Is now the time to buy in SA? (how much, new house)

[Chakapu]

I don't think it's a bad time to buy in SA, now's a good a time as any. However I do think it wise to rent when first coming to a new city. It's important to get a feel for the layout of the city and prospective neighborhoods. Nearly everyone I know who bought before living here (and nearly all of our friends are transplants) regrets buying first. None were in 'bad' situations and were ok with where they lived, but all say they would have chosen different neighborhoods if they'd known the city better. Most ended up in newer subdivisions that their realtors limited them to and didn't realize how much more the city had to offer.

[hello13685]

Giving people the facts from a source that is not in a position to profit from them, so they can make an informed decision, is hateful?

[banker]

Originally Posted by hello13685

Giving people the facts from a source that is not in a position to profit from them, so they can make an informed decision, is hateful?

Let people make an informed decision themselves and stop spinning your "sources" to fit your doom and gloom agenda. As many have said in many threads there are parts of SA that are doing very well and others that aren't - overall sales are weak - but no where near the crashing markets on the east and west coast.

I just sold my home (in January no less - the month that sales and values were supposedly down) for asking price in five days. So...that is fact that you can discount if you want. Right now there is some serious weakness across the country due to many factors - but there is also alot of media hype generalizing the "crash" as being nation wide - which it is not.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by hello13685

Giving people the facts from a source that is not in a position to profit from them, so they can make an informed decision, is hateful?

You can justify it any way you like, but nobody needs to look any further than every one of your posts to understand that you're just out to slam anyone that doesn't subscribe to your line of thinking.

[TexasWeatherman]

Originally Posted by TexasWeatherman

I would rent and research neighborhoods for awhile. The market is quite psychological and is driven by PR. No matter how much spin the realtors on this board put on this market, PR for housing is quite negative. San Antonio is somewhat insulated from the national market, but it is certainly not an island. We are very likely in a recession today, the probability of inflation is increasing, and the dollar hit an all-time low against the euro today.

Anyone thinking about buying a home today should have at least a 6 month emergency fund before committing to home ownership.

Oops. I forgot about oil. Here's the revised list...

$102+ oil
>50% chance of recession (I voted for Bush twice, but I have little faith in his economic forecasting abilities)
1 Euro = $1.52 (Anyone want to hypothesize that a weak dollar will prop up the SA housing market? Let me guess, hoards of Germans will use their strong Euros to buy up vast tracts of land and establish Newer Braunfels on the banks of Cibolo Creek.)
CPI up 4.3% in January from the previous January

[hello13685]

TexasWeatherman, you're asking people to think... to connect dots.

[kevcrawford]

That's right. We're just a bunch of dumb hicks down here in SA. Not enlightened like those open minded California folk.

Thinking is now apparently defined as blindly agreeing with someone that says they're smarter than everyone because they don't invest in anything and have an overall negative outlook of anything not California. I've heard Webster's is already making the changes for the next edition.

[goodmanm]

In general would only staying in a place for 2-3 years just put you on the cusp of breaking even if you had to move? Especially now?

[Spock's Beard]

The housing market is a buyer's market right now. You can negociate prices highly unfavorable to the seller and favorable to you.

BUT the achilles heel is if you pay for the house with a mortgage. Lenders are what killed the housing boom because they wanted to cash in on pre-existing loans for houses who's values increased, so they raised the variable interest.

If you get a loan, get a fixed rate. It may cost more when interest is low, but it WILL cost less than when variable interest is raised through the roof.

On top of that, lenders are blaming customers, so they're tightening the availability of mortgages.

Still, if you can deal with it, it's a buyer's market, so enjoy having a good selection of houses pretty much in any price range.

1 Euro = $1.52 (Anyone want to hypothesize that a weak dollar will prop up the SA housing market? Let me guess, hoards of Germans will use their strong Euros to buy up vast tracts of land and establish Newer Braunfels on the banks of Cibolo Creek.)
CPI up 4.3% in January from the previous January

The weak dollar (against the Euro; it's still strong as it's ever been against most currencies) hurts the EU more than it hurts us because it raises the prices of exporting to the US and lowers the price of importing from the US. Besides, a lot of the dollar's "weakness" against the Euro is the result of the EU's efforts to prop up the Euro because in an act of penis-waving they want it to be the world's standard currency. With even higher unemployment than the US, letting in member-nations that economically don't pull their own weight, damn near everything is socialized (hence insanely higher taxes), and economies that are as much made in China as ours is, they're not doing any better. The Euro has a lot of "padding" from the EU as well as a lot of it's value based on speculation from banks and currency traders.

$102+ oil

Ths is when Texas sucks and smaller states are better off. This hurts big states like Texas the most because everything is so far apart, so it takes more gas to drive around or to transport goods. Even with Texas being an oil-producing state, it's not enough, even though Texas cities have seen marginally lower gas prices than the national average because of it.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by goodmanm

In general would only staying in a place for 2-3 years just put you on the cusp of breaking even if you had to move? Especially now?

Probably. I wouldn't expect enough equity to make a killing after two or three years. You'll be able to sell it for more, but your closing costs may eat into that. If you're buying in an area that you could turn it into a rental when you leave, that might work for you.

If you're really able to buy the home right, you might be able to make a little off of it.