I know if the previous owner is was foreclosed on had a mortgage then that mortgage survives with the property.

@Theresa Harris is right.

When markets change they have a massive nut to pay and start bleeding cash to stay afloat.I see this with large commercial brokerages when cycle sales is hot the champagne is flowing and companies can't hire on people fast enough then downturn happens and they have to merge with other companies to survive or go out of business all together. 

And yes, I feel down, and low 7 behold, I survived, got back on, fell again, got back up, fell again, over and over getting 1 tiny % better each time. 

Quote from @Theresa Harris: If you agreed to pay her one month's rent to find you a place and she did, then she held up her end of the contract. 

Quote from @Theresa Harris: Talk to others, but there may be specialized mortgages for teachers. 

The guru has never seen nor have they survived a downturn.

Quote from @Theresa Harris: You shouldn't have closed until she was out.

Cockroaches are incredibly hard to kill on your own, they can live pretty much anywhere and eat pretty much anything to survive.

I have not been through an 08' situation, but I can say in confidence you want $10-15k in reserves PER door if you want survive an economic downfall.