[robertpaulsen]

"She'd carefully squirreled away some savings and bought herself a little house."

On which she was able to extract $200,000 in a refinance? Some little house.

Plus on a "modest salary at the public library" she can afford to pay an additional $2,000 per month to service that loan? That's it. I'm submitting my resume to my local library.

[narby]

On which she was able to extract $200,000 in a refinance? Some little house.

A friend of mine owns a tiny little place (1200sq ft??) in So. Cal. Houses in her neighborhood are selling for 500k, 600k or more. She's refinanced it a couple of times, but she still has 75% equity because she bought it in the 60's.

It's not the house. It's location, location, location.

[MrB]

It’s tough to understand folks sometimes -

I have a younger brother in law that’s planning on buying a 400k condo in Chicago when he graduates from law school. How the heck is someone fresh out of school thinking that he can afford the debt service on a 400k loan?

[Mr. Jeeves]

On which she was able to extract $200,000 in a refinance? Some little house.

This is SoCal. The guard shack at the county dump costs more than that. ;)