purchasing a house in La Mirada (Orange: real estate, foreclosure, to rent)

[proverbs]

hello. was doing some Google searching on house prices in Southern California, and this great forum popped up!

well, i started looking for a house last quarter just to see what was on the market, and ran into a house that i liked a couple weeks ago. the house is in La Mirada. i understand La Mirada is technically LA County, but it is a city that is on the OC border, and many people mistake it to be in OC. its listed at a decent price, $390 for a 4br3ba house. its a little old, 1955, as most houses in La Mirada, but it has a lot of space, 1900sqft. 7000sqft lot. its a quiet neighborhood on Rosecrans and La Mirada. i believe this would have been listed at around $450k just a few months ago.

my question is, should i buy now, or keep waiting? i really dont mind if prices go down another 5, maybe even 10%. but if it goes down to, say, $320-$330k, i will cry. is it possible it can keep goin lower and lower in these areas?

[killer2021]

Well first off, can you afford this place?

Do you have enough CASH to put down AT LEAST 20%? In this market, you may need to down even more.
How is your credit? If it isn't very good, you probably won't be able to get a mortgage at a fair price.
Have you calculated all the other expenses that go with this home? Such things as home insurance, property insurance, HOA fees, possible maintenance?
Have you crunched the numbers as far as mortgage payment?

I would say if all those numbers combined exceed 30% of your gross household income, you can't afford the place.

There are also other questions such as:
How long do you plan to live in this home? If you don't plan to live in the home for at least 30 years I wouldn't bother buying because it would be cheaper and easier to rent.
Can you afford the commute to your workplace? How about if gas were 5-6$/gallon?

As for if it is a good time to buy that is a hard question. Personally I see home prices dropping another 20% or so. Who knows. It might drop even more seeing as how unemployment is starting to rise (high unemployment means lower home prices and higher foreclosure rates). Also, interest rates are historically low. I've read that for every 1% rise in interest rates, home prices drop approximately 8% this is because people usually buy based on monthly mortgage payment so if the interest rate rises it means they can't buy as much anymore. I'd personally pick up a book on real estate fundamentals.

[EricJess123]

GO FOR IT, Actually as an Ex La Mirada Resident La Mirada is a split city half of the city, or may you call it a town is in Orange County, I only moved away because my family is in Southern Orange County I actually still own my house in La Mirada and it is now worth 650k