I am in the same boat as all you guys. I am currently renting but the wife would like to purchase a property soon in the next couple months because she thinks the RE will get better soon. She said you can’t time the bottom but at least get it at the low end and we plan to stay at the home for long term.
I show my (pregnant, nesting) wife real world examples. I managed to convince her over a year ago not to buy until 2009 at the soonest, and now I’m able to show her what would have happened otherwise. If we had bought a particular place 18 months ago for $500k with $100k down, that $100k would have evaporated by now. Then I show her an endless stream of articles written by experts that aren’t out for your money (i.e., no RE agents or mortgage brokers), all saying it would be a horrible mistake to buy now. If she still insists, put your foot down. It’s your money too (whether you earned it or not), and you need to flat out refuse to throw it away.
I’ve found that the people who think the market is going to go up any second simply aren’t educating themselves about it, either because they’re in denial or just plain lazy.
