I don't disagree and think you're absolutely right for pointing this out, but I wouldn't claim (not that you did) that the bucket of those that were ill equippe

I don't disagree and think you're absolutely right for pointing this out, but I wouldn't claim (not that you did) that the bucket of those that were ill equipped to understand the financial responsibilities of owning a home is composed mostly of individuals with poor credit score that were taken advantage of by predatory actors. Of course there were many (if not most) individuals that were unfortunately taken advantage of in this manner. But anecdotally and for what it's worth, all of the people I know impacted by the crisis were educated, financially savvy and secure individuals. For them it wasn't a matter of owning a house or being homeless, no reason to lie on a mortgage application just to have a roof over their heads. They had good incomes and credit history. They could be approved without having to inflate applications or go with the ARM-heavy options. Instead they chose the interest-only, deluxe option. I recall having conversations with many of these individuals about how they could afford these amazing places (along with the new convertible BMW) and how they tried to convince me that the interest-only option combined with increasing equity and the historical trend of property prices, yada... was a wise financial decision. How property is an investment, and they plan to eventually use their equity to buy more property. So on and so on. I can't remember all of the details bc it didn't really seem to make sense and sounded way too risky and optimistic. What I do remember is being completely crushed hearing and seeing all of this and knowing I was priced out of the market unless I took on a similarly risky position. I accepted the idea that I would never be able to afford a house. I was even more upset when I saw the way that most of these individuals were "bailed out". Sure they lost their homes, but at least they weren't financially ruined. They have since improved their credit-worthiness and seemingly made better financial decisions, but my point is financially healthy individuals who knew better contributed to this crisis as well. They knew that the income they put on the application was inflated. They knew that the interest rates could change in the future and only paying interest was risky. They knew that a smaller, less expensive house was good enough. They knew that also buying that luxury car was exposing them even more.