Another person persuade me to BUY

User Forum Topic
Submitted by masayako on May 15, 2008 - 5:56pm

Another elderly friend persuade me to BUY.
Basically, my response to her is: If you think it's a good time to buy, go and BUY yourself a house. Since I don't agree with you, I will continue to RENT. Let's see who's right 10 years from now.

I admit that I don't have as much RE experience as her. She is an agent. Still, my common sense tells me PRICE IS STILL TOO HIGH!

Here's my thinking: If a mid 6-figure income guy like me is having trouble finding a decent house with a decent size (2000 sqft) in a decent neighborhood, SOMETHING IS FREAKING WRONG HERE in this out of control RE market~~!! The SD RE market is still way overpriced!

Here is her email to me:

"If you are a ready buyer this is good time to buy. No one knows the bottom of the market. If you think the market is still going down for 10% more then offer 10% lower the asking price. You have more inventories now and you are on the winning side of the bargaining table. Why wait? Paying rent is fine especially less responsibilities. I have in RE business since 1986 and I experience the ups and downs of the market many times. Owing a home and keeping it is always the winner. Same as the security trading, I don't believe day trader will make money if you only jumps in and jumps out. Unless your are the professional and read the annual reports everyday, I dare not to jump into the market. Yes, I have stocks but my stocks stay in my account and no trading almost for 14 years or more.
I am looking into the RE market in SD now because I believe in it. I may not buy the property at the bottom price but will be a fair price I could afford. "

‹ Vockler: Act NOW! Luxury Foreclosures ›
Doesn't seem out of line if
Submitted by Raybyrnes on May 15, 2008 - 6:11pm.

Doesn't seem out of line if you expect to hold for a long period and have the income to do so.

If your friend has followed her own advice and bought good securites and has held them she has done well. If she has bought real estate nd held it without refiing out she has done well.

If this has been her strategy show me what she is doing that is wrong.

I tend to think the real deal here is rent is cheap. Rather than arguing over buying a home or timing a market just let her know you like good deals and think renting is a good deal at the moment.

I hope you mean low 6-figure
Submitted by asianautica on May 15, 2008 - 6:15pm.

I hope you mean low 6-figure or mid $100k, cuz if you make $500k, I'm sure you can afford most if not all 2000 sq-ft house in San Diego.

Your friend does have a point though. I don't know if it's possible to pull it off but we all can agree that today's rate is record low. If you think a certain house is 10% from bottom and you can get a 90% offer accepted, why not buy now. That's a big IF though. Most 2000 sq-ft houses in nice areas are still 20-30% too high even at today's price. I highly doubt you can get a seller to accept an offer that's 20-30% below list price.

There are not alot of good
Submitted by juice on May 15, 2008 - 6:20pm.

There are not alot of good rentals out there - there's a reason!

juice - very true. On
Submitted by jpinpb on May 15, 2008 - 6:36pm.

juice - very true.

On holding. This property is interesting just for numbers. Ignore the location. We can agree none of us like it.

Just look at the sales history. It is impressive to see the decline, the heights of "No- there's no bubble" and now in such a short time the drastic new listing price.

http://www.sdlookup.com/Property-45F556A...

Here's my thinking: If a mid
Submitted by fat_lazy_union_... on May 15, 2008 - 8:34pm.

Here's my thinking: If a mid 6-figure income guy like me is having trouble finding a decent house with a decent size (2000 sqft) in a decent neighborhood, SOMETHING IS FREAKING WRONG HERE in this out of control RE market~~!! The SD RE market is still way overpriced!

 

Frankly, I can't think of many people who's first home purchased anytime was was 2000sqft SFH in a prime location. Almost all started out either

(1) in something more affordable townhome in a better location or

(2) a SFH that was more affordable at a further distance away

unless they

(3) had dual incomes to support it or

(4) was sitting on a bunch of stock options from a lucky windfall or

(5) inherited money or had financing from Relative/Parents Inc

You can probably afford a "home", the question is how much home and where. It might be a stretch for most to think they can land in a 2000sqft SFH home as their first home in a prime location imho.

There is a small handful of single folks who probably does considerably better financially then the rest of us who could probably jump into a SFH in a prime location off the bat. But I think for the rest of us, we're just average people that make an average income that need to initially make some compromises to get started.

Not advocating people go buy homes right now. But just as realtors always say it's always a good time to buy a home, I have a corollary. ...It feels like it's never a good time to buy a home.

If you're talking about a primary home, it's pretty good you can think about it purely in economic terms. Many people (inclusive) have a primary home fetish, and buy not necessarily making the most economic sense. (though some of us just do a slightly better job doing damage control of our home fetishes than others :)

 

Owing a home and keeping it
Submitted by barnaby33 on May 15, 2008 - 11:07pm.

Owing a home and keeping it is always the winner

Yeah, keeping it is the bitch, ain't it?

We have a long painful deflationary path to go before buying makes sense.

Josh