From: "John Brayton" 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.financial-plan
Subject: Re: Housing price bubble
Date: 28 Aug 2004 09:05:00 GMT
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If you not confident with your ability to make mortgage payments on
time, you might consider selling now.  Also, if you plan to stay in the
house for only a short period of time anyway (fewer than five years?),
you might consider selling now.

If neither of those are the case, there is little to protect yourself
from.  Your home *may* decrease significantly in value over the next
couple years.  But, in all likelihood, it will go back up over time.
And it may not even decrease.  Regardless, *if* you plan to stay in the
house for many years and you are able to make payments, then the value
of the house until that time is barely relevant.  You could sell, and
then try to buy another home if/when housing prices decrease.  But even
if they decrease significantly, the transaction costs and rent payment
would likely cost you more than you would gain.

That said, the one thing you *can* do is increase the equity of your
home.  You can do that by putting extra money towards the principal of
your mortgage.  

John