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Opportunities exist and interest rates are low. If you are planning to stay in a house for more than 5 years then it may be a good time to buy since higher interest rates may eat up any savings on the price that you'll pay for a house.
I've sold homes with interest rates of 10 - 12%, so 6-7% is a walk in the park!
I am more and more becoming of the opinion that people have been so extremely negative for a little while now, that things cannot help but get better. I think come January, and possibly sooner, we are going to see what I am calling the Obama effect, where people start getting much more possitive, and I think it is likly you will see a flurry of activity, which might be sustainable longer term as this sort of thing kind of feeds on itself.
Just my opinion of course, but I think the chances that things play out in this way are fairly good. After late 2009 Obama and the congress better be delivering or it is back to pain.
The deals out there have gotten really good, I showed 2 homes in Sussex county yesterday, One of them a Short Sale, the other a Corporate Relo, that the corp already owns. The funny thing is the comps say the short sale (which is the higher priced of the two) is priced very nicely, and the corporate relo which is the same size house in better condition, and in a much nicer neighborhood is priced 40K lower yet. My home buyers about flipped when they looked at the corporate relo, and it was right back to the office to look up the comps for them in person, and sure enough the corp relo is a steal of a deal.
Hi Davenj. There is a lot of inventory on the market right now. This combined with historically low interest rates make it a very good time to buy. Like the others said, you can't tell when the bottom will hit. Let's put it this way, if you didn't buy in 2005 or 2006, you're alreaday ahead of the game. I am a realtor in Hoboken, and prices have adjusted with the market. The best thing to do is have your realtor run the comps for what has recently sold. This will give you a good idea of where to start your offer.
It all depends on how motivated the seller is. I know a person that offered $279K on a house that was appraised at $329K. The offer was accepted because the seller had to get rid of it. Offer low and you can always increase your offer. If there are a lot of people interested in it, you have to go higher if you are serious about getting that particular house.
Good Luck!
Hi Davenj. There is a lot of inventory on the market right now. This combined with historically low interest rates make it a very good time to buy. Like the others said, you can't tell when the bottom will hit. Let's put it this way, if you didn't buy in 2005 or 2006, you're alreaday ahead of the game. I am a realtor in Hoboken, and prices have adjusted with the market. The best thing to do is have your realtor run the comps for what has recently sold. This will give you a good idea of where to start your offer.
But I thought realtors always say house price will always go up. How come they are now saying that price has adjusted downward!!!!!!!!!
If the interest rate is historically low, home value is historically high. Why don't they ever point out to high home value?
If you think home value is not going to fall further, then you are living in fool's paradise. Wake up.
This combined with historically low interest rates make it a very good time to buy.
Huh? You want to buy when interests rates are high. The "cost" of the house has to be what people can afford, supply and demand (the last 5 years have been a low interest rate induced mania that can safely be ignored - prices will drop back to the historic mean). Hence when interests rates are low the house costs more than when interests rates are high - so that the actual monthly payment required is the same.
Since the interest portion is tax deductable - a lower price at a higher interest rate is better than a higher price at a lower interest rate.
And prices are still high, here's the chart they haven't come down anywhere near enough to bring this chart back to normalcy (the blue line is all that matters):
Huh? You want to buy when interests rates are high. The "cost" of the house has to be what people can afford, supply and demand (the last 5 years have been a low interest rate induced mania that can safely be ignored - prices will drop back to the historic mean). Hence when interests rates are low the house costs more than when interests rates are high - so that the actual monthly payment required is the same.
Since the interest portion is tax deductable - a lower price at a higher interest rate is better than a higher price at a lower interest rate.
And prices are still high, here's the chart they haven't come down anywhere near enough to bring this chart back to normalcy (the blue line is all that matters):
Interest amount (interest rate multiplied by principal) is tax deductable. If one of them is high, then you pay more interest, hence more tax duductable.
Real estate is not like a stock, which is just a piece of paper that sits in the vault waiting for resale.
A house is where you live and raise a family. Assume you are buying as a "user" and not an investor, and you are planning to stay for 5+ years, just buy the house. Life is too short and fragile. You have to factor in what you are missing in schools, community, lifestyle, etc while you are waiting.
As I've said here earlier, don't try to guess the bottom of the market, by the time it happens and it can be illustrated it will have past.
BTW... what is a "nicer town?" based on price, looks, proximity to amenities? Before I try to give a real answer, I need a definition.
Just a thought.
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