Is it just me, or is something not making sense up in this story I saw on msnbc.com today.
I'm not making a ton of money, but I'd like to think that if I were a project manager, I'd be making enough to afford the $130,000 house, especially after 7 years of equity put into it, commute be damned. 50 miles RT isn't so bad compared to other people.
Even if you put $15,000 plus 'sweat equity', for new appliances, etc. you think they'd still be able to make mortgage payments on one salary. That's not a lot at all.

Foreclosure proceeding costs, rental and deposit costs; how could that possibly be cheaper than maintaining the mortgage in a house that you own after 7 years and sucking up the commute, unless maybe you're driving a military H1 Hummer with the worst mpg known.

What's the long term cost of a foreclosure? Are people really that shortsighted?
Story is as follows...
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When the Mitchells bought their modular home in rural Platteville, Colo., north of Denver, they were among the many Americans trading a long commute for an affordable house.

Seven years later, the Mitchells are making another, more painful trade. Their housing woes compounded by the growing cost of Brian’s 50-mile roundtrip commute, the couple recently decided to let their home to fall into foreclosure. Instead, they are renting a house that is biking distance from Brian’s job.

The Mitchells had bought the house in 2001, for $129,900, with the intention of fixing it up and selling it for a profit. But in 2005, when they put the house on the market, interest was tepid at best.

The couple decided to put more money into improving the house, in the hopes that it would stand out among comparable homes in the area. In the end, they plowed some $15,000 and countless hours of sweat equity into the improvements, using credit cards and a loan against a 401(k) account to fund some upgrades.

Still, the house didn’t sell, even when they dropped the price from $126,000 to $122,000. In the meantime, gas prices skyrocketed, which added to their own expenses and made their rural home even less attractive.

The couple, who have two kids, found themselves using credit cards for everyday expenses, like groceries and bills. Even trips to church were curtailed to save on gas. Finally, they decided that their only option was to let the bank take the house.

“Sometimes, in surgery, amputation is the best solution,” Brian Mitchell said.
As the foreclosure proceeds, the Mitchells have rented a house in Longmont, west of Platteville toward Boulder, Colo., that is nicer than the one they had owned. It's also less than five miles from Brian’s job as a project manager. Although the rent is more than their former mortgage payment, Brian, 43, said that, with gas savings, they are still coming out ahead. The move into town is allowing the couple to downsize to just one car.

“It was a tough decision for us to decide to let the house go into foreclosure, but I’ll tell you what, once we made it … it was very liberating, actually,” he said.

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85' 300D No inspection, No registration fees, Cheap insurance
"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious %$&^."