In todays economy would you..

[CptAmericaX]

If you had the choice to rent or buy a home today what would you choose and what do you base your decision off of. Meh and you can have a Rent to own option in there as well

[Lightsout2184]

i would wait a little bit longer to buy. the market is gonna still get lower. there are also a lot of deals on rent right now also. i got my place for 2k a month and the last person to lease it paid 3200.

[CptAmericaX]

wow that is a good deal

[CBGB]

If you can...buy. The slump has left a choice of houses. Rates are excellent.
Make a smart choice on what you can not only afford now, but can also afford if times get tough. And then stick with it!! Don't let anyone talk you into going over your price range. You will only regret it later.

[CptAmericaX]

Yah thats ^^^ kinda my delima right now I can afford a really nice house and my income is not going to change unless the ww3 breaks out. But even then im not worried about it, but I can get a nicer house renting for cheeper, and if I wait it out ill be able to buy a nicer house later. But i hate renting because its the same as pissing your money away

[CBGB]

Rentals don't come with tax breaks either. And you just can't put a price on owning your own place. Downside....your heater breaks, you own it.

[CptAmericaX]

another good point

[RuhlFreak55]

BUY BUY BUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

prices may comes down a little more but there are signs of recovery happening even in housing.....and timing an exact bottom is ridiculously hard, you pretty much have to get lucky.

[CptAmericaX]

so why wouldnt you wait until they slowly start riseing again, I mean your not gona buy at the bottom but if you were to buy now and it dropped even more and then rose you woulda missed out big right?

[CBGB]

I live in a Military town and the rental market is very market driven. It's much cheaper to buy then rent around here.

[CptAmericaX]

thats pretty true in the area im considering its like a set price, they basicly go off of what a soldier makes for bah and thats the set price

[scottythebody]

It's a great time to buy where I live. I know people buying 3 bedroom houses for 70 grand

[RuhlFreak55]

so why wouldnt you wait until they slowly start riseing again, I mean your not gona buy at the bottom but if you were to buy now and it dropped even more and then rose you woulda missed out big right?

no lol....you'd be in almost the exact same situation except you'd have the house longer....

[CBGB]

I'm not sure how much further it can drop. Plus, if you are a first time homeowner there is an $8000 tax credit right now

[CptAmericaX]

yah I was thinking that but along the lines of me comeing out on top, it sucks when you dont gamble and everything you do in life is

[CBGB]

It's a great time to buy where I live. I know people buying 3 bedroom houses for 70 grand

WOW, buy two

[CptAmericaX]

yah no shit, im still looking at at least 200,000 to 250,000 for a decent 3 bedroom

[RA]

The real estate market is my job...I would buy buy buy!

[CBGB]

yah no shit, im still looking at at least 200,000 to 250,000 for a decent 3 bedroom

WOW, buy half..............................median home around here is about 140-180k Nice 3 bed two car

[CBGB]

Looks like you just found an agent too.....J/k

[CptAmericaX]

haha, yah its always a battle specialy with a duty station god forbid I get transfered now I have to sell my house, and if the market is still crap that could suck

[CBGB]

Can you get out of a lease if your orders change?

[CptAmericaX]

yah i had to do it before this deployment I gave them like 2 weeks notice if that

[RA]

btw, Im not a real estate agent. Im an appraiser and can see whats going on in the market. If I had a bunch of extra $$$ I would be buying shiat left and right.

[tyward]

I bought a house this week and I've been out of the market for almost three years. Prices may fall a bit more, so why would I buy now? Because I can get a better deal on property when the market is weak. When prices start to rise the sellers don't deal quite as much. You want to buy in a buyers market, not wait for prices to start going up. T

[RA]

Agreed. Ive seen people pay 1/2 price on repos.

