JP,
If you want to torture yourself about this, you have come to the right place. Ask trusted elders who have seen it all and done it all. You’ve got people here that know what they are talking about an people who are nuts and will only be right if the world stops turning. They make arguments that the can’t defend and stonewall, flame or disappear from the discussion. very prideful they never come back and say “I can see your side of that” or apologize for being rude. I’d list them by name but I am already afraid of getting “beat-up at the meet-up”! Meanwhile panic is in the streets(and on piggington) and lenders are starting to give deep cuts on REO’s and short sales to the point where you will be able to do what Nostradamus did in 1998 on the right properties or break even to a rental comparison at least. Fixed interest rates are great.
A lot of people are going to be scared to pull the trigger, or maybe they can’t or won’t lower their standards, so they have to follow doomsday prognostications to cover for themselves.
One guy the other day says don’t buy unless you have job stability. I just don’t agree with this. You buy something cheaper than rent before you lose your job unless you’re in a field that necessitates relocating to look for work. Even in that case if it’s cheaper than rent now you are a rental property investor. If the job holds up, buy more cheap stuff or a move up house. I feel sorry for people who learned these middle class fear based get through life strategies. Better off just shoot your self in the foot. “I can’t have nice posh house and a comfy job so I’ll just sit this one out.”
Nothing wrong with waiting, lowballing, testing fate. But reality is somewhere between the NAR and the armageddon crowd and if armageddon strikes a bad real estate deal is going to be the least of our concerns. I bet guts (with a dose of pragmatism) and glory still go together when all is said and done.
EDIT. Rates don’t correlate to price to the extent people think. It wasn’t low fixed rates that cause the bubble it was “subprime”, liar loans, option arms and teaser rates. People often refuse to omit these consideration from their rate/ price correlation apparently. Just look at the chart price isn’t a slave to rate. Take Temecula or other areas or types of properties that are way beat down. The may be over corrected and struggling for equilibrium before rates go up and all rates would do is put some pressure on potential rebound. Rate can coincide with prices going in the same direction but it isn’t the whole story, ever.Too many variables. Right now the important variables are trash mortgage fallout and the impact of the recession. These are good for buyers.
