Real Estate, Good Time To Buy? (page 2)

allreadygone

Buy Buy Buy, No one ever gets rich buying at the top of the market. And if you wait till the so called bottom you will probably miss out.
Plus the tax advantages will always make up for any down side, especially if you plan on staying in it long term. And rates are great right now. Just don't over extend your self and you will be fine.
We are contracting on two great commercial properties and a high end home that we are going to get at 80% of currant build cost, we will hold them for 5 to 10 years or until the next boom and make some good cash. Mean time we get rent from the commercial, and the capital gains on the home will probably be tax free.

Gone

llbh

You guys read my mind. Hear in the Uk we a little behind you, so we are still going down. Am seriously going to look at the US later this year

David

Liberty

Look for a foreclosure. We just bought a house which just last year was tax valued for $228,300.00 for just $175,400.00. The interest rates are pretty reasonable too. When else can you get $52,900.00 in equity before your first mortgage payment is even made? Even if the market continued to fall it would take a lot of dropping to erase that much equity. In just a few years I think things will be back on the way up even if very slowly. If you can afford it and can get a great deal now is a great time to buy.

lisaBObeesa

Prices are going down. They are not done going down. They have a long way to go. I'd wait.

(ETA: I'm in the Bay Area, California...and we have farther to drop than most areas, IMO.)

VoidEater

Prices have not yet bottomed out. But when they are at rock bottom, everything for sale will have more defects and there will be no "wiggle room" for negotiating - it will be "take it or leave it, as-is" on everything. This might be a good time to buy, the remaining losses in value will likely be recouped in a fairly short time.

Hope4Others

Where we are the market is so hot, if you list today your assured its sold within two days. Its hard to find what you want fast enough

before the other guy gets it. Our house has tripled in value since last August according to appraisers.

h4o

sir82

When else can you get $52,900.00 in equity before your first mortgage payment is even made?

Isn't "equity" measured by "current market value" vs. "amount owed"?

If the current market value is $175,400, and you owe $175,400, where does the $52,000 in equity come from? Or do you know of buyers who would be soon willing to pay last year's hyper-inflated, edge-of-the-bubble market (over)value?

Of course, you will likely gain some equity in time, the market value will probably climb past $175,000...but in looking at the historical trend in real estate (ignoring bubbles), how many years until the property is worth $228,000 again?

Liberty

No argument here sir82. We should always be cautious. However, the exact same style new sells in the same nieghborhood now for $224,900.00. we need a house and the price is right so I'll be happy to take even the $49,500 in equity. Even if values drop another 10% We'll still be ahead. I just brought up the tax value as a measure of where it could go in a few years.

No worries though if it doesn't, the house is well worth what we are paying for it to us and ultimately that is what matters. We can afford the payments and get a very nice nearly new house. If housing values start dropping by huge percentages then there will be other things happening which are more important to worry about.

I still think if you have the money, a stable job, and can qualify for a loan now is a great time to buy, especially if you can get a foreclosure in good shape.

jaguarbass

Are you having a recession in Indonesia also?

Dorktacular

Now is definitely time to buy. My wife and I purchased a house in September. This house would have been way out of our price range 2 years ago, but in September we got the house for 35% less than asking price, which was already significantly below the original asking price that was established 2 years ago. My advice is buy now, but only if you plan on living in the home for at least 5 years. By then, the market should have corrected itself and stablilized. If you're thinking of buying a house as an investment or to "flip" it, think long and hard about that because you may have to hang on to the house for months or years longer than desired. Scrutinize everything. Check the neighborhood. Check the county tax office and see what houses in the neigborhood have been selling for. See how many homes have been sold and how many times. Don't rush in to buy a house in a neighborhood where "turnover" is an issue. Just because the neighboring houses are clean and quiet now doesn't mean that they'll stay that way when people are constantly moving in and out. Check the local police blotter to see what crime or disturbances, if any, occur in your prospective neighborhood. Drive through the neighborhood at different times of day/night and different days of the week. You don't want to buy a house in a neighborhood that looks nice, only to find out after you've moved in that your neighbor is a long-haul trucker and likes to park his rig in front of your house when he's home once a week! Or, even better, you find out your neighbors are Jehovah's Witnesses and they like to get their field service time started every Saturday morning by knocking on your door! Find out what schools your kids will be going to and research the reputation of those schools. Even if you don't have kids, access to schools and school reputation are big factors when selling the home in the future. Finally, if there's something you don't like about the home or the neighborhood, don't settle unless the price is just too good to pass up. The market is such that you can be extremely picky and pretty much get any consessions from the seller that you want.

Real Estate, Good Time To Buy?

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