A strategic walk away implies you could still afford the payments. Not my case. Given my age and the property value staying wouldn't make sense even if I could afford it. Plus, I have a deal I can't turn down. Move in with my brother who needs a roomie to make his payments and for far less than renting. I will miss my three car garage though.
Sorry you can't afford anymore. But still just as shitty if you can afford but have gotten a boat anchor of a place just due to timing (and people manipulating the market). Pretty shitty to buy your first house on no artificial equity hearing the age old adage that property is a good bet only to watch it all go to ****. We've lost over 45k in this place (in addition to being 70k upside down still) and yet many wouldn't have any sympathy for us if we needed to move on strictly because we could "afford" to still be in this house. That double standard pisses me off, money is money plain and simple, and when "debt income" is being forgiven on federal taxes through 2012 is sorta puts a time table to act on things... or be screwed where others are coming out ahead in the long run. The folks that bailed in 08 are already buying back in to the market and a percentage of what they walked out on, how they heck should the rest of us feel. (I don't mean those that watched their value rise and fall, I mean those that lost real money, or debt, on this hoax).