That's where collateral comes in. I guess the credit card analogy only works in the likening it to cash aspect. For the other aspects a mortgage might be a bett

That's where collateral comes in. I guess the credit card analogy only works in the likening it to cash aspect. For the other aspects a mortgage might be a better analogy. The little guy had cash in hand for maybe 24 hours (and even then probably just a certified check). Maybe a little later, say 10 years in they get a home equity line of credit and the bank takes back the previously paid off part of the house as collateral again. I don't doubt repossession of the little guy's house is easier and happens more often than a Bezos loosing his collateral :) and for every Bezos there are probably quite a few small and medium business owners that put their businesses as collateral to get that line of credit and that did get repossessed.