I understand your point but seriously, did you consider the OTHER side of the table? The lender who is LOANING you 80% to own your own home = they are in business to collect profit from your INTEREST, if you dont pay your monthly payment they are in a double loss.
Also, if after 10 years something DOES happen dont forget you have a variety of options available - credit, HELOC, and a 2nd mortgage..
Now the standards of owning a home are becoming strict (or normal might I say) that they do an extensive check before approving loan - from employment verificiation to DITI ratios...
And a home is a worthwhile risk having said ALL that any day over renting! 
I understand the lender's point of view, I am not asking for special favors. I just think that it is too scary to get into a situation like that where you can lose all of the thousands of dollars that you put into a home. I understand that is the best option and that it is a part of life, but there were times in my life when I didn't have enough money and not because I didn't plan for things, but because of unthinkable financial problems all hitting at once. For example, back when I was 20 years old, my dad had to return his car and take the bus to work, and at the same time my car broke down and I couldn't afford the $800 to fix it.
So I had no transportation to work and I couldn't get a ride so I had to quit. So I had to sit at home, calling around for jobs that were unavailable. I ran up my credit and used up all of my savings. Fortunately I have about $35,000 in the bank and 5 credit cards now, I had to earn all of that money myself, not a hand me down inheritance or anything since my family are losers. I just don't want to fall into those situations where you can be prepared for the worse but sometimes you have no choice.
*edit* I just read your post now Wonderin, kudos to you and thanks
@Anonymous wrote:
And FTR, typically, foreclosure on a home takes *waaaaayyyy* longer than 3 months. 9 months to a year is more like it. At least, in our neck of the woods, it is. YMMV.
Really? Around my part of the world it seems to happen like clockwork. After that third payment is missed *bam* you're in foreclosure. Of course, neither me or any close friends or relatives have had first hand experience, thank God, so I'm speaking entirely on secondhand knowledge.
But Fico, think of the alternatives. If you buy a house and get foreclosed on in 10 years, you will lose all your equity, sure. Now, if you hadn't bought a house and instead rented for those same 10 years, you wouldn't have any equity to lose. Your landlord would have all the equity 
. I am in the process of closing on a house the same size as the one I've been renting, but in a MUCH MUCH nicer part of town at the end of a dead-end street and my mortgage with taxes and insurance included is going to be $100 less than my monthly rent payment was.
So you can either pay monthly to build equity and risk losing it all, or "play it safe" and give your money to someone else, where it will do nothing for you. Just something to consider. I'm not saying that there is no risk with owning a home, you could buy a home and find out it has major problems that you are stuck with, whereas with a rental you would just move out. Things like that, but if you find a real keeper, it's worth it.
Starting Score: EQ: 665 - TU: 687
@thrasher865 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
And FTR, typically, foreclosure on a home takes *waaaaayyyy* longer than 3 months. 9 months to a year is more like it. At least, in our neck of the woods, it is. YMMV.Really? Around my part of the world it seems to happen like clockwork. After that third payment is missed *bam* you're in foreclosure. Of course, neither me or any close friends or relatives have had first hand experience, thank God, so I'm speaking entirely on secondhand knowledge.
I don't have any *real* first hand experience in it either, but I did scope the foreclosures (and felt REALLY guilty while I did it) and what I saw in our area was that going from Lis Penden to eviction (from talking to RE agents about those homes) took anywhere from 6-9 months. From that point on, it was "officially" foreclosed.
In fact, the home right next to us (which I've complained about since there are STILL no buyers -- and it's been on the market for almost a year) was a foreclosure. Up until about 5 months ago, the previous owner still had access to it. The bank that owns it now evicted him only in December ('08), whereas they initiated foreclosure proceedings that February ('08). At least, that's when the house first hit the court dockets as a Lis Penden.
Part of it, I think, might be the banks preference to keep someone *in* the home, rather than leave it open to vandalism, squatters, theft, arson, etc. THAT happened to the house next to us. Someone (and many believe it was the previous owner) completely trashed the place and stole ALL the appliances, sinks, toilets (canyabelieveit?), pipes, marble countertops, etc. Place was absolutely *gorgeous* at one time -- huge, very luxury - now it's a pit.
They even believe that squatters lived there for a while. What's weird is that this is a NICE nieghborhood. :/
It IS different in different states, though. Some states are super quick, whereas others are super slow. I think FL kinda hits around the middle, but closer to the slow end. :/