> You can sell the house and pay the bank $50,000, screwing the bank Prepayment doesn't really screw the bank. > or you can deliver the house to the bank and

> You can sell the house and pay the bank $50,000, screwing the bank Prepayment doesn't really screw the bank. > or you can deliver the house to the bank and pay them $0, screwing the bank much harder. And wreck your credit in the process-- and perhaps even owe the money, depending on whether your mortgage is non-recourse. > Meanwhile, you've lost... the opportunity to take out a second mortgage against the equity you had in your house? What was the equity doing for you? Meanwhile you've lost your entire down payment and your ability to purchase another house now. You either have to take a credit hit walking away and forfeit the down payment, or just stay stuck where you are now overpaying for a house vs. current values.