Re:earthquake/tsunami insurance? (Score 1)

Sure, you are still out of 100K, but if you could afford (say) a 500K house, you most likely can afford again a mortgage for 100K.

Earthquake insurance is expensive, and this is why it is not incredibly foolish not to have one. If you bought the house, you can usually also afford to rebuild. On the other hand, if you lost most of the value of the property, so that nobody would lend you money to rebuild, you would be in far more trouble.

Weird, but true. There is an advantage in paying a lot for the land: it's harder to destroy than the house!