As a society we are running at record debt levels this much is old news , we all know banks are throwing money at people, there does not seem to be much control over the whole lucrative lending industry. The question stands, should the banks be allowed to use the aggresive marketing and lending tactics and then simply walk away when things tun bad? Finance brokers, sub prime lenders, banks, they are all guilty of helping people borrow to maximun capacity when things are going well but they are the first to start sending letters (read threats) in the mail when you miss a payment. Often the people on the bad end of the deal - the borrowers are often average people with families who have been allowed to sign on the dotted line without being made fully aware of the terms and conditions that apply to the contract. The broker or agent is more often than not focused on the commission at the end of the deal and has very little concern for the eventual outcome either good or bad. As the real estate bubble was inflating the whole lending industry made huge sums of money and if a client got into trouble properties were easy to turn over as people got inline eager to buy into the ever heating real estate market. Lending at 100% or even higher than the property value was and is still common, it has never been easier to get money than it is today. Currently the property market is slow and more people than ever before are finding themsleves in deep trouble with a 100% loan on a property that has lost value, the situation is so bad that the US has record foreclosure levels. Spending in excess of 50% of your income on a mortgage repayment is common as is using the credit card to service the home loan and put food on the table. This is serious economic issue for our society and needs to be regulated, this makes it a political issue. If banks want to assign a loan based on such a high level of exposure then they must be made to share more of the burden when a loan becomes a foreclosure.

Ouch! I know several people who live on the very edge of the credit knife. Pretty much week to week and they still look at new houses, people and their lack of financial education are a big part of the problem. Money is a bit of drug as is the obsession with "getting ahead." It's almost a national sport and we don't even need to talk about the have's and have not's -

We got our first mortgage just over twenty years ago, and I'm glad that I read a few books on real estate and mortgage back then.

The single most important point I took away from the books was the dramatic money saving effect of prepaying as aggressively as possible.

We're own a condo now, without a mortgage.

I was drowned in debts last year because of hospital bills. I just finished paying all my debts 2 months ago. It's a good thing to pay all debts at least I can sleep at night. I bought a house and lot before but I prefered to pay it on cash.