I had a similar predicament. 1st time buyer, had spent entire career (well all 3 years of it) after school saving and still living like a student. Felt that prices and bidding wars were crazy. I went to a real estate seminar and saw Rich speak, along with 2 or 3 RE cheerleaders, and decided to wait it out (Rich was the only one with data to support his hypotheses/predictions). I have been following this site, checking ziprealty and zillow ever since. From this I have learned, I should still wait longer and continue renting.
But … I decided to go ahead and spend more on my rental. I looked for 3 months and viewed about 20 properties. You have to be willing to overlap on rent a little to get a good place. I looked at many places and found the majority to be over priced. As I continued looking I also noticed these same overpriced rentals not getting rented. So this lead me to believe the good rental were getting snatched up quickly but they are out there. I found mine on craislist and viewed it the same day it was posted, submitted the application the next day. For my patience I was rewarded with a 2/1 in a duplex (approx 1000sf), 2 car garage, all appliences, small yard and 180deg ocean view from living room and patio, 5 blocks from the beach/surf in cardiff, $1800.
