Comments on: Should You Buy a Home Right Now?

By: jaeleahlow

jaeleahlow — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:38:26 +0000

sres likely galactic ruddiman

By: Thomas Drozd

Thomas Drozd — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:54:01 +0000

A great article! All the main themes about good and bad are outlined but ther remains one key factor.
Most of us want a home to raise a family and though times are tough the time to buy is now. Already there are great values in home price declines and interest rates are low. Even though there is great debete over the current status of the economy and unemployment, the time to buy is now!
The key is how you pre-qualify for a mortgage and what your current credit status is. Get this done first before you check out homes. The emotional rollercoaster begins if you start looking for homes and fall in love with something you can’t afford or could not qualify to purchase inthe first place.
The biggest factors in getting a mortgage now is your awareness of problems within your credit report, proving income, having assets and being able to make the payments. Even though everyone talks interest rates, you don’t know what you qualify for until these items are put together in an application.

By: Ronald Greenwald

Ronald Greenwald — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:36:41 +0000

Buying a Home – Many factors going into that decision. Lifestyle, money, income taxes, cash flow, 1 year plan, 5 year plan, etc. plus lots of EMOTION…. The first thing is you have to live somewhere. Then is to look at the R.I.C.E….Reserves, Income, Credit, and Equity (downpayment)….Is this the right time – It may be for YOU!

By: Zach

Zach — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:41:24 +0000

That article rocked. Especially the illusion of a deal. It is true, comparitively speaking prices are way down, but they are also probably right around where they should have been in the first place years ago during the bust.

By: w_aspiration

w_aspiration — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:53:48 +0000

I agree if you live in an expensive neighborhood, you may be better off by renting. Not only that, instead of using the money for down payment, mortgage, property tax, and maintenance of a house in expensive area (eg: West Hollywood or San Francisco), you can invest that money to buy residential rental in different area, or maybe out of state, and pocket cash 6%-10% every year. Especially right now, you can find many houses that are 70% off from the peak and houses that cost less than their construction cost (you get the land for free).

This article will open your mind: http://wealthaspiration.blogspot.com/2009/05/when-renting-is-smart-financial.html

By: Cali

Cali — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:36:42 +0000

PS the low rates are what got us into this mess. What happens to the housing prices when the rates jump to a normal 7-8% range. You got it, the prices go down….

By: Cali

Cali — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:29:59 +0000

Socal still isn’t cheap. Any place you would want to live, is still pretty expensive. If your looking for something cheap and looking Inland you will be living with Gang Bangers everywhere and guns going off every ten minutes.

If you look towards the beach, your still paying 500k plus, for a 1500 sq ft home that front the street and backs a brick wall out your kitchen window. Not to mention the HOA’s and Mello Roos. In Irvine’s Woodbury you can buy a two story 1035 sq ft condo for 550k, with a $300 per month HOA where everything is cloned to look the same.

Reality is, the banks are on to the repo’s and short sales. Say they have a home in an area that ranges around 500k. They put it up for sale at 250k and then begin a bidding war with all the crazed buyers. They say it’s a closed bid but every time an offer is submitted, they tell you on the sly, if you want it you will have to go higher. Then there is the “highest and best” gig, that they give you five times until the price is up to 550k and some sucker thinks they have just bought the Trump Plaza out from everyone.

If you really want a good deal, get your real estate license and sit at the front desk of some sap real estate company. When a desperate buyer comes in, tell them you have an investor to buy it asap. Then buy it before anyone finds out, then quit.

Reality Real estate in 2009.

By: Kent F

Kent F — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:01:18 +0000

Yes, it is impossible to time a market bottom. But, with low int. rates and the new Obama $8K credit, activity is increasing in Texas.

By: Philly Guy

Philly Guy — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:39:03 +0000

I am in Philadelphia. We were late to the housing party (only 8 new condo towers built… unlike Miami, 50+ of them).

Average house prices here in the city went over $200K back in 2007 and stayed above there for a short while, but they have only gone down a smidge.

Instead of following all the economic mumbo jumbo, I’ve been focused only on one driver: our local job market. It seems I will have to wait a bit longer than the other first time homebuyers. The mass layoffs have only now started to impact the City as there are a lot of folks in the City who either have a municipal, state or Federal job, a healthcare job, or an education job… all of which are strong sectors even in this downturn.

But the bright spot on the horizon is that one of our other industries, legal (we have a LOT of lawyers in Philly) is being hit very hard. The city’s oldest and one of its largest lawfirms dissolved two weeks ago and 15 other law firms in the city have all had layoffs.

About half the legal workforce in Philadelphia lives in the city, so I’d recon it would take about a year for those layoffs to show up in the housing market as those people leave Philadelphia and need to sell off their high-end properties.

Once those houses are up for sale and the Option-ARM resets kick in next year, we should be getting some nice deals.

If interest rates go back up to 5.5% I will still have lower payments by waiting to buy a 4-story rowhome for $180K versus buying the same house now at 4.9% for $265K.

This article also doesn’t include property taxes, and in Philadelphia those are increasing by a whopping 16-20%! It would be much more advantageous for me to wait and let existing homeowners get socked with the property tax hikes which would convince more people to move out of the city and lower property values.

By: Allie

Allie — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:59:09 +0000

I’m looking at buying a home next year any knowledge helps; I especially like your idea of testing out the monthly budget you’ll need when you buy a home – Great idea! Not only would that allow me to be certain I can afford a home, but it will help me increase my down payment.