if you bought with zero down during the boom...

[Anonymous]

We bought w/ zero down in 2005. We moved, but kept our first place as a rental unit. We are 30k underwater on it (I think).

Having that first place limited our options for our second place. Although everything could work out fine still. Our new house needs work, but we don't have the cash to invest in it right now and we didn't have the mortgage options to buy a place that needed less work...

Luckily we have great fixed mortgages on both places and we put money down on our second.

[Anonymous]

We put 5% down in 2006 but paid off the second mortgage within a few years of buying the house. Our house has lost about 1/3 of its value from when we bought. We're owe about as much as its worth now and are aggressively saving for our next house, figuring we'll rent this one out. It's in a great location in a neighborhood that is often recommended, but I don't see prices rising anytime soon (and I suspect one similar will be foreclosed on soon). Sigh...

[Anonymous]

Bought a condo in Trinidad in 2006 for 220K, put 5K down with a home purchase assistance program. Value took a nosedive and is supposed to be catching up, but I am not sure I'd be able to sell it for what I paid today. Have moved to VA since and am renting it out.

[Anonymous]

We bought a TH in 2005 with 5% down (did an 80/15/5). We paid off the HELOC once we sold our 1st place. We sold the TH in 2010 for about 100K less than we bought. Yuck! We had been paying extra, so we still came out with a check, but it was just our money back. Our first condo doubled in sale price in 2 years, so we were still in the black, but the hit definitely affected how we approached our SFH.

[Anonymous]

We purchased a home in 2002 with $0 down, paid only closing costs. We had a 5 year ARM. We sold in 2005 and walked away with $170K in profit. We paid off all student loans and put 20% down on our current home, which we purchased for $420K in 2005. We have a 30 year fixed on that one, recently refinanced with a low rate. When we refinanced last summer, the appraised rate of the house was $370K. So we have taken a hit, but not as bad as some. If we hadn't put 20% down though, that would be even more painful.