Sorry for your issues, but what you said up there makes lots of sense yet I have to disagree with putting any of the blame on the war. Yes, it has no direction and it's costing us big time....But the mortgage crisis is simply an issue of what you said "home buyers were duped into getting mortgages for homes they couldn't afford"..Each of us that own homes sat at the closing table and was told what loan they were signing for. People who got those 2/1 buy downs, 3-5-10/1 arms had to know it was going to eventually get out of hand. Problem was they were most likely over extended to begin with and honestly knew upfront they would not be able to afford an increase. Hoping before the rate change they could refi and be ok....well, already over extended people fail to realize a refi is like buying a totally new house w/ the debt on your record from the current loan. Hell most people barely got financed for the first loan, which makes it damn near impossible to refi. Is it a bad situation....yes and it does suck, but it could have been avoided, if they didn't have to get that house in that area for that school or to be close to those people. No one knows your finances like you and when we make large purchases the thought of "can I really afford this" even though I was financed for it has to come to mind..