Buy or Rent (real estate market, to rent, houses)

[donsabi]

I was going to buy a house, but with the RE market still dropping I am wondering how deep this bottom will be. I am now thinking about renting until the housing market settles down. I will be looking in the Tri-City area in April.
I would like to hear comments from other potential buyers but all comments are appreciated.
Thanks, Don

[adiostexas]

Hi Don,
We moved here in December and are holding off on buying for now. This is obviously making life a little difficult in a temporary situation.

We moved from Dallas/Ft Worth area, and there are so many people moving around there all the time that you can get your house sold. The market had stagnated a little there in Dec. but was still pretty good. As a former Texas Real Estate Agent, I feel pretty lucky that we bailed out when we did.

So here we are and I'm feeling the same eerie feeling you are. The scariest part to me is there's not a lot of moving around done here (compared to the city), and I don't want to be stuck trying to sell for a whole year if I decide I want to make a move. If the market drops, then you lose money too.

If you plan to stay there for a long time it may not matter much. Or if you buy something that you could rent out if you move that might work too.

But hey, if I could predict the stock market and the real estate market I would be a gazillionaire. So what do I know?

[jabogitlu]

I think renting is a good option, regardless, until you can get a feel for the city, its traffic patterns and where you'd like to live!

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I think renting is a good option, regardless, until you can get a feel for the city, its traffic patterns and where you'd like to live!

I agree, this is a great reason to rent. Make sure this is the city/town/neighborhood you like and want to live in. However if your only reason to rent is waiting for prices to drop, not so sure about that. Prices are not going down in this area, but seeing steady equity growth. Now, are there houses on the market that are over priced to begin with? You bet. But because those prices are reduced in order to sell, does that mean prices are going down? No. My 2 cents is if you find the house that you love and want to make your home and aren't looking to "flip and make a buck" then buy. Rates are LOW. Don't over buy to "Keep up with the Jones" and you should be fine.