When to buy ?

[vman650]

Originally Posted by nhkev

I could not agree with you more if you don't like the area you're going to be unhappy no matter what price you pay. and if you love the area and plan on holding a property for awhile. you'll probably be pretty happy

Very well stated. Most people do not understand that even if you sell your house for less than what you paid for it, you are still a big winner. Assume that you pay $1200 a month for your mortgage or 1200 in rent. Regardless of what real estate does, you will not get a penny back after 10 years. Suppose, on the house, you put down 20,000 and paid 120,000 for the home on a 10 year mortgage. You now sell the house and LOSE 40,000, so you get back 80,000. Further suppose that you spent 15,000 on repairs , 20,000 in taxes and 20,000 on insurance. You still are ahead by 25,000. Now you must also factor in the money you saved on your federal taxes because of the house tax deduction. Say this is 10,000. You end up with 35,000 more than the renter did. The assumption here is that the mortgage payment is about the same as what you will pay in rent. These numbers are fictitious, but I think you get the point. Many people will not say they made out great on the house, but instead they will suppose that they lost 40,000. To determine if a house is a good buy, you must compare it to the alternative, renting. Furthermore, when you buy it is yours and you are at liberty to do with it what you wish. As a renter, you are at the mercy of someone else.

[vman650]

Sorry, I forgot to subtract out the 20,000. You are still 5,000 to the good. This is very inaccurate, but I am trying to get a point across. As a general rule, renting stinks.

[hiknapster]

It really depends. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you win.

I bought a house last year and I am probably losing a bit, at this point. I'm in Knoxville, TN, so different ballgame. I bought $49,000 under asking. It was of those things that I fell into, plus he was asking too much. Rentals are a bit lower than my mortgage, but not by much. You are right, you have to add in insurance, taxes, maintenance, etc.

But nothing compares to being able to paint your walls any color that you want. My gosh, what a difference. I'm 47 and this is my first house.

Sorry to gush on like this.

Anyway, you still have to account for the circumstances. When we left Fort Myers, in 2005, people were buying houses that were selling for $65,000 in 2000 and now were worth $250,000. It was the same dump and the area mostly had service jobs and construction. Someday the party would end and construction would go away, leaving only Walmart.

Now that place is selling for what, $50,000? Have it inspected and buy it, especially if you are a retiree that managed to sell your home up north.

It just all depends. Unfortunately, the time to buy is when there is blood in the streets.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by Chicken Wing

Don't forget about the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers if you buy before December 1, 2009.

I believe you need to occupy the home by Nov 30, but not 100% sure. I read that if you close after 11/30, you will be disqualified. This is one reason I don't want to play around with short sales. It's also 10% of the price up to a maximum of $8,000. So if you buy a condo for $50,000 you will get a maximum of $5,000. I'm trying to get all the details, since I qualify. The government is calling it a rebate since most people will get a check for the entire amount. I assume if you owe the IRS, they'll deduct the amount from the check, however!

I agree with those who wrote it's always good to buy when the market is soft. I was only saying that if someone needs to move in a hurry, in areas where there is a lot of inventory, you might take a loss. I've been looking at homes and people are practically begging me to buy. To me this means it's a good time for buyers, but it also lets me know I might not be able to sell quickly if my life changes. This happened to me before, so I want to be careful. I bought a house in NH in 1987 and my company downsized a few years later, closing my office. For years the market was down and people were losing 20% or more, and it really hurt me. I knew one man who paid $160,000 for a townhouse and the one across the street went for $85,000 at auction. Eventually I had to move and lost my downpayment, all my equity and the money I paid for improvements like a new furnace. So while it's true that a soft market is good for buyers, it's bad for sellers. I'm very eager to buy, so I probably was misunderstood. I'm keeping a careful eye on the news, plus I don't want to live in an area where investors are scooping up properties to rent.

[nhkev]

my house in new hampshire was worth about $500k in 2006 is now worth maybe $450k property hasn't depreciated too much because we didn't have as big of a runnup in the area I live and unemployment in my county is only 5.3% I've been looking at buying a house around indy and a house which was $500k may now only be going for $350k so sometimes even in a down market it can make a lot of sense to sell lower because whatever you buy may be lower too.