If you can afford it? Interest rates are at rock bottom. People are ready to deal. What is the down side,(clyde)?

Do it now.

I think one downside would be buying foreclosed houses.  The previous residents might have said, "fuck it" and let the property go to shit.

It was until you posted this thread causing people to say yes.  Now everybody will go out and buy and cause prices to skyrocket.

great time to buy.. bad time to sell... assuming you can find credit... Credit is in short supply at the moment.

My landlord was tired of watching her house go down in value while her mortgage payment stayed expensive. house appraises for 230K I bought it for 189K. seemed like a good deal to me.

Depends on the area. Colorado is down only about 5%, but the interest rate is pretty nice.
I would lock in a loan right now. I can't imagine it getting much under 5%.

If you are a first time home buyer there is also a 9000 dollar tax credit if you buy before dec. 1st of this year.

I want to put in a lowball offer. Asking price is $154,000. Where would be a good start?

Just like all you f^(kers to start hoarding.  

Depends on whether or not you think prices are going to drop another 20% or more, or not.

If the economy picks up and inflation takes off thanks to obungo's spending it would drive prices down too.

Yes, it's a great time to buy, but it's not the end.  Prices will keep coming down for at least another year.  The next coupld of years will see the bottom of the housing market as the last wave of the ARMs begin to adjust.

Now is a great time, and I have been told by a few appraisers that 6 months will be even better.

I do.  In some markets they have a lot further than that to drop before I'd consider buying.  In the midwest and other markets where prices never climbed 20%/year you'll be fine, but I wouldn't touch a house in Kali, Fl, Northern VA, or the other big bubble markets anytime soon.

Now's a great time.  As far as what to offer, why not get a Realtor to help you out?  No fee is paid to represent a buyer.  You can always lowball it, but if you really want the house, a fair offer always works best.  It all depends on the market area.

i would give an offer of 20% less then what they are asking

Im a loan officer.



We just bought a home for 94k that was 135k last year. Im concerned it will continue to lose value. NEW home, NEW subdivision, rural community.

My analysis is grim due to the recent unemployment increases. I think when the unemployed run out of unemployment and savings we'll see the 2nd round of foreclosures come home to roost driving prices down further.



This is my speculation of course. Im not a trained economists but Im getting good at prognosticating, batting 1000. lol



Here is the problem. I paid 94k for a 135k home. My neighbor paid 135k for theirs. Well, ok so when they go to sell or worse yet when another home in our subdivision forecloses they will use my home as a comp. This of course is driving down the values, and will continue to do so.



As far as the OP goes. I think much of this is geographical dependent. Some areas may not lose much value at all, while others will. Its real easy to find which area your in by looking at home prices comparing them to a year or more ago.

Probably 120k

If you have confidence in your job/income and the economy, terrific time to buy. Are you confident?

If you've got good credit, interest rates are rock bottom. I could be wrong but I don't see them getting any lower. My Wife and I just sold our old house and have a contract on a new one that we got a good deal on. We are lock in to a 4.375% interest rate. If you've got good credit, now is a good time to go for one now that the prices have self corrected. If you aren't trying to sell a house to buy a house, it is even better.

In this town (Phx area) their are neighborhoods of hundreds if not thousands of unsold, foreclosed, etc homes that appear to be bargain priced based on their initial prices.  It will take years to eat up the inventory of these homes and in  the interim the guy that bought the bargain home will be living in a neighborhood of squatters, empty untended homes, non-existant HOAs,drug houses (in million dollar homes) and all of that.  Finding a bargain in an established neighborhood with a core of solid homeowners is another story and there's quite a few of those too. It's just easy for someone new to the area to get sucked into an apparent bargain, only to find out he/she's bought the house from hell.

Yes.

Just bought a house myself.  Needs some work, but still appraised for $220k Comps are in the $270k range.  I paid $185k, but with all the repairs and upgrades the appraiser said it would be worth at least $250k.  A couple of years ago these houses were in the $350k range.  Crazy.

Get a Realtor.

The danger is that in the coming years, there will be a major transitional shift in the after-tax income of the middle classes. This, combined with stricter lending standards could severely compress the housing market, leaving only the uber-wealthy to fight over $1M+ houses while everyone else scrambles to squeeze into whatever nominal 3-bed, 1.5-bath common wall they can compete for with the next overtaxed worker if they are lucky, or some 1 bed apartment on a 10-story walk-up if they are not.

