[wutbrodo]

At some level, it's a pretty reasonable definition: having all your liquidity tied up in a single asset doesn't make a lot of sense, so having a house with a mortgage secured on it is just a way of getting somewhere between renting and buying outright without having to swing to the other extreme. The main risk you're faced with is a drastic drop in value right after you buy it, but that shouldn't affect your day-to-day if your payments were affordable in the first place.

[mark-r]

That was the point of the article though, payments that are affordable today may not be tomorrow if your income takes a hit.

[wutbrodo]

Right of course, which is why some estimate of future expected income is important, including a buffer for lowered income in the future.