HelloKitty,
I say if the house is where you want, and it is well within your means, buy it. Even if it drops, it will go back up at some point, maybe a long time, but if you plan on keeping it, it dosen’t matter.
I bought my house back in 1991, when the market was on its way down, but I did not have the luxory of Pigginton’s, so I had know idea. We paid in the $180’s for the house that promptly dropped into the $130’s, and I thought it was the end of the world. My payment has remained the same, all of the 17 years, and I know live in a house that is close to being paid off, and the payment is less that $800/month. I am like you, in that we will NEVER sell this house. I will always have it as a rental or a backup, in case some unforeseen life event happens we will always have a place to live, where the taxes won’t kill us and the house will be paid for, and to me that is the biggest comfort in the world. Now we are in the position when the market does settle down, we can buy up. So I don’t always thinks it’s about timing the market, it has to fit into your lifestyle as well.
And on a side, just ignore Marion, she is just hating because there is another women on this site that is getting more attention than she has for awhile!