I’m confused about who we’re supposed to feel sorry for. It seems to me there are three different kinds of homeowners who are “suffering” in this downturn.
People like beachlover and cashman, as far as I can tell, don’t actually have any problems. They’re sitting on a ton of equity and/or cash and have lots and lots of attractive options open to them. They’re frustrated that the market isn’t generating even more equity and/or cash for them right now, but that’s not exactly a societal crisis.
Then there are the “homeowners” who never actually owned anything that are falling into foreclosure. They’ve got no equity in the houses anyway, so they’re not really losing much. Sure, they’ll have to rent for awhile, maybe even for a long while, but those of us in the Priced Out Forever generation know what that’s like, and, frankly, it’s just not that big a deal. So, again, not much sympathy.
And then there are the mini-Trumps and Casey Serins out there, like the guy who tried to tell me I was abusing my children by not borrowing as much money as I could to buy property (I was denying them a future of financial security just so I could selfishly enjoy a little cash flow now). Those guys are going to suffer the most, but, them’s the breaks.
