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Best time to buy a house

A

Aimster

Lifer
I figured I would post this in P&N. I have been looking at homes for the last 6 months. There are a lot of homes on the market.

Fixed Interest Rates are around 5.1-5.3 APR. Pretty good.
I also like that $7,500 tax 'loan' for first time home buyers. I heard rumors of it going to $10,000 and not a loan.

Any signs that the prices will continue to drop or rise in the next couple of months? What about interest rates?
 
I'd say it depends on where you are buying. Some real estate markets have stayed relatively steady despite the bubble bursting. If you are in one of those areas that has fluctuated wildly during this recent downturn, I'd say hold off for a little bit longer unless it is a real steal. Otherwise you should be fine. It definitely is a buyer's market if you qualify for a decent mortgage.
 
You are in a pretty good market, being in the DC area. Most of those people won't lose their jobs because the FEDS must keep running. Having said that, this is a very volatile market. If it were my choice, I'd wait another year. Home prices certainly aren't going to rise much, if at all, in a year, but home prices may fall a lot if we get into a very deep recession. These are just my humble opinions. I don't have a crystal ball.

Good luck!

-Robert
 
I think it's a pretty good time. I'm in the process of buying one right now. It's a short sale, the owner has like 450k left on his note and I'm getting it for 310k. And I plan on using that first time buyers tax credit as well. I wouldn't be able to afford such a nice place and piece of property here on Long Island if it werent for the housing mess.


edit: and I'm getting an interest rate of 4.87% on a 30 year fixed.
 
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Originally posted by: spidey07
There has probably never been a better time to buy than right now.
Click to expand...

Until next year.

It was much better to buy in 2000 than it is to buy now.
Click to expand...

Housing prices are supposed to be driven by wage inflation. What is happening to wages right now? They're getting decimated. It seems we could see more price drops. Of course, if you're in it for the long haul now is probably a decent time.
 
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Originally posted by: spidey07
There has probably never been a better time to buy than right now.
Click to expand...

Until next year.

It was much better to buy in 2000 than it is to buy now.
Click to expand...

That's where hindsight is 20/20 and true foresight is impossible. There are so many opportunities right now it's not even funny.

Do what another anesthesiologist buddy of mine did - finance homebuilders. If the house don't sell you still own the property and the land for much less than current market value.
 
Originally posted by: Aimster
where did you get 4.87? That's a great deal.

The lowest I found was Wachovia
Click to expand...

HSBC. Got in their Community Works program; you have to earn less than 78k combined. So my girl and I jumped on it before we get some real nice raises next year. If we close later than Jan 31 we won't qualify anymore and we will be looking at something in the area of 5.2 I think was our last quote. Not too much of a difference but 4.87 is real nice, so we're trying to sneak on in.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Originally posted by: spidey07
There has probably never been a better time to buy than right now.
Click to expand...

Until next year.

It was much better to buy in 2000 than it is to buy now.
Click to expand...

That's where hindsight is 20/20 and true foresight is impossible. There are so many opportunities right now it's not even funny.

Do what another anesthesiologist buddy of mine did - finance homebuilders. If the house don't sell you still own the property and the land for much less than current market value.
Click to expand...

Interesting.........................


Of course here in Sacramento, you have to pretty much give real estate away. I think in some areas around here you may be seeing a bottoming soon though, as prices have fallen 60-70% from the peak, the higher end areas that havent dropped as much still have a ways to go and will get hit by the alt-a reset/cast in the next 2 years.

Foresight was very possible in 2005 though, every realtor and mortgage banker was telling me to buy as big a house as possible since real estate only goes up.
 
Originally posted by: chess9
You are in a pretty good market, being in the DC area. Most of those people won't lose their jobs because the FEDS must keep running. Having said that, this is a very volatile market. If it were my choice, I'd wait another year. Home prices certainly aren't going to rise much, if at all, in a year, but home prices may fall a lot if we get into a very deep recession. These are just my humble opinions. I don't have a crystal ball.

Good luck!

-Robert
Click to expand...

What happens when tax receipts are down next year and China/sovereign funds balk at further loans? I ask because that's what's going to happen and it's unprecedented historically. I guess the Fed will just print it to pay the federal employees- a huge flat tax in everyone - causing inflation. Perhaps it is a good time.
 
Im curious as well. My fiancee and I are hopefully going to be in the market sometime mid next year, looking at June ideally. We live in the Florida area and there are TONS of foreclosures around here currently.
 
Bought an 'investment' home this week out of state in Phoenix. Did it because a friend needs a place to live, but I'm optimistic about it as an investment. Got it 75% off peak.
 
Phoenix is one of the markets the story highlighted. Poor guy bought his house for 300K and it's worth like 80 now. What's worrisome was the vacancy rate within the neighborhood may not signal the end. Frankly anything to me in Phoenix is worthless simply because if we do go into another real depression you can't grow food there. Bottom could really approach zero there but good luck.
 