Just bought this three weeks ago. A 4/2/2 on 2.5 acres in Brooksville, Fl.

Rock on. Looks good.

What did you pay?

A realtor should be a ble to pull up a property's history.

I recently looked at a property.  I looked into it, and found it had been on the market for two years.  Price had dropped from $250K to $87K.  It is now bank owned.

$212,000. Newly remodeled: Painted inside and out, new tile, new carpet, new appliances, bath fixtures, roof two years old, new well and submersible pump.
Almost like a new house!

Depends.

If you have 100% faith that your job will not be reduced or eliminated, go for it.

Where I live, I don't care if homes were half price at this point. Out unemployment is at 11% in our county and 17% in the neighboring one.

And I think that thinking of a house as an investment is coming to an end. If you are looking at it as a home to live in, that's different as you have to pay rent anyway.

I don't think homes have hit their bottoms yet anyway. Commercial real estate will be the next one.

It could very well be the time to buy a house.

That all depends your employer's exposure and your personal savings/investment's exposure to *the suck*.

Are housing prices still going up in your area or have they started dropping yet?  If they're still going up, like in the three different parts of the country where I'm looking, I'd wait.  I think the prices will eventually come down.  Of course I didn't buy the place I'm in when it was $367k two years ago, and my neighbor's smaller place sold a couple of months ago for $520k so what do I know?  I should have bought two years ago.z

I am retired.

well done!

This has always been true, however, you need to be even more certain now. If you can get a decent, fixed rate, go for it.

If you are in a position to buy, now would be a great time.

Now would be a good time in MOST areas.  

Interest rates are low, and financial institutions are lending money, just not to low credit quality customers.   However, A person with a 650 credit score, which is relatively low, can get a loan.  You'll need above 740 to get the best terms, also the "appraisals" are more realistic and banks want you to actually put money down on a home.   No more, ":HEY appraisal just came back on my $400,000 home purchase at $500,000!  No need to put any money down!"  There is no more BS in the process.  

They verify everything instead of just taking your word for it.   I was floored when an originator friend of mine said they JUST started verifying tax returns with the IRS.   In the past a person could bring in two years worth of returns, didn't have to be the ones they filed, and they'd accept them.  

So you'll need fair to good credit, verifiable income, and a down payment, no more BS.   But yeah....its a great time to buy a home.

Wow....tough employment picture in your neck of the woods...11%....17%.  I am sorry to hear that.   Look on the bright side, even at 17% the employment rate is running at 83%.  I hope those people aren't afraid to move though....17% is not good.   Luckily we're running less the 9% nationally, and everyone knows that 4% is about as good as it ever gets.   So the vast majority of Americans are working!   I suspect we'll top out over 10% before all is said and done.   But hey, that means that 90% of us will still have jobs.  

I don't have 100% faith in ANYTHING....ever.    Reality has way of throwing you curves from time to time, you just have to roll with the punches....keep breathing and keep your feet moving.

55% of all defaults are occurring in FIVE states.   I'm afraid you're right about houses in some of those areas.   For example the median house price in Southern California is still to high, but where I live we didn't have the BOOM in real estate prices.   Only the high end homes have declined in value...and then not all that much.   Median homes in the area are moving "briskly"......

However, I agree with you on the part about the "investment" potential of homes.   The truth is except for 1998-2006 median home prices only appreciated on par with inflation.   The idea of flipping homes didn't really hit full steam until this last period.   A fairly priced home purchased with a 4.3% mortgage is not a bad deal.  

Just buy within in your means, don't take on a mortgage that everything financial has to go for you perfectly planned.   Don't buy a home that you can't put a 20% down payment on, and cover all closing costs, while still having 3-6 month of your net expenses in cash reserves.   If you are a little worried, might want to move that up to 6-12 months cash reserves.  

In the old days in two income families they didn't even count the wife's income for the purpose of a loan.   That practice hasn't been used in 40 years.  But I think it is wise.  If you are in a two income family you might not want to buy anymore house then you could afford on ONE income....that's a good hedge.  

If your smart you'll do fine....GOOD LUCK!

I own a much nicer home than I could have otherwise afforded.  I bought it at a downturn in the housing market.  The sellers had to sell due to a divorce.


Buy now.