The hypothetical does not pertain to my own experience. In 99 I moved out here and had no idea as to whether I was going to stay or go. The thought of buying a home really was not there. As pointed out by someone else on the board I was young and was focused on establishing myself in my carreer.
But with respect to timing, there seems to be a contingent on this board that keeps bringing up market cycles. As I see it, this argument seems extremely counter intuitive because a market cycle would always suggest that at some point if your holding time is long enough you come out ahead. This is true of the stock market aswell. I like the Americans Funds. It can be pointed out that there has never been a 20 year period of time where if you held your fund that you would have lost money.
World war 1 was a bad time to buy but those who bought and hold made money. WW11, Vietnam Black monday were all times that were the wrong time to buy. Now I challenge anyone to say that long period of time do not produce the same buying sckepticism with housing. It is the wrong time to buy because….
When is the right time to buy. How about when I am established in my carreer, I have a year reserve , I am able to max out my 401K, I can handle a 30 year fixed rate, I found a property I love, a school system that helps me avoid the high cost of private schools etc. If now is that time for people then so be it. Maybe a sellers panic is there buying opportunity. That doesn’t mean I am there yet but I am not bitter about that.
