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If you're renting, I say wait until the lease is up, and re-evaluate. Thats what Im doing, since lease is up in Oct, and my next house is one I plan to stay in for a long time.
In the mean time do some math and assume you were going to buy a house right now. Calculate the price, property tax, interest, maintenance, etc, and get a monthly number. Subtract that from your rent (hopefully, your rent is less than your monthly payment), and aim to save that money each month, possibly in a bond/mm account/cd with a good interest rate. It may not be much, but its something, and prepare you in some way.
I bought a home Jan 4th, now granted I am in a different situation than most, I paid all cash no mortgage. However, I had tons of choices, I had sellers all want to drop the price, I had the agent bust his butt and show us 25 - 30 homes in three days. Everyone was willing to bargain , come down and talk. Now my attitude was I found the house of my dreams, I loved it!!!! The only thing it needed was paint thats it!!!! Everything was redone top to bottom and I did not want to walk away from a great house that fit us perfect. Location, view, and home too good to be true. So look and if you see your dream home, great you dont have to buy but it cant hurt to look. I mean I plan on staying here for along time, maybe even retiring here so I was not going to pass it up. Now lets say I waited, what was I to gain? I had to live somewhere, I did not have a mortgage so I did not care about rates, and I loved the house. I think its a matter of finding the right house as opposed to price, everyone is willing to go down now. Choices are great. I dont know maybe I am not looking at it as for money as opposed to living and loving it.
I'm not a realtor but I am a professional analyst. We are probably at or near bottom of the market but it tends to trend along the bottom for quite some time before turning up. Inventories are still too high but they are no longer growing, they are starting to decline. The decision has to be based on a specific property in a specific town. Most sellers are motivated these days. You can find some great deals on foreclosures on recently built homes in NJ which to me is a no-brainer. If you wait to long you will miss the bottom and pay more than you should. That's the most common mistake people make with any investment - stocks or real estate. This isn't the only meltdown in NJ. We've been through severe downturns before. Especially in the early 80s when the condo market in NJ lost lost more than 50% in value.
I'm not a realtor but I am a professional analyst. We are probably at or near bottom of the market but it tends to trend along the bottom for quite some time before turning up. Inventories are still too high but they are no longer growing, they are starting to decline. The decision has to be based on a specific property in a specific town. Most sellers are motivated these days. You can find some great deals on foreclosures on recently built homes in NJ which to me is a no-brainer. If you wait to long you will miss the bottom and pay more than you should. That's the most common mistake people make with any investment - stocks or real estate. This isn't the only meltdown in NJ. We've been through severe downturns before. Especially in the early 80s when the condo market in NJ lost lost more than 50% in value.
Moorestown... I noticed something odd happening down south latley. I currently have my home up for sale and plan to move to Georgia. I have been watching the housing market in Atlanta for months now and lately I noticed that alot of the homes for sale are showing STATUS: Increased. I have never seen anything like this before...especially on a home that has been sitting for a while? Very odd
Moorestown... I noticed something odd happening down south latley. I currently have my home up for sale and plan to move to Georgia. I have been watching the housing market in Atlanta for months now and lately I noticed that alot of the homes for sale are showing STATUS: Increased. I have never seen anything like this before...especially on a home that has been sitting for a while? Very odd
Parts of the South did not participate in the major boom that much of the rest of the country experienced. I cannot say specifically what is going on in Atlanta since I don't know their market, but realize it is a very popular relocation destination. Sometimes sellers are not motivated and testing the market. In that case, they might feel their particular proprerty or area should sell at a higher premium than currently exists so they increase price the longer it sits. They also figure real estate goes up over time. Clearly, in that case, they are not in dire need to sell.
wiley, I have a realtor friend in ATL and he said (per the AJC) that prices have declined only %.6. Inventory is dropping also. Very few buyers seem to be lowering prices, and if they do, it's a small amount because the house is vacant.
I am with the 3 of you John_G &stevemorse & morrestownresidents
I think that brings the count to 7 to buy now. niceguy i hope this has helped you. The most important thing is do what is best for your family.
there is no price you can put on that. There is no right or wrong for that.
I like the eloan.com rent vs buy calculator. Just google that, and play with the numbers.
It is fairly comprehensive. But here is the thing, it assumes that IF you are renting, then you are going to take every single penny you WOULD have otherwise spent on a home, and invest it and make 8%. Not that this would not be smart, but most people do not have that sort of self control.
I put 7 years of home ownership, 5% savings rate (vs 8%), and below 3.0% appreciation is where renting vs buying even out. Of course there is so much more to consider for me. For one is QUALITY OF LIFE!!! PRIVACY... CONTROL OVER YOUR HOUSE!! If you have children or more children in the next 7 years are you going to have to move into a bigger apartment... and then rent is going to go up, etc.
wiley, I have a realtor friend in ATL and he said (per the AJC) that prices have declined only %.6. Inventory is dropping also. Very few buyers seem to be lowering prices, and if they do, it's a small amount because the house is vacant.
The ones I'm watching are new construction...jumped from 270,000 to 300,000 and now it's at 320,000. On a resale I can see a stubborn seller but on new? Plus they are "Bank Owned" - maybe the realtor is just playing around with numbers to see what market she/he should be shooting for? I was just hoping that this is an indication that things are improving...I'm sure we're all hoping for that - so many of us in here have jobs / careers that are linked directly to home sales... realtors, contractors, mortgage people... we're all struggling. Oh and if you want to DM me with your realtor's info., that would be great - I don't have one down there yet but hopefully I will need one soon : )))
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I think the count
