I bought in 2005, a 30-year fixed mortgage.  Kind of boring and conservative, no hype.  Tight squeeze but I'm still standing.  I knew I would be at about the same income in the years to come, and if not, the extra would not be extravagant and could go into savings or whatever I needed at the time.  How did people think they would pay for a sudden increase in mortgage/interest rates after 1-2 years?  Who advised them that they could refinance so easily once times got hard?  I feel that I am lucky but also that I did my homework... thank goodness I am not caught up in this mess.