Vacation Home Buying Fizzling. RV's too?

cptqueeg wrote:
"most will be completely wiped out" - That is some doom and gloom right there.

I'm conservative financially, but we've had mortgages and we've survived multiple layoffs, dot com bust, 9/11, the collapse of 2008, bad years in business, etc, etc. I'm blessed by a hard working wife that has strong business skills, I owned a dependable business, and good health. We now have zero debt, it feels great! (used to be a big Dave Ramsey fan, although he turned out to be a creep) Most people not only do fine w mtg debt they prosper. Those who have a mtg(s), college loans(theirs or kids), multiple car loans, and pile consumer debt on top of that, well they're reckless. And I've seen many others that take a lot more risks than me and they've actually come out way further ahead financially. Like they say "there is more than one way to skin a cat."

"Completely wiped out" might be a bit of an exaggeration but it is the rare individual with lots of debt who does prosper and the current population skews heavily in that direction. When you have lots of monthly payments, it's much harder to weather a financial problem like a layoff, the damage is greater and it takes longer to get back to where you were.

On the other hand, those who stay debt free or close to it, tend to weather downturns better. They have more flexibility to pair back expenses and fewer mandatory payments going out.

There's always the exception. Occasionally the casino pays out big but much better to be on the house side with the odds in your favor. In the long run, it's very unusual for the house not to win.