Originally posted by: Zebo
Phoenix is one of the markets the story highlighted. Poor guy bought his house for 300K and it's worth like 80 now. What's worrisome was the vacancy rate within the neighborhood may not signal the end. Frankly anything to me in Phoenix is worthless simply because if we do go into another real depression you can't grow food there. Bottom could really approach zero there but good luck.
Click to expand...

I'm doubting that gorwing food is likely to be a real factor in the real estate market. Some numbers on Phoenix look good as turning around; for whatever reason the sales seem to be picking up, I'd looked at a few properties outside Phoenix in Buckey that had been on the marktet for 150 to 500 days, prices slashed, and all got bought in the last week or so as I was getting ready to make an offer.
 
Clark Howard was talking about the fact that we may have as many as 5 million too many homes in the country and that it will take years to work that inventory off.

So if you are in a state that did a lot of building prices will stay lower or go lower, but in a more stable market we should hit bottom faster.

Places like Las Vegas may see lower housing prices for years and years due to all the building. I am guessing the same would go for any of the fastest growing places in the country.
 
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Clark Howard was talking about the fact that we may have as many as 5 million too many homes in the country and that it will take years to work that inventory off.

So if you are in a state that did a lot of building prices will stay lower or go lower, but in a more stable market we should hit bottom faster.

Places like Las Vegas may see lower housing prices for years and years due to all the building. I am guessing the same would go for any of the fastest growing places in the country.
Click to expand...

Clark Howard is based in Atlanta.

I wonder if he has a close igure for Georgia where the whole northeast corner of the state was blown out with massive empty subdivisions I witness being built from 2000 to 2004.

I left in 2004 and many more were still being built.

Many of them were up to 60,000 homes with a Fire Station built in them.

Probably 600,000 empty house in Georgia alone.
 
I'm no Expert, but suspect Home Prices have a ways to fall yet. First, it seems to me, having secure Employment should be the first consideration. If you get Laid Off you will be screwed, so you might want to wait a bit until the Economy begins to show some signs of Growth. Home Prices and Interest Rates are unlikely to Grow at any significant rate until a turn around is underway. So you should have time to wait and likely get a better deal at the same time. You can also stash more of a Down Payment in the meantime.
 
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Clark Howard was talking about the fact that we may have as many as 5 million too many homes in the country and that it will take years to work that inventory off.

So if you are in a state that did a lot of building prices will stay lower or go lower, but in a more stable market we should hit bottom faster.

Places like Las Vegas may see lower housing prices for years and years due to all the building. I am guessing the same would go for any of the fastest growing places in the country.
Click to expand...

That's nonsense, insofar as it ignores the thact that it has built-in assumptions about how many people in the US 'should' have homes.

There are people who prefer a greater concentration of wealth with lower wages and more poverty where the 'right' number of owned homes is lower.

And there are people - let's call them liberals - who prefer a goal as close as possible to not having a 'poor' class and having as many people as possible own homes.
 
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Clark Howard was talking about the fact that we may have as many as 5 million too many homes in the country and that it will take years to work that inventory off.

So if you are in a state that did a lot of building prices will stay lower or go lower, but in a more stable market we should hit bottom faster.

Places like Las Vegas may see lower housing prices for years and years due to all the building. I am guessing the same would go for any of the fastest growing places in the country.
Click to expand...

Clark Howard is based in Atlanta.

I wonder if he has a close igure for Georgia where the whole northeast corner of the state was blown out with massive empty subdivisions I witness being built from 2000 to 2004.

I left in 2004 and many more were still being built.

Many of them were up to 60,000 homes with a Fire Station built in them.

Probably 600,000 empty house in Georgia alone.
Click to expand...
How about probably not. Nationally there are just over 2M vacant homes. Georgia has 10M population, 3.3% of the country. You think they have 30% of its empty homes? Kids, this is why an education is so very important, so chances are you're off by a magnitude of 10.
 
Originally posted by: Zebo
Originally posted by: chess9
You are in a pretty good market, being in the DC area. Most of those people won't lose their jobs because the FEDS must keep running. Having said that, this is a very volatile market. If it were my choice, I'd wait another year. Home prices certainly aren't going to rise much, if at all, in a year, but home prices may fall a lot if we get into a very deep recession. These are just my humble opinions. I don't have a crystal ball.

Good luck!

-Robert
Click to expand...

What happens when tax receipts are down next year and China/sovereign funds balk at further loans? I ask because that's what's going to happen and it's unprecedented historically. I guess the Fed will just print it to pay the federal employees- a huge flat tax in everyone - causing inflation. Perhaps it is a good time.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. Who will buy our Bonds and Bills? Who can afford them? If we cannot borrow money we will be in one helluva' pickle, eh?

I wouldn't expect retrenchment in the Federal Government under Obama. He may surprise us, but that doesn't seem likely in this economy.

-Robert
 
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