“Those that made some huge cash” fall, generically, into the following (broad) categories:
1. Bought a long time ago and the equity cushion has built up over time (and they didn’t use the equity for toys, etc.);
2. Built up equity in a first home bought a few years back (or more) and traded up to a more expensive house during the bubble but used a lot of equity from the first house for a downpayment;
3. Built up equity in a home (or homes) and sold out during the bubble and moved out of state or are renting;
4. Bought a long time ago but used up their equity for toys, etc.
5. Built up equity in a first home and traded up to a more expensive home during the bubble but didn’t roll over much of the equity built up in the first home (again, toys, “investments,” etc.);
6. Built up equity in investment homes and then flipped these homes and put the equity into MORE “investment homes” spreading out the equity into smaller slivers for each “investment” (i.e., they levered up their early winnings).
While there are plenty of people in groups 1-3, who should be fine as this fiasco unfolds, the problem is that those in groups 4-6 were the marginal buyers/borrowers during the bubble. And these folks are dead. And as we can recall from Econ 101, everything important in finance and economics happens “at the margin.” The marginal buyer, in the aggregate, has disappeared and won’t be back for quite some time.
