Reply #12: Excellent analysis & here'are the 4th & 5th ways you'll be screwed.

[Divernan]

If you reach any of those points in life where you,(the sensibly mortgaged, made a big down payment, got a 30 year fixed mortgage, and were not flipping for profit homeowner) have to SELL your house, here are TWO MORE ways, you will be economically screwed, if not destroyed.

I'm talking about, for example, someone who loses their job and has to move to a new community to find employment. I'm talking about someone whose employer closes down your office and will continue to employ you only if you move to a different location. I'm talking about someone whose job is downsized and you can no longer make your mortgage payments so you HAVE to sell ASAP. I'm talking about a family where an elderly parent dies and the house/condo they lived in has to be sold. These are all examples of homeowners who have no choice but to move, and therefore MUST sell their homes.


(1) In many communities you may find that the plummeting "fair market value" has left you with a mortgage balance far exceeding any price for which you could sell your house. And of course you would also have to factor in that 7 percent realtor's fee and some closing costs.

(2) Your house may be in a neighborhood where houses have already been abandoned, or at best are sitting empty with For Sale signs in the overgrown yards. (Many suburbs of Cleveland come to mind, as well as all the condo developments in Florida.) There are NO buyers for these homes. Who wants to move onto a block with abandoned houses?