From Rain City Guide: Should I Buy A House Now?
November 13th, 2008 categories: Coconut Grove Real Estate
Rain City Guide’s Ardell DellaLoggia has a great series of posts titled “Should I Buy A Home Now“?
Ardell writes: “A lender tells you whether or not you CAN buy a house, not whether or not you SHOULD buy a house. An agent helps you select which house, and guides you through the process of buying a house. Only YOU can answer the question of whether or not you SHOULD buy a house, and this series is designed to assist you and give you confidence in your decision.”
Check it out here:
- Part I: Should I Buy A House Now?
- Part II: Count All The Money You Wasted This Year
- Part III: Don’t Pay Off Bad Credit
I expect the series to be at least 25 posts and possibly 100 that take you from square 1 which could be a student in high school, to moving into the new house which for some people could be 10 years out.
It’s to help people know the whole process LONG before they do things counter to their objective. It helps them conserve the housing component of their income on a long term basis.
http://www.raincityguide.com/category/first-hundred-days/
The above link to the Category “First 100 Days” will update your readers as I write subsequent posts in the series and will, by the end, contain all posts via one link.
Pros of purchasing now: 1) Interest rates are near all time lows currently. It is hard to find cheaper mortgage money than 5%. 2) Prices are competitive right now with some areas seeing double digit declines.
Cons of purchasing now: Markets could go lower yet. However trying to time the bottom of the real estate market can be very difficult.
Ultimately it is a personel decision that you have to be comfortable with and be able to live with in the future. Good luck to you!
Jonathan
A deal is not a GOOD deal if it’s not a GOOD property. You can be the buy cheapest deal in the neighborhood and still not have gotten a good deal. Who cares what you paid for your home if no one wants to live there after you.
There are three factors that go into finding a good real estate deal. #1 - Product. Right now our market still has great quality homes on the market. Those buyers that are trying to “time” the market will miss out on the good product. #2 - Price. We will never see real estate prices this low again. Maybe you buy a few months before the “bottom” but, you did it to get the great house and you did it as a long term investment. Purchasing power has never been higher. #3 - Interest Rates. How much are you paying to borrow your money. Interest rates affect purchasing power more than anything because they cause the buyer’s monthly payment to fluctuate more than anything. As far as timing the market?… look to interest rates for where the bottom will settle. We are there.
That said… Is now a good time to buy? There has never been better!