You clearly weren’t in the real estate market in 2008, I suggest you google “real estate short sale”. If you loan someone money to buy a house, you are betting

You clearly weren’t in the real estate market in 2008, I suggest you google “real estate short sale”. If you loan someone money to buy a house, you are betting that either they will be able to pay or that the market will appreciate enough that all of the costs of foreclosure and resale will be less than the sale price of the house. Both things being false at the same time in 2008 ruined Lehman brothers because they had the same thought you’re expressing here. Their gamble didn’t pay off.