I bought a house this week and I've been out of the market for almost three years. Prices may fall a bit more, so why would I buy now? Because I can get a better deal on property when the market is weak. When prices start to rise the sellers don't deal quite as much. You want to buy in a buyers market, not wait for prices to start going up. T

[jbm]

I bought a house this week and I've been out of the market for almost three years. Prices may fall a bit more, so why would I buy now? Because I can get a better deal on property when the market is weak. When prices start to rise the sellers don't deal quite as much. You want to buy in a buyers market, not wait for prices to start going up. T

Here where I live real property is still high... it sucks!

[CBGB]

I jst bought a new place in Nov. Repo. I didnt get the 50/50 deal, but I walked in about 40k under.

[CBGB]

I your orders change...........take advantage of the rental market.

[T_Own]

if you have the money, buy up. prices all depend on where you live. my first house was around 2800 sqft, 4br, 2.5 bath, sold for 450k, just because we wanted to sell it fast. similar houses could go for 5-600k, the avg on my side of town was a little shy of a millie.

then the area i moved to, we got a 9 month old house with 3br 2.5bath, a little over an acre of land, about 3200 sqft for 240k. so all about location.

[CptAmericaX]

yah its amazing how just 20 miles can change the pric from say 300k to 150k same type of home

[CptAmericaX]

ok so its not like I have ever bought a house, but say your monthly morgage was like 1,100 a month with inflation in 5 years you could be paying 1600 a month?

[T_Own]

i don't think inflation is that high. a couple % even doesn't come out to that much of an increase over 5 years. and when i say we moved, it was 180 miles, from the suburbs in PA to the middle of no where in PA.

[j4ever41]

well im already in a house but if i were'nt i would buy

[dhriscerr]

Buy now if..........

1. You plan to stay there 5-10 years to ride out the market
2. You have 10% down, 20% down to save on PMI
3. You have good credit to take advantage of historically low interest rates (4.25%) Is what I just got on my latest rental property
4. Your payment is less than 30% of your gross income on a 15yr fixed rate.

If all of those are met, you will buy a house that will become a blessing and not a curse, and a great weath building investment.

[CptAmericaX]

^^^ thats a really good pre req, im only lookin to be around the area for 5 but it can easly turn into 15-17 years there

[J-Dogg]

The thing about buying a house.....


You could be stuck with it. There is no garantee the market is not going to drop more. If you buy a house, you might be able to get a good deal, but you could be living in that house until you sell it. If you are young, and may want to move in the near future it would be a bad idea.

There are lots of surprizes with houses too, maybe a furnace breaks, a hot water heater, things can get expensive to upkeep them, even if it's a newer home.

I own 5 homes, 4 of them are investment properties, but between the insurance, taxes, water/sewage bills, and maintenance, you can pretty much plan on taking your payment and doubling it.

I'm a contractor and have a friend who owns a restoration company, we work with him. We had a rain storm that washed out his basement wall. Because it was ground water, insurance won't cover the repairs. It comes out to be about 30k in damage.

If he put that 30k in, he would never get the money back. He just walked away, let the bank take the house and took a hit on his credit for 30k.

Expect things to come up if you buy, I've found taking your payment, doubling it + a little and that's about what you are going to be paying out (in my area anyway).

[MASTER]

If you rent, you may as well take your money outside and burn it. The HUGE advantage however, is the lack of risk. Buying is the place to be, but if its going to be a struggle to do, then don't bother. Only buy if you can COMFORTABLY afford it. Ive seen too many people lose their homes/ buy to let business lately due to overextending themselves. I personally don't buy properties unless I have at least 25% downs these days. You don't want to be running the risk of negative equity.

[firmechicano831]

I work in Real Estate in North CA. I say buy, buy, buy, if I had some extra cash around I'd buy shit like crazy. Were seeing prices on homes that have fallen well over 70% in the last two years.

[CBGB]

Upkeep is always something to keep in mind. You never know when something is going to break. It is a good idea to make sure that you are able to keep a savings for emergencies before buying. There are several home warranty companies out there that would be happy to sell you a contract. I don't have any experience with them, but they may be worth checking out. When it comes to moving... If the rental market is strong in your area. You have the option of renting it out if you have the need to move. If you have the stomach for the business...