There's a limit to this "experts told us" excuse. "Expert advice" in no way removes the responsibility of due diligence from the buyer. The basics of finance do not change because an "expert" assures you there are exceptions. The risks associated with low-interest housing loans and the volatile real estate market are well-known: along with all the hype the media presented about this "boom" were also dire predictions that it was in fact a "bubble" that would soon burst. Buyers chose to ignore the warnings and focus on the exceptions.

There are always exceptions, but exceptions are, you know, exceptional. Far too many people bought into this idea; each of them knew the perils, knew that "getting rich quick" is always fraught with peril, that owning can be risky. More importantly, they understood that, if the rates did rise, they would be unable to afford the deal. They all knew the risks, and all of them were thinking, "I'll be the exception."

Many of them no doubt recalled the recent "dot-com boom," which turned out to be a bubble that burst. They noted that while a lot of people lost money when the bubble popped, many others made millions by getting out at just the right time, or by somehow avoiding the pitfalls which confounded others. Imagining that they too would be exceptions if/when the housing bubble burst, they dove right in, hoping to get rich without hard work and effort (you know, like President Bush did).

Americans are plagued by "exceptionalist thinking." So many Americans, coddled by a lifetime of relative privilege and wealth, think they are exceptions to the rules which govern the rest of the world. This mentality reveals itself throughout the strata of American life: from our President ignoring laws and treaties, all the way down to the "little guy," thinking he will somehow beat the system and get rich quick. It is a plague and a poison, and I suspect the only way we'll ever be rid of it is to suffer through the very things to which we as a nation seem to think we are immune. (You know, like terrorism, widespread poverty, a second-rate economy, no production base, low GDP, tyrannical government, etc.)

on a 2 bedroom one bath termite ridden house, when you could rent the same house for half that amount?

crazarkianicsonovski, it was clear to me that real estate wasn't go up forever 4 years ago, and now it clear to everyone now. No one is getting rich with real estate where I live now.

"ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

I can laugh, because I've been renting all along through the mania. I recognized about 4 years ago, that if the mortgage for a new home is about twice that of renting the same home, then buying a home has no investment merit."

Go ahead, laugh. My mortgage is lower than your rent. So while you pay more to make someone else rich, I pay less to make myself rich. And your rent is only going to go up, and my mortgage is going to stay the same, no matter what. So while my home may not be a get rich "ponzi" scheme, it's still a nice place to live.

So don't rule out squatting just yet mister cool, your rent is about to rise. I hope you don't mind spending all that money you saved on someone else's mortgage.

but here is goes anyway.

ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

I can laugh, because I've been renting all along through the mania. I recognized about 4 years ago, that if the mortgage for a new home is about twice that of renting the same home, then buying a home has no investment merit.

I hadn't considered squatting until now. Thanks Tom, I'll have to think that possibility over.

Well, gosh, I guess my "arrogance" was getting the better of me. Good thing I didn't go to college, or I'd really be insufferable. (Might have reached that stage already...oops.)

Since when is common sense in such short supply? (Oh, wait, 51 million people voted for you-know-who last election...never mind.) Or limited to those with college educations? How on earth did our poor fathers and grandfathers get by?

The "experts told us" argument is valid, to a point, but that still doesn't take the ultimate responsibility off the shoulders of mom and pop America. "Experts" don't pay your bills, or raise your kids, or do your jobs for you, especially when those "experts" are talking heads on the tube or mass-mailing cranks stuffing your inbox with too good to be true spam.

Hell yes, if "shysters" break the law and pull a bait and switch on someone, or do something that is clearly against the law, the U.S. government (meaning you and me) should come down hard on the bastards and help their victims out with some aid. But...is that really the case in the majority of these foreclosures? Which laws were broken? And does the situation call for a blanket bail-out of every single person who made a bad judgement call?

No, there's something bigger going on here, and it goes way beyond the mortgage industry. Let's face it, when the president of the United States goes on national television urging people to "spend spend spend," and that's the crux of his plan to prop up the economy, something's wrong at a very fundamental level. People -- like those who got themselves (enabled by others, perhaps) into dire straits by mortgaging their future -- have got to get out of the habit of blindly assuming they have the right to whatever they want, whenever they want, regardless of whether or not they've got the resources to pay for it. All-American McMansion, jumbo screen TV, new car every 2.5 years, whatever. If you can't afford it, don't buy it!</>

Kuhnigget, is it really 100 percent the buyer's fault for not having his or her guard up when some shyster you'd like to trust sweet-talks or even lies to get you to sign some deal and you can't see the repercussions of it? And you mean to tell me in your arrogance that you've never signed such a bad deal in your lifetime?

Remember, only about 28 percent of the American public has a college education, and assuming that having a degree means you can understand all that legalese fine print, even then only a fraction of that 28 percent will pay attention to all that gray type. So it is incumbent upon our federal government to regulate the financial industry so it doesn't figure out ways to screw us in all that agate type. And unfortunately the government has been more interested in helping the financial industry than the general public that can't follow it all.

Also, the main point of this week's comic was that we were told by "experts" during the boom that there wasn't a chance that housing prices would fall. In that climate, is it still 100 percent the buyer's fault that he or she believed the so-called "experts" when he or she signed for the ARM?