A home mortgage is secured by the home and is usually non-recourse. Your personal net worth can never go negative because of the mortgage liability. It's all up

A home mortgage is secured by the home and is usually non-recourse. Your personal net worth can never go negative because of the mortgage liability. It's all upside as far as the homeowner is concerned, or at least loss is limited to your initial down payment. The price for this is the interest rate you pay, which has factored into it a risk premium; and if you don't make the industry standard 20% down payment you literally pay for additional mortgage insurance. A secured, non-recourse loan is not a personal liability. In terms of accounting, it's its own thing, like a limited liability company. That's how you need to think of it. For better or worse there's no place in a cut-throat capitalist society for people who can't wrap their heads around that.