As for me, I WAS worried about missing the boat. I started looking at condos in 1996, but chickened out because I had some CC debt at that time, and was scared to make the financial commitment lest I should fail. It didn’t stop me from watching the market, and prices were going up. Then, I decided I wanted a house. All around me, I saw people getting rents raised $200+, and getting bumped out and really stretching to find an affordable decent place to live. People were getting in a panic when owners decided to sell. I had lived in SD for years, and in the past, finding another rental was no problem.
That made me very very nervous. Anxious to buy and anxious not to buy. So, I scrounged together some money and I bought with a friend (July 2001) in a neighborhood I really don’t like very well, but I figured if I got the boot from my present rental house, myself and my dog would always have somewhere to go with a fixed rate. I figured I would rather live in a neglible area in SD then NOT live in SD at all.
In the meantime, I paid off my CC, and still live in the rental house. I have a very low rent, thanks to my landlady of 8 years. The property we own is a rental. We refinanced in 2003, and now we have a very small positive cash flow.
My hope is that prices come down enough so I can buy in the area I want.
