How are ya SmartMoney!
When I say " they own their investment property" I should have said "own".
Property "Owners" (they do own some of the equity in the property they have a mortgage on, (or perhaps more accurately the definition should be:- people who live in the house they have a mortgage on rather than "owners") borrow against their equity in the house they CURRENTLY have a mortgage on. Australian Banks offer this facility.
An associate of mine borrowed A$200,000 from a bank 8 years ago, had A$50,000 of his own money and bought a house for just under A$250,000 He currently has another A$130,000 to pay off on his mortgage.
His property was (over)valued by a Real Estate Agent ( who did not disclose he acted for his bank!) at A$350,000 so the equity he already has in his existing house used to buy an 'investment property' built over a garbage dump which no one has even looked like renting.
Multiply this scenario by approvomately a factor of tens if not hundreds and thousands and you have the dreaded>>>> PROPERTY GLUT.
When you "buy" a house with a loan from a bank, the bank OWNS the title until you pay off the interest plus principle.
A lot of people have negative equity in "their" properties at the moment.:eek: