Should I buy now or wait a year?

Profile picture for rbjrn0112
I am a first time homebuyer looking to buy a primary residence in Columbia,SC.  I am currently renting a home.  Should I buy now (8K incentive and low APR) or should I wait a year.
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April 14 2009 - Columbia
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Answers (51)

Profile picture for Brenda Ladd

Great time to buy!  House prices down and interest rate down.  That is a win win combination.  Stop making payments for your landlord!

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April 15 2011
Profile picture for hookme2
Buy now, good part of inventory is depleting of short sales and forclosures.  Get your best home and use an savy agent that will work for "you".
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April 15 2011
Profile picture for pure republican
This post is 2 years old, since April 2009 prices dropped drastically in some ares .    
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April 15 2011

It depends on your motivations. If it's a financial question, it's always a good time to buy if the price is right. Even if the market continues to slide a bit, its a lot better than chasing the market on the way up... just ask anyone who bought in 2006. Interest rates are still extremely low, and lenders have loosened up a bit on their credit requirements. Rental rates are rising, making the cost of owning even better by comparison. Plus there is the Mortgage Interest Deduction, which is a fabulous tax deduction for interest paid on your mortgage. If you're earning taxable income, it's like getting a 30% discount card on the purchase of your home, because your taxable income is reduced by the amount spent towards your mortgage interest. Over the long term, it's always better to buy than to rent.

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April 15 2011
Profile picture for Ellie_McIntire
Buy now, without a doubt you will get a great deal and a splendid interest rate. There is a lot of inventory and sellers are ready to negotiate.
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April 15 2011
Profile picture for Lady Chattel
Home prices across 20 major markets have decline for 6 straight months. Nice trolling looking for OLD threads.  Gimmie a break!
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February 22 2011
Profile picture for Holly Moon Oehler
It is a great time to buy!  Interest rates are still low and home prices are down    25%+ depending on where you live.  Keep in mind, the only way you know we have hit rock bottom is when we are on our way up!
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February 21 2011
Profile picture for sunnyview
Congrats on your new house missixty! It sounds like you did your research and got a good deal for your situation where you can own for less than rent. I wish everybody bought just the way you did. I hope you enjoy your new place.
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May 04 2009
"Pending sales going up in March over Feb is like saying that temperatures are warmer in March than Feb.  It's a seasonal adjustment and nothing to write home about"

The rise in the index may show a return to normal seasonal housing market patterns. Home sales typically rise in March from February, but last year, the pending sales index dropped 1% from February 2008, and the index of contracts in March 2008 was down 20% from March 2007. So the 1% gain in March 2009 over the same month last year shows a substantial change from the spring season of a year earlier.
In Southern California, the median home sales price has held steady at $250,000 from January through March -- that's less than half the peak median price set in 2007, according to San Diego research firm MDA DataQuick.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes5-2009may05,0,2234983.story
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for coinsareme
If you are buying a "home" get what pleases you, if you are buying a "house" get what makes financial sense. your home is where your stuff is. A house is a house. Realtors always refer to it as buying a "home". Unless you are homeless, you already have a home. Maybe not a house with a mortgage and expenses, but a home never the less. You are looking to buy a house, make it a sound financial decision and you will be happier.
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May 04 2009
Exactly my point!
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for missixty5
I bought my first home this year in Phoenix, yes im aware that it has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, but even so, I found a screaming deal and managed to secure a home for less than its appraised value as of right now.  I got a 30 yo fixed FHA loan for about 4.5% and the home value is still almost $20K more than my mortgage loan.  For me it was a good time to buy but it really is your decision.  Plus my mortgage is less than what my rental costs were, so for me it was the best choice.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for jonestim
>If not now, when?

Linda,

Pending sales going up in March over Feb is like saying that temperatures are warmer in March than Feb.  It's a seasonal adjustment and nothing to write home about.

Also, in almost all markets I have been following there have been HUGE price drops after the sales volume increases.    Sales volume increasing is a good sign for Realtors as they may start getting checks again.  Buyers who get in just as sales volumes start increasing will almost always pay more than those who wait until the market is more balanced - under 6 months inventory. 

So, not now.  When it makes financial sense to.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for L Strasberg
http://www.financialnewsusa.com/news/pending-home-sales-up-32

If not now, when?
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for pixlink
If you can make money or equity going in then go for it. It's all about the TVM(Time Value of Money). If the market gets any worse you won't have to worry about getting any better deals unless you have all cash. Simply stated even with perfect credit you won't qaulify the banks will be out of business. The criterias for obtaining a loan are getting tighter and tighter every day.
Why pay your landlord's mortgage? Look at your overall financial situation and determine the benefits on one side and the disadvantages on the other and see how they stack up.  Making that first purchase will always be a big nervous step of uncertainty until you actually do it.
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May 04 2009
"Convincing my wife however to continue to wait is problematic"
Yes, most of the housewive are not too much concern about inflation, deflation, the effect of interest rate or current of economy to the housing market.
even they don't know there is Zillow's website on earth.
They do what ever their friends or their relatives or their neighbors doing, as long as the payment is fit with their bubget, and the willing of the home ownership takeover on every the other concerns.
As Myself sometime thinking about the lost of the value of my properties, however the women in my family are still don't care. they still laugh and make fun to the others like normal.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for sunnyview
I agree with you. Honestly, I just hope we make it out of this bubble. The damage has been so widespread. Our economy is resilient, but it sure has done a number in it for now. 
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for coinsareme
The cure for deflation is easy money and lower interest rates, which ultimately leads to inflation. The cure for inflation is tight money and higher interest rates which leads to deflation. Catch 22. But, over the last 50-75 years inflation has definitely been winning. The pain of a 1930's style depression is just too costly. Therefore, long term bet on inflation. But when a speculative bubble happens bet against it.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for sunnyview
True inflation is a worry. The market is crazy at the core. It is teetering between inflation in some areas and deflation in others. The strategy of holding onto money is great for deflation and not so good for inflation. Buying is a personal choice and you have to do what is best for your area and for where you think thing are going with the economy. Makes me wish that I was an economic guru or something instead of just a plain citizen.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for coinsareme
Good advice nvchaz and you are very likely correct. Convincing my wife however to continue to wait is problematic. Also, all those billions and billions of newly printed dollars will eventually feed inflation. It a risk. Remember 79-80 inflation led to the Volcher recession and 18% mortgage rates. This time around it may lead to hyper -inflation. Allows debt to be paid off with cheap fiat money. Hmmmm, USA has trillions in debt. Sounds like a plan to me. 
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for sunnyview
Coins, so glad to hear that you did well. I totally agree that you do not have to buy at the ultimate bottom or sell at the tippy top to make money. I know that many people think that market timing is not possible, but spotting trends in the market definitely is. You are proof of that. It may not help much, but the people I warned also didn't listen. I wish they had, but they sure see the mistake now. Hopefully, things will go better for them next bubble.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for L Strasberg
The greatest risk beyond the horizon is the one we cannot see.
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May 04 2009
Smart move coins...

Unless you are on the low-end like me I'd wait a little bit more.

2010 is gonna be brutal.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for coinsareme
Owned real estate since 1971. I sold my house in July of 2004 for cash. Renting since then, owning no real estate. Looking to buy back in this fall. Sold early, but for a hugh profit. Buy back may be early too, but, whosoever wants to get the exact top or bottom of a market  will get neither. Warned everyone it was a bubble, but few listened.
good luck
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May 04 2009
Ingore silent_obsever, that is old theory.

If you can do it under any circumstances where your NET monthly outlays are below rent do so.

You can hunker down with this value and be prepared for when the depression lifts.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for silent_observer
If you have

income (1X or 2X or max 3X) of the home purchase price
you are sick of renting
you have 20%+ down payment
reserves for 6-12 months liquid monthly expense including mortgage++
cost of renting the home is more expensive than buying
VERY stable job
home prices are reaching a bottom in your area

you can BUY now.
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May 04 2009
Profile picture for space_acer
You need to look at how much prices in your region have gone up say from 1999-2000 compared to inflation. Over the long run prices can only go up at rate of inflation/incomes. I suggest you do your own research instead asking others questions.  
http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Other/SouthAtlantic.html

also check using OFHEO Metro prices for SC.

http://www.fhfa.gov/Default.aspx?Page=216&Type=compare&Area1=17900&Area2=&Area3=


The $8000 "hand out" from Congress (Tax Credit) may mean very little if prices decline far more. 



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May 03 2009
Profile picture for girouard property RE
linda, good answer, that's all..
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May 03 2009
Profile picture for L Strasberg
If you qualify right now and can find a great deal...definitely go for it!  For buyer's, these are unprecedented historic times never to be seen again.  If you're a seller...it sucks to be you right now.
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May 03 2009
rbjrn, Don't know what your market is doing but I do know REOs are less than 1/2% of our market. They had been between 4&5% of the houses on the market Nov. and Dec. also that prices aren't dropping like they had been. Ask an agent in your neighborhood to check the availability for you.
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May 03 2009

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