Trapped?
How about they just make the payments and pay it off?
Shirley, you jest.
Nah, it’s better to just walk away and leave your neighbors with the eyesore abandoned house and the lowered property values.
I think borrowers should fulfill the terms of their contracts.
If the contract is “non-recourse”, turning the property over to the lender in good condition meets the legal and moral terms of the contract if payments are current.
That’s what I am doing - paying it off, but it ain’t pretty. Nine years ago I moved to SW Michigan for a job and paid what I thought was a fair price at the time for a very modest house - now I would be lucky if it would sell for half of what I paid. Chump change to some people, but not to me. I retired from my job and would like to move, but it will be at a huge financial loss. So, yes, Trapped does come to mind.
My wife and I bought our house near a market peak, and were underwater with our house for many years, and we eventually paid off the mortgage in half the time by simply paying an extra $100 a month towards the principal.
I don’t really understand why people get upset about this. You live in the home. You are using it. You are paying the mortgage, and you negotiated for it and took it out.
This ‘trapped’ thing seems like a liberal construct to me.
A home you own, to me anyway, shouldn’t be an investment you’re hoping to make some bucks on when you move in 5 years. It is a place to live and call your own (outside of the tax bills each year).
I fully own my home and intend to stay here unless I hit the lottery or something. It doesn’t matter to me what it is worth. Even if you have a mortgage, the basic fact doesn’t change. Buy the house if you can afford it, rent if you can’t.
Exactly. They are only underwater if they want to move.
I suppose it's the taxpayers fault. /s
If you are in that situation, and can do so, that is the preferred option.
If you lose your job or get transferred, you are screwed.