Reply #9: This sounds pretty damn reckless to me...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

"Most got into trouble by refinancing their homes - often more than once - and extracting every possible dollar of equity. The money went toward granite counter-tops, stainless steel appliances, credit cards, student loans, vacations, weddings, cars, etc."

I wouldn't have included student loans in the above -- that speaks to the insane cost of college in this country.

Many DUers deny the granite/stainless, but I saw it first-hand while living in the DC area. When selling my condo, many 20-somethings sniffed at the older kitchen -- I'd like to know how many of them bought the $799K condos and are now whining about being foreclosed on.

Here are some of my measures of "reckless":

--Buying homes at insanely inflated prices.
--Taking on the risk of an ARM when you don't really understand risk.
--Assuming that housing prices always go up.
--Denying that this house of cards wasn't going to fall.
--Buying with no home inspection.
--Ignoring the 33% take-home income rule. (If your bank tried to force more on you, you had the right to say no. I did when World Savings tried to force a huge equity line on me...it's not that difficult.)
--Using your home as an ATM (beyond reason--$50,000 fairy-tale weddings is not "reason").

I'm not saying there aren't legitimate cases out there, but millions of people seemed to lose their heads and we're all paying for it.