When