This could still backfire on you though. Say that you buy a house for $500,000 today with a 5% down payment and another 2008-esqe event happens and the value drops to $350,000. You are going to be underwater for the first mortgage when it is time to refinance the loan. I don't see how a bank is going to let you take a new mortgage for $475,000 on a house that's appraised by the bank for $350,000.