When Equity Isn’t Enough—Are We Underestimating the Role of Liquidity?

[David Litt]

I’ve been having more conversations lately with homeowners and small investors who are technically in a strong equity position—but financially stressed. It’s a strange dynamic: on paper, they’re "wealthy," but in reality, they’re juggling credit card debt, rising insurance premiums, tax hikes, and sometimes even skipping maintenance to stay afloat.

What really struck me is how often liquidity gets overlooked. People focus so much on appreciation, ARVs, and long-term gains—but when life hits (job loss, medical bills, major repairs), equity can’t be accessed quickly or cheaply. Especially not in today’s rate environment.

Some folks are quietly opening HELOCs just to have a safety net—even if they don’t plan to draw on them. Others are holding on, hoping to ride it out, but every delay makes the margin for error thinner.

So here’s my question to the community:
In this market, are you putting more emphasis on preserving liquidity over chasing equity gains?
And how are you personally preparing for possible income disruptions or emergency expenses—even if you feel “safe” today?

Curious to hear different perspectives. I feel like this is one of those quiet topics we should be talking more openly about.

[Jay Hinrichs]

being and investor and having CC debt that has interest rates attached to it is really bad in my mind.. no liquidity and have CC high rate debt bad combo..