[photon]

That depends on your purchase agreement.. usually there are conditions when you make an offer to purchase, one of those conditions being financing.

Usually though there's a date where you waive the financing condition (which means you have satisfied yourself that you have or will have a mortgage in place to close), and usually that date is very close to the time you place the offer, not close to the time when you actually close.

Without knowing the details of the agreement it's hard to say, but unless your agreement is unusual I'd say it's highly likely you'd stand to forfeit your down payment if you walked away.

The rental market is still fairly strong, though specifically the condo rental market is softer and will continue to get worse IMO because of the huge # of condos coming on the market in the next while, a large chunk of which are people who purchased for the intent of flipping, can't and now have to rent to try and cover themselves.

You can always rent it out, the question will be will you be able to rent it out for enough to cover your mortgage.