I don't understand this, and I hear about it all the time. When you buy a house, can you get a loan where your payments remain the same? If so, then it doesn't matter what your house is worth. It should only matter what your house is worth if you are selling it.

For example: I bought my car for $6,300 on a 36 month loan less than 3 years ago. I've actually paid my car off now (early), but I'm sure that the value of my car depreciated a little bit quicker than I was able to pay off the loan in the first year or so. Technically I was probably paying on a car that was worth less than I owed on it, but it didn't matter because having a car at all was worth FAR more than the difference between the loan amount and value of the car. Now that my loan has been paid, and even though my car is worth next to nothing, I'm still in the positive. I never would have made it to this position if I just stopped paying for my car. Plus, it never mattered what the car was worth to anyone else because I never tried to sell it. Having a reliable vehicle to drive to work in every was of more value to me than not being a little upside down on a vehicle.

I can not for the life of me understand how people don't understand the value of their homes. There are very few instances where the value of your home matters when you are not selling it. I would gladly pay on the amount that I purchased the home for if it meant keeping my place. People are so short sighted. Your home was obviously worth that point at some time, so it is possible that it will be worth that much again.