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1) Rent
2) buy
3) live with someone else (parents?)
In this market where housing prices have plummeted after rising to unrealistic highs, houses are more affordable than any time in the last several years.
If you have a secure job and have not suffered a pay cut and are renting, now is actually a very good time to buy. The tax incentives and low prices make it so.
If the above is true and you are in a house you like and owe less than 80% of the new values, staying put isn't a bad option, either.
If you owe more than your house is worth but can afford the payments, staying put is the best option; shorts sales are for the desperate.
If you don't have a job, living with mom and dad is the best option.
If you have an insecure job (might lose it or have salary/hours cut), renting is the best option.
So, what will it be? You want to buy, rent, or move home?
I will rent as long as rental rates in my area continue to fall. If I want to speculate about the future prices of things, I will do that in the stock market.
The question for us is, what constitutes an insecure job? We're budgeting based on one income (since I'm a student, but will be working within a year--or could definitely start working ASAP at a side job, if need be)... but my husband has been at his job for 7 months, after being hired in the middle of the company's biggest layoff ever. Is our job situation secure, or not?... we're trying to figure that out. We pay really low rent right now, lower than we need to be paying (we could afford much more), and are shopping for a home. But hey, anyone can get laid off anytime, right?... I mean, isn't everyone's job ultimately insecure, in that sense? In which case, does that mean no one should ever buy, unless they have an iron-clad assurance that they won't get laid off, ever?... (government job, maybe, but who wants that). We don't think so--but it's still worth asking the question. Insight from anyone?
1) Rent
2) buy
3) live with someone else (parents?)
In this market where housing prices have plummeted after rising to unrealistic highs, houses are more affordable than any time in the last several years.
If you have a secure job and have not suffered a pay cut and are renting, now is actually a very good time to buy. The tax incentives and low prices make it so.
If the above is true and you are in a house you like and owe less than 80% of the new values, staying put isn't a bad option, either.
If you owe more than your house is worth but can afford the payments, staying put is the best option; shorts sales are for the desperate.
If you don't have a job, living with mom and dad is the best option.
If you have an insecure job (might lose it or have salary/hours cut), renting is the best option.
So, what will it be? You want to buy, rent, or move home?
And what assurance does anyone have that, mom and dad are any better off? I personally know several mom and dads with adult children who are also struggling and have lost it all. Most were small business owners who's once thriving business is gone. How are they going to help their kids?
The question for us is, what constitutes an insecure job? We're budgeting based on one income (since I'm a student, but will be working within a year--or could definitely start working ASAP at a side job, if need be)... but my husband has been at his job for 7 months, after being hired in the middle of the company's biggest layoff ever. Is our job situation secure, or not?... we're trying to figure that out. We pay really low rent right now, lower than we need to be paying (we could afford much more), and are shopping for a home. But hey, anyone can get laid off anytime, right?... I mean, isn't everyone's job ultimately insecure, in that sense? In which case, does that mean no one should ever buy, unless they have an iron-clad assurance that they won't get laid off, ever?... (government job, maybe, but who wants that). We don't think so--but it's still worth asking the question. Insight from anyone?
In my honest and most humble opinion, no career choice, no job, is safe in this economic environment.
1) Rent
2) buy
3) live with someone else (parents?)
In this market where housing prices have plummeted after rising to unrealistic highs, houses are more affordable than any time in the last several years.
If you have a secure job and have not suffered a pay cut and are renting, now is actually a very good time to buy. The tax incentives and low prices make it so.
Depends where you live. Prices have not plummeted everywhere.
Prices in Southern California have plumented but are still around 5-10x income and basically unaffordable. At work, all our OT was cutoff and some co-workers are complaining about how they will fall behind on mortgage payments. LOL. I'm not the one that told the dummies to become part of the illogical feeding frenzy around here.
Rents are around 1/3 of what a mortgage will cost in all but the more run down areas where rent is about 2/3's of what a mortgage will cost.
Silly silly people are gonna have a real hard go of it when their $130K annual income is trying to afford $500-600K of house, and their job is anything but secure.
Rent on the same house is around $1700-1800 a month.
you better have the discipline to invest the down payment money and what you are saving by renting. if not then no matter what the house would have been worth it would have been a far better consolation prize in 30 years .
most will not have that discipline and thats why they are better off buying. at least they will have something instead of an nothing in their portfolio.
if you do have the discipline and if the next 30 years is like our last 100 your other investments will grow alot more money then the house, and thats after subtracting out all the rent you would pay
In my honest and most humble opinion, no career choice, no job, is safe in this economic environment.
Well, definitely--that's what I was saying. But then what does that mean? No one should buy?... at what point is everyone "safe" in their jobs? As far as I know, the US isn't anything like Europe, where employers are required to give notice months ahead of time. (3 months, where we were living.) Plenty of time to get one's life somewhat sorted. No such thing here in the US, not even in the best economy. Everyone's life is always hanging by a string. So why ever buy, then?...
Mathjak107: What about folks who are sitting on a 20-30% downpayment (not necessarily from our own discipline, but from our parents') and still renting very cheaply, but unable to find any really suitable place for that money in the meantime? What say you to them?...
if they think they will time a long term investment then they are very wrong.... if they are nervous about the markets then dollar cost in over the next 2 years into diversified index funds at the very least... cover all the asset classes and find a balance that lets Them sleep at night. they will grow a lot of money over the decades
long term they will do just fine.
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