Here's a bizarre preview of where prices could go if things REALLY went sideways. This house, priced at $4900, would have a four dollar mortgage payment, but the taxes are $111 a month.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1240- ... 946_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-list-address}
What's interesting is that the taxes have gone up over 400% in under five years. So the property value is falling, but the taxes are rising.
I have a couple houses, and I've been working furiously to pay them off. But I'm a bit nervous that we could experience something similar, where taxes are raised dramatically to compensate for a lack of homeowners.
In other words, what would Seattle look like if your property taxes eclipsed your mortgage?