I am personally looking for that longer ladder.....been in my home 24 years, never a late mortgage payment and never a missed mortgage payment, and I will probably pay it off in the next 10 months or so, but it isn't worth much more than when I bought it 24 years ago....and that is with improvements like new roof, furnace, central AC, new carport, deck, pool, shed.....what a wonderful payoff for the responsible people who actually had to meet some standards in order to purchase a home. The house next door to me has been on the market for over a year and at a price which was comparable to 24 years ago....there are three more in the immediate neighborhood which are in foreclosure, and a couple abandoned. The investors are buying them up and making them rental properties which is further hurting our home values, because renters tend not to take care as well as owners, relying on the landlord to do everything of importance. I don't imagine that I could give my house away, if I had to...this really sucks.

Honestly, neither cartoon really encompasses the feel of the current housing market. A better cartoon might be a picture of a mansion with the "what you owe", and a shack with "what it's worth".

Sue, your payoff is that you now have a free and clear asset valued at probably $150-200K that will eventually appreciate in the future. You can also become a landlord by renting your house out and having your tenants pay the mortgage on your second home. You're actually in a pretty good position. Cheer up, babe; It's not that bad for you.

Houses are appropriately priced now. Blame the banks and realtors for making you think your home depreciated. During the boom I was making 70K my wife around 30 and we were priced out of all but crime ridden neighborhoods. The home I bought for 180 in 2009 is worth 160 now. Homes are not the investments people talked about. You get the write off, you get to paint your walls the color you want and thats it. Its a place to live not an investment. The 20K drop in my house, oh well, Ill be paying for 28 more years and it equates to about 25 dollars a month. If it hits 90K, I drop it like a case of rabies, buy another one cash, and laugh at the 7 years of bad credit that myself and every other American will have. So what, ill have to buy the new TV cash and fix my own car. Ill own my house and the banks can take the loss, they want the reward so badly from thier risk, they can take the loss too as far as I am concerned. I will noyt guarantee their loan if houses drop that low. Call me irresponsible, I call it American business, you show me you are responsible maybe I will act that way as well, until then, hey business is business.

...and this is our Hope and Change...

This is about flat or falling incomes and easy credit. Some bank decided to bundle its home mortgages and get them called triple A rated bonds and sell them to investors. The bank makes a profit and doesn't have to worry about if and when the mortgages are paid off. Once one bank makes a profit this way, then everyone jumps on the bandwagon which means more and more mortgages need to be taken out and the quality of those mortgages goes down. Also, the bigger the mortgage, the more the banks paid the person making the loan. They didn't care if the home buyer could pay off the loan, because it would be sold and become someone else's problem. Homes became over priced, and you had people thinking prices could only go up and never down.

Guess what? The bubble burst!

Bought in central Texas 12 years ago, and the house is only worth 20% more than what I paid for it. What a lousy return. I remember when I was getting 2 or 3% increase per year when in other parts of the country housing was appreciating at 20 or 30% per year. I sure missed out on that gravy train.

A home is supposed to be an investment in your future. As in a place for you and your family to live and be happy not as a source of income. Any other material objects decrease in value as they get older, that is the way it is supposed to be. Just another example of how the baby boomers, the first generation of spoiled brats, have ruined this country,expect to sell a home for 200,000 that they paid 20,000 for 30 years ago. But, complain that the younger generations are all lazy good for nothings when they taught this country to live beyond it's means and to take care of number one.

Why does everyone want to blame the banks?  They are NOT the problem.  The banks are in business to make money - any way they can.  'Same thing with the Wall Street gluttons.  The blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the regulators, and the Congress for whom the regulators work!  When the regulators, with the blessing of the Congress, open the flood gates, the banks rush in and find new and different ways to screw the American public.  I'm all for the free market; but without ethics (the banks & Wall Street have none), or rules (that substitute for ethical behavior) it's simply a free-for-all.  Think about it during the next election!

Why does everyone want to blame the banks?  They are NOT the problem.  The banks are in business to make money - any way they can.  'Same thing with the Wall Street gluttons.  The blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the regulators, and the Congress for whom the regulators work! 

Why don't we place the blame squarely where it belongs.  The idiots who bought houses they could not afford.  Everyone always looks for someone else to blame.  It's time to take responsibility for your actions.  No one knows better than you if you can afford that $350K house or not.  Grow up people and if your losing your house in fantasy land, maybe you should look for a place to live in the town of reality.

... and while you're thinking about it for the next election remember when it's all started to go south. I'm no supporter of the current administration but the R's have their share of blame in this one as well. There is no voting a solution at election time. Neither party knows what to do. I actually don't think either party even wants to solve the problem. They just want to keep us all up in arms over the other guy, whoever that may be.

We bought during the 1990's recession when housing prices had fallen and interest was relatively low. If it were not for thatrecession, we would never have been able to purchase a home in the Los Angeles area. Although we knew what we could afford, real estate agents kept steering us towards higher-priced homes because the banks said we could afford to pay more. We finally found an agent who understood us and purchased a unit that we could live in for the rest of our lives (we may need to put in lifts when/if we can't climb the stairs). We refinanced 3 times within two years after puchase and eventually got a 15-year loan at 5.67%. The mortgage on our 3-bedroom, 2-1/2 bath townhome still costs us less than what we would have to pay for a one-bedroom apartment in this area. Despite the fact that I lost my job six years ago (and can't find another due to age discrimination and the recession) and adoption of a teenager, we will not lose our home. Home properties in our area have really dropped, but we still wouldn't be able to afford the townhouse we currently own if we tried to buy it now. We never had a "starter-home" or investment mentality. There is a new reality, and the younger residents who have recently bought a unit in our townhome complex do so knowing that this may be the only home they will ever own. Luckily, our home is still worth twice what we paid, but we don't think about it much since we plan to leave it to our son.

In any case, the current administration is not at fault for the housing mess or the recession; the previous administration waged an expensive, unwarranted war that it could not pay for; the banks took advantage of people who wanted to experience the American dream and gambled with their money; and many people bought into the idea that housing is a financial investment rather than its intended purpose (i.e., place to live). Greed and deception caused our financial problems; unfortunately, congress will not help the current administration fix the problems; they just want to get into office in 2012.

It seems like this sort of situation can't be lose-lose. The more home prices drop, the more the first time home buyer benefits (or one could buy a second home as rental investment). If you follow the maximum buy low, sell high, maybe this is a great time to buy low.