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I have been renting an appartment for 4 years and I hate it .
And I am tired of it. I want to live in my own house. period
Quote:
Originally Posted by meh_whatever
Would you advise anyone who wasn't gonna stay put for more than 5 years to buy now? Absolutely, positively? I think it depends on the deal, yanno?
it is very stupid to ask such questions to a realtor. It is the same as going to a hairdresser and ask him if you need to have your hair cut.
So, if a hairdresser tells you, yes, you should have a haircut, and you think that you may actually want to have it longer, is he a bad hairdresser after that? will he make a bad haircut?
Parti, I understand your points. Buying and selling real estate in a short period of time (unless you have ambitions of flipping it) doesn't make sense you are right. Realestate is not like any other investment and at this point is not a sound investment. Although, being a landlord is a better long-term investment (I myself am a landlord and a proud renter so I can't argue against being a landlord).
A house is just a house to me. Not waiting for the thing to knock my socks off. I'll admit it, I am a penny pincher. If it doesn't make sense it doesn't make sense I don't fall in love with things very easily. I don't go out a buy a car because it is new and fabulous it is more of a pratical thing for me. Same thing with a house.
Yes, I've said this is not the right time to buy and I stand by that. Why would you want to buy something that you know you can get for less in a year or two? Why would you pay for something that you may not be able to sell right away if you have to (someone could loose their job, get ill, or die). Buying a home is VERY costly especially for people who don't know if their jobs will be around in a year or two. Spending $80-100K on a down payment doesn't make sense to me if my job is not guaranteed and I know I won't be able to liquidate my assets. I'd rather put my money in high-yielding CD's.
The better times to buy will be soon, especially for those that have saved their $$$.
That's just not true. Could there be better times to buy? Of course! Could there be worse times to buy but you'd be happier since you fell in love with a particular property? Of course!.
Is it a good time to buy?
- a good time to buy what?
meh_whatever, when my family and I moved to another state, (we've also lived outside this country) we rented. A lot of people told us to buy, basically forced it down our throat but we didn't know if we'd like a place. So we rented. Good point!
Last edited by bayarea-girl; 05-17-2011 at 10:56 PM..
Parti, I understand your points. Buying and selling real estate in a short period of time (unless you have ambitions of flipping it) doesn't make sense you are right. Realestate is not like any other investment and at this point is not a sound investment. Although, being a landlord is a better long-term investment (I myself am a landlord and a proud renter so I can't argue against being a landlord).
A house is just a house to me. Not waiting for the thing to knock my socks off. I'll admit it, I am a penny pincher. If it doesn't make sense it doesn't make sense I don't fall in love with things very easily. I don't go out a buy a car because it is new and fabulous it is more of a pratical thing for me. Same thing with a house.
Yes, I've said this is not the right time to buy and I stand by that. Why would you want to buy something that you know you can get for less in a year or two? Why would you pay for something that you may not be able to sell right away if you have to (someone could loose their job, get ill, or die). Buying a home is VERY costly especially for people who don't know if their jobs will be around in a year or two. Spending $80-100K on a down payment doesn't make sense to me if my job is not guaranteed and I know I won't be able to liquidate my assets. I'd rather put my money in high-yielding CD's.
The better times to buy will be soon, especially for those that have saved their $$$.
Why do you know you can get it for less in a year or two? Do you still live in the Bay Area? Unless you're talking about far-flung parts of Contra Costa County, Solano County, or the undesirables in Richmond, Oakland, etc, I'm not sure you're aware that the market has bounced back quite a bit in many parts of the Bay. Is the a short-term trend? Maybe.
Naturally, the Bay Area market is a different animal than the heartland of the country, etc. We have people coming from all over the world to purchase. I have two clients flying in for properties in Oakland and SF. This type of demand isn't nearly as typical in other areas of the country, obviously.
When we watch the national news, it's very important to understand that your local markets may not behave in the same fashion. SF County has been up in consecutive months for nearly a year. Marin County is up. Even Oakland proper, where I spend most of my time, has been up 5 consecutive months.
My problem with your statement is that you can't make blanket statements regarding investments, really, ever.
More importantly, how can you tell anyone else they'd save money by waiting 2 years? Are you aware that the jumbo loan re-set will affect a large percentage of middle-class home buyers? During the height of the market, a jumbo loan consisted of home loans over $729k. With the re-set, the new figure is expected to be $625.5k. Anyone purchasing above that will no longer qualify for an FHA loan, but instead, be forced into a non-conforming jumbo chock full of new (and obscene fees) and a much higher interest rate. It would take even more market depreciation to offset that loss. Monterey was just re-set to the mid 400s because they grouped in Salinas' averages with Monterey.
Do you think the end of Fannie and Freddie will affect interest rates significantly? A recent spike in interest rates from 4.17 to 5.06 cost potential homeowners roughly $200 dollars per month on the exact same $200k loan. Sure, interest rates went down, but is that the future of our country? Will we always have interest rates at historic lows?
My point? Blanket statements are very dangerous. Some people will save money by waiting. Others not only won't save money, but that type of advice could cost them money. Real estate is a very gray topic and there are no absolute truths. I never tell my buyers that now is the best time to buy. I subscribe my buyers to TrendGraphix, etc, with quarterly market reports. It's up to them when to invest, not up to me.
If you're scared to buy because you're worried you might be fired, your spouse might die, etc, I mean, that's life, you know? You buy at a bargain and sell it right away? Yeah, you might take a loss on it. But think about it this way, if you rent for 3 years, how much did you 'lose?'. Let's say at $1000 rent, well, clearly you lost $36,000 spread out over 3 years. So, if you sold your home and had a net loss of $36,000, would you be more or less devastated?
Dressy, when you are working with relocation firm they insist that you buy. At one time the company I worked for said they'd pay some money for our move and down payment of a home. We choose to let them pay our rent for a year. I think it worked out best for everyone.
Dressy, when you are working with relocation firm they insist that you buy.
Gosh, sounds really awful. I am glad you found a compromise. I would have been really mad it somebody told me where to move my funds from my saving account (((
Parti, I think we are going to have to agree to disagree here. Still live in the Bay. The market is strange as you know. In some places it is fairing better in others it is getting worse. Have you read SFgate recently even 18Montclair posted the article about the housing market in the bay. I follow the bay area market a lot (actually I'm forced to). There is more bad news to come. But you don't have to take my word for it. The areas you have listed have not gone up nor are the prices stablizing. We can agree to disagree here.
Yes I can make a statement about an investment. It is my opinion just as you have yours. A home I don't view as an investment.
Not sure what your point is around jumbo-loans. You lost me. But if you are saying people won't be able to qualify for FHA financing, GREAT! It will make prices a bit more realistic with the area income. I don't believe in jumbo loans.
Realestate is not grey. People need to do their homework when it comes to loans they enter into to or home purchases. Realestate at least to me is very black and white.
If I rent for 3 years I've said more than the guy that bought. The person that bought would have put down a large down payment, home value went down - so that person lost on paper, that person would be paying high taxes (if they live in the bay), insurance, maintenance, etc. If I rent a place for $1200/month for something you are paying $4K+ a month, I think I made out pretty well.
Also, if I loose a nickel on a home I'm not happy. Who is going to give you $36K?
Yes, I've said this is not the right time to buy and I stand by that.
Then why are you building a house now?
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