[Maybe] It's time to buy that first house
Ron Lieber of the NY Times wrote an interesting article for first time home buyers wondering whether or not to buy in today's difficult real estate market.
"Five or 10 years from now, when the financial crisis has ended and housing prices are up smartly once more, we will look in the rearview mirror and realize that we missed a golden age for first-time home buyers.
Then, everyone who sat on their down payment savings accounts for a few years too long will kick themselves for not taking advantage of what may turn out to be the buying opportunity of a lifetime for those who can qualify for a mortgage.
Unfortunately, we do not know when this golden age will begin, because we will be able to identify a bottom to the housing market only with the benefit of hindsight. But as it does with the stock market, the moment will probably arrive when everyone is feeling the most pessimistic.
That moment is certainly getting closer. Housing prices have fallen drastically from their peak levels in many areas of the country. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are already close to 5.5 percent, and this week there were suggestions that the federal government might try to drive them down to 4.5 percent, a truly incredible figure to be able to lock in for three decades."
Let me highlight a few phrases for your consideration:
we missed a golden age for first-time home buyers
kick themselves for not taking advantage of what may turn out to be the buying opportunity of a lifetime
the moment will probably arrive when everyone is feeling the most pessimistic
a truly incredible figure to be able to lock in for three decades
Take a look at this phrase just one more time, the moment will probably arrive when everyone is feeling the most pessimistic.
If you are currently on the sidelines and don't know whether to buy or to wait, consider both the pros and cons offered in this article.