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Read the book Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets by Peter Schiff. He is the author of Crash Proof and the one who predicted this crisis years ago. You can also go on YouTube and search for "peter schiff" for his video blogs to learn about how you can preserve your wealth and when might be a good time to buy real estate etc. He keeps his clients posted weekly via these blogs every few days as the market changes. You might want to even open an account with his company Europacific Capital
Pay all cash. Search by zipcodes. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed to findo out demographics of zips. Use Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowedto check walkability. Use Assessor records to see what their licensed appraisers say it's worth and what they paid. Look at crime maps. Then look inside.
If you have your heart set on buying a house you might find that if you put a substantial amount down (like 25% or more) that having good credit isn't as much of an issue. Especially if you can prove that you have the resources to pay the entire mortgage off which you can.
While it is nice to pay cash for a house, it isn't always the smartest use of your money as I have already mentioned with declining real estate values etc. You can borrow the money at a low interest rate and invest YOUR money at a higher rate and additionally deduct the interest you pay on the mortgage, you'll find that over time you'll end up far ahead of where you would be had you taken all your money to pay cash for a house and was only able to save the equivalent of a monthly rent or mortgage payment. This worksheet from a New York Times article lets you plug in numbers and helps you determine when it is best to buy or rent based on rents vs cost to buy a similar home. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/bu...=2&oref=slogin#
Buying a home cash is the best possible way to buy a home. You will be able to make an agressive offer - buy a lower sale price will be off set to the seller because you will not have the possible finance problems as many people do these days. Your costs to buy will be less as a result of your cash purchase.
You should get a good buyer's agent. Frankly, it's not going to cost you anything as the commission is paid by the seller. More importantly, a good local buyer's agent will know the market best and will know what type of an offer you will be able to make. Simply finding a property is the least of the deal. Your buyers agent can advise you on property review, HOA review, title review and more. Since you are paying cash - in many ways you are on your own! Usually lenders have requirements that must be met by the property - a type of safe net for the buyer. With a cash purchase you do not have a lender looking over your shoulder. A good buyer's agent will help and can be worth far more than you can know.
Congratulations. Buying and owning a home with out a payment is the best way to live. Way to go!!
Best wishes.
Buying a home cash is the best possible way to buy a home. You will be able to make an agressive offer - buy a lower sale price will be off set to the seller because you will not have the possible finance problems as many people do these days. Your costs to buy will be less as a result of your cash purchase.
You should get a good buyer's agent. Frankly, it's not going to cost you anything as the commission is paid by the seller. More importantly, a good local buyer's agent will know the market best and will know what type of an offer you will be able to make. Simply finding a property is the least of the deal. Your buyers agent can advise you on property review, HOA review, title review and more. Since you are paying cash - in many ways you are on your own! Usually lenders have requirements that must be met by the property - a type of safe net for the buyer. With a cash purchase you do not have a lender looking over your shoulder. A good buyer's agent will help and can be worth far more than you can know.
Congratulations. Buying and owning a home with out a payment is the best way to live. Way to go!!
Best wishes.
Not necessarily. You have to take into consideration that you will lose the huge chunk of money that you could be investing ---especially if you invest it in international companies backed by currencies other than the dollar. If your retirement is all set, emergency fund, rainy day funds etc are all set then sure pay cash.
theoretically you are always better off using someone elses money to buy the house and get a higher return elsewhere.
want to hear reality? most folks suck at the discipline needed to invest the money they didnt spend on the house . it will go for other uses.
heres more reality: most folks suck at investing. most dont know the difference between investing and speculating. according to both research done by morningstar and ibbostsen most individual investors sell when they should buy and buy when they should sell. most dont have the mind set to just buy and hold especially funds where there is no individual company risk. while markets averaged 9% returns most small un-knowledgable investors barely made it to 3.8% average returns.
as most of you who read my posts know im big on investing having been an investor for over 20 years now . but the fact is most folks know more about a car or refrigerator they want to buy then anything they invest in or in planning.
throwing money into a hodge podge of funds in their 401k is not a plan just by itself. . as we saw in the down turn folks had money in long term investments which need 12-15 years to flourish thru many market cycles and
did it with money they need to eat with over the next few years when they retire. that money they are putting in their 401k's right before they retire should be money they will use to eat with in 15-30 years from now.
, they had poor diversification and they had risk levels they in reality couldnt take emotionally and they panicked and lost their money for real.. had they had the stomach and merely rebalanced or even bought more
they would have been just about all back and maybe even up.
at least if they buy the house for cash they at least got a consolation prize. reality is unless most are forced into savings or investing the money like water will always seek its own level and find uses elsewhere.
we recently bought our house we will retire to in a year or so and had to make the decision to pay cash or take a mortgage. we went with pay cash. there is just a feeling that comes with knowing a big chunk of housing costs are paid for and the security of knowing its all yours.
we arent talking owning a stock or a gold coin, we are talking your home.. thats a feeling thats hard to duplicate nvesting the money and having the bank own your home.
and that my friends is reality
Last edited by mathjak107; 11-17-2009 at 03:25 AM..
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