for a good number of years.
I must stress that my experience as a non-owner, but living with homeowners (my folks) during the last downturn leads me to conclude that losing value in one’s home affects people psychologically and emotionally in a very negative way. You have a lot of money in the bank, but so did my folks at the time (they didn’t have millions, but a few 100k), and my dad was about your age at the time, so you’re already entering the cranky middle-age phase that I’ve seen my dad go through (and I will go through too in a few decades), as someone who is a son, to someone who is a father, do yourself and your family a favor, and don’t go down that path of negativity and frustration which is sure to follow in a collapsing housing market. Home-ownerhsip pride isn’t everything. Spend your time and money connecting to your children and grandchildren. And make a lot more money; don’t throw it away for the sake of pride. Regards.
