HousingWire’s cover story for February is on Strategic Default, so it’s nice to be ahead of the curve…especially considering the balance of research versus a profile of an actual strategic defaulter, which we offer. And while there are plenty of question marks in this piece, don’t be discouraged, as the research side is fairly represented: The New York Times has run a couple of articles in recent weeks about whether it makes sense to walk away from a mortgage that is bigger than the house is now worth. In a recent paper cited in an article on Sunday, “Underwater, but Will They Leave the Pool?” a University of Arizona law professor, Brent White, explained how the vast majority of underwater homeowners continue to make mortgage payments even if it might make more financial sense for them to strategically default and walk away.