Comment by immibis

But the buyer probably didn't think it was actually worth $400k intrinsically. They were bullied into paying $400k because (1) they need a house no matter what and (2) at least the government guarantees that there will be a bigger sucker down the line who will pay $500k.

It's the government's fault that this bigger-fool game even exists, because the buck always stops there. They might want to consider compensating people for the misery they caused.