>knows exactly how mortgage leverage can work on the downside.
Sorta... Usually when people talk about that, it's mostly in the context of balloon payments and variable rate mortgages where the value of your house dropping coincided with sudden increases to your monthly mortgage payment or large bills coming due.
Partially, but a big difference is that tons of lenders were giving out mortgages in the mid 00s with no or very little money down. When things turned south, people were underwater really quickly, so was easiest/best to just mail the keys to the lender, especially in non recourse states.
Sorta... Usually when people talk about that, it's mostly in the context of balloon payments and variable rate mortgages where the value of your house dropping coincided with sudden increases to your monthly mortgage payment or large bills coming due.