Wu's incident is a demonstration of how dangerous

it is to invest in real estate. We learned that he invested in quite a few properties (started in 2005). Even if the family makes $400K a year, they had to use a lot of leverage. I bet most of the properties have negative equity now. In this market, owning 2 or 3 can easily bankrupt you if you are not Donald Trump's brother. People say you can just sell a few - hey, you don't know how hard it is to sell if you don't want to take huge losses. The stress/pressure from those properties alone can drive him over the edge.

To be honest, I have less sympathy for Wu after I heard about his investments. If you want to take that knid of risks, you should be prepared for the consequencies, including your plan on what to do if the property prices go down and both you and your wife lose your jobs.