However, I will be leaving the state and prefer not to turn into a rental.

I agree with Jon that people made some stupid choices but I side with Karen that it seems to me the smart thing for Countrywide and other banks would have been to simply reset the interest rates, especially enlight of the bailout talks.

It's really just about choice.

The FDIC prefers to move in and take over at 5pm on Fridays to give them the weekend to clear things up and so people can't panic as much-that shows just how bad things were for WaMu if they couldn't wait 24 hours.On a WaMu side note-we just got a new client at my firm in the past month, her father passed away and surprisingly left her 2.5 million. 750k of that was in WaMu CD's.

Get one please, preferably a smart commercial attorney)I hope this concept of Sugar Daddy helps you.In this climate of non-lending to real estate investors, one Sugar Daddy can free up an REI to offer low-ball offers ALL DAY.Last I heard, Standard Fannie/Freddie Guidelines limit the number of properties finance to 10.All the best, Brian

But, for folks that are looking at being $200K, $300K or more in the hole on a property which will never again in our lifetimes be worth what it was at the peak, what choice do they have but to walk away?

The homeowner can choose not to include the house in the BK and sell it short in some cases but I don't believe the bank has a choice in the matter.

Either way, the assets need to be liquidated - I just prefer they do it in the swift manner privatizing it can accomplish.Which is what I intend to continue doing.www.BillionDollarBailout.com

(PS - Czech by birth; Hungarian by marriage and divorced by choice) :)Although I respect both your opinion and that of my dad, I do disagree to an extent.

This isn't to say that a duplex or triplex is a bad choice, they just have different characteristics than a single family home.As for the 1031 Exchange, you should learn it inside and out, and don't get confused, you aren't avoiding gains, you're deferring them. :)