1. You have selection, probably the best selection in literally a decade.
2. You have leverage on the buyers. In PS’ neighborhood, there’s three relatively similar homes for sale, that’s negotiation power.
3. You have homes available in prime shape. As the housing market sours, maintenance will be deferred, upgrades will cease and homeowner’s financial frustrations will be taken out on the home.
4. You have historically low interest rates.
5. You have a plethora of financing options to use smartly.
6. Most importantly, you have Sellers that are financially capable of selling.
Now is the best time to buy since 1999. Next year may be better, may be worse, may be a lot worse. Bank Repos don’t make a good housing market to buy in.
An unaffordable ARM reset payment ISN’T an opportunity if the owner doesn’t have substantial equity (and most of them don’t). It will be the two or three year death of the house.
Yes, two to three years. I get that long by guessing 6-12 months of the mortagee fighting to make payments, 3+ months of falling behind, 4 months of foreclosure and stripping the house to delay it, and then sitting as a Bank Repo on the bank books for 12+ months. Empty, abandoned, no power, no heat, no running water, squatters.
Then someone buys the abandoned, delapidated house and refurbishes it before putting back on the market looking to make their 20-30% profit above the cut rate price they paid the bank and the thousands of dollars they stuck into it.
Home ownership is a three legged stool, it’s time, it’s money and it’s effort. You’re only looking at the raw dollars and both time and labor (effort) are very expensive too.
