[TheWriterTX]

We were lucky - we always managed to pay the mortgage, were never late on a payment, never had to go through with the short sale, and kept our 780 credit rating intact.

But there were times, definitely times, when we were ready to raise the white flag of surrender. Learned to live lean and mean, do without, do it ourselves.

The "new reality" folks are dealing with is old hat to us.

[morphing libertarian]

Yeah, we like where we live and fortunately have the bucks to stay. Probably will have some equity in 7-10 years.