The Problem Of Keeping Up With The Joneses

Underwater mortgages and the like.

I watch probably more Patrick Bet-David than I would ever openly admit. Saw this just now while eating lunch:

I believe that video clip is tied to this article, which contends 1 in 37 mortgages are underwater.

Per some Google AI nonsense, apparently there are 84 million active mortgages in America. Nice. If I am doing math correctly, that means maybe 2,270,270 mortgages are underwater. Not great.

I am not a financial expert by any means, nor a mortgage expert. You can take anything I say with a grain of salt, or 1,000 grains of said salt.

It would seem, logically, that the main reason people get underwater on their mortgage — and remember, I said main reason — is the whole Joneses thing. They should buy a house at $350,000. Instead, they buy a house at $700,000, either because they want their kids in a better school district, or they want more space, or they want to be closer to a certain set of friends or parents, or whatever. But they over-buy. And then, if one thing happens that’s a reversal, they are in a bad spot. I know 10–12 couples for whom this happened, in various parts of the United States.