If you FEEL safe in the job market, go ahead and buy. If its a 1-1 ratio for rent/buy, might as well buy and have something to your name. If things go south, you still have something.

[QUOTE=MichiganMat;4524480]



I've got a healthy 10% in cash and stock to put down on a place, QUOTE]

you found a bank or broker that said all you need is 10% for a contract with them ?

[QUOTE=RoninLB;4525402] Thats right, 10% down.

Make an almost insulting offer. *Almost*.

Let them counter. You may save $25k.


KT

Look at it this way. If you buy, you get your first month with no payment due and when the first mortgage payment is due, you'll probably have your security deposit back from where you're renting now. And if you lose your job and can no longer pay, your current landlord can probably throw you out on the street a lot faster than any bank can do it with the backlog they have these days. You could skate a good 6-12 mos. in a house after you've stopped paying your mortgage. Not so as a renter. And your credit would be trashed in either case. So, if the mortgage payment won't be much more than the rent, I say buy. Also, you can adjust your W4 to keep more of each paycheck, since you'll be writing off a lot of interest for 2009.

Having recently been in this position myself, I disagree. Even if you feel safe in the job market and it's a 1:1 ratio and you buy, you still have NOTHING in your name. The bank still owns the house until the day you pay off your mortgage. Never forget that.

Miss a mortgage payment or round-file a property tax bill and you'll learn P.D.Q. who "owns" the house.

We live in a society of "loanowners", not "homeowners" these days. By very deliberate design. 2-3 generations ago, it wasn't uncommon for people to own their homes outright. Today we live in a society where nobody does - in fact if you do you're usually considered abnormal.

And speeder, I agree 100% with what you said. As my granddad always said, "consider your source - believe none of what you hear and half of what you see". Words from a commissioned salesperson are absolutely, positively 100% guaranteed bullschit, 100% of the time. They are also absolutely, positively never in YOUR interest as a buyer, I don't care what any contract or code of ethics or signed agreement might say. If you believe otherwise, I've got some oceanfront property in Minnesota to sell ya'.

Do your own homework and trust nobody who has an interest in YOUR money. Ye have been warned... ;)

My parents own 3 really nice houses in 3 different states with no mortgages on any of them. Never pulled any $$ out, nothing. But you're right, it's unusual. Depression mentality I guess.

Very unusual - they're lucky.

They still do have to make those "payments" to the government though...

Nothing wrong with free and clear homes. It helps me sleep at night. ;)

MIMat, hard to say. If you can find a house you can afford and plan to stay in for a long time, it might be worth a shot. If you're looking for something temporary, something that'll be flipped in a few years, don't even think about it unless you're walking in with a chunk of equity.

What's the comparison b/t rent and buy for a similiar home?

Answering your question explicitly, though, I see little/no reason to buy NOW vs wait 6-9 months. That assumes you haven't spied the perfect house. jurgen

From the sounds of this..... I say "BUY".
But heck I'm a RE guy, so you'd better be careful taking advice from me? Right?
Ha, ha. Gimmee a break! I'm really getting tired of hearing the BS.

Here's who you SHOULD take advice from...... "Someone who HAS done it"
In my opinion, if you couldn't make money in RE in the last 4 or 5 years then you'd better find something else to spend your investment money on AND you shouldn't be taking advice from people who haven't made money in the RE market. Go ahead listen to their "opinion", but I'd be reluctant to take their advice without some hard facts from the ones that have walked the talk.

Some of the posters in this thread have clearly alluded to that point.

Thanks Denis; Definate mutual respect pal. My post was really more generic as I dont know your market or the market in San Jose? There are of course tons of factors to consider in any market. Right now in MY market, we can look at 2005 as a good scale of rule for our current markets. I personally adjusted to it in my own sub-division and made 4 sales in February; so it worked. (yes, I've actually DONE what I'm posting advice about; weird concept I know; ha.)

CA was going crazy long before we ever did, so perhaps you need to go back farther in time; sometime before things went crazy. Last year I was making $80K a house sale, (sold 9 of them), this year its down to $40K/each; oh well, it is what it is. Point is I've adjusted and I'm still moving forward and compared to '05, things are rockin!

As for the mumbo jumbo about the negative....... far too much of it on this board lately, focusing on the crap all the time. But that's what 98% of the people do and will always do, so there you have it, We all have a choice how we feel and in the very next moment you can choose to have a feeling that feels better; or one that feels worse; but it's YOUR choice pal. My comment had nothing to do with the up/down of the markets; it was about the ATTITUDE. I've made money in every market, always have, always will, but with that I'm always focused on what I want AND never on what I dont want.

We got some real experts here on this board that can tell you all about the negative side of everything; from pie charts to profound mumbo jumbo they're experts in the negative. Good for them, but its not for me.

If someone wants to learn from the negative approach, usually posted by someone who has never done it themselves; good, OR learn from someone positive who has done it; that's their choice. I choose to take advice from those who have.

There you have it; couldn't agree more.

Nice.

edit - removed degrading remarks

Me too! Despite losing my corporate gig last fall and hundreds of thou in the market, I KNOW I'm going to be OK and get through this economic disaster just fine. Debt free = stress free and I wouldn't have it any other way. Where's my sign..gone fishin' :)!

Sounds like a sound decision. Rental potential helps to diffuse your risk, and the fact that you're looking longterm should get you past this economy nonsense. If you feel good about it, go for it. Don't let fear run your life. Some people here would benefit from turning off the news, contrary to popular belief the sky is NOT falling.

I say wait....................................the next wave of ***** to hit the fan is option ARM's an Alt-A's which most are scheduled to adjust for the first time this year. People that have been current on these instruments are the next round of failures to eventually hit the books. More failures = more foreclosures = yet more downward pressure on the already fragile market.

Everyday in my neighborhood, there is yet another "For Sale" / "Foreclosure" / "Short Sale" sign being posted in the front yard. And I live in a typically "hot" area (Northern Va) I have yet to see one house actually sold in the last 4-5 months.

My next door neighbor has his house on the market in a short sale where the asking price is @ half of what they paid for it 15 months ago.

You lack financial sophistication, friend. Many times, I've read and been told to cash out my equity and buy stocks, bonds, or other investment. Who would settle for 'only' 5-6% via equity paydown? Stop living in the 20th century. Extract your equity and invest. Imagine the nest-egg you'd be sitting on if you had extracted equity and dollar-cost averaged into the S&P 500 over the last 15 years?

Well, I am from the south and do talk funny :).

A lot of the most experienced economists, reporters (say, for The Economist), businessmen and financial guys don't *really* have a clear handle on how much toxic loans are floating around. They generally believe there is a lot. The smoke has not yet cleared.

This episode of the Daily Show is very informative. This is not about PARF BullS***:

Daily Show with Jon Stewart - March 4, 2009

http://www.hulu.com/watch/60862/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-wed-mar-4-2009#s-p1-so-i0

<object width="512" height="296"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/x02JzRf8bKF4FCEBNn-cwA"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/x02JzRf8bKF4FCEBNn-cwA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" width="512" height="296"></embed></object>

I'm sure there's a lot of folks that are REALLY happy right now that they invested in stocks as opposed to paying off their house.:rolleyes:

A lot of stocks have lost a lot less than a lot of the houses out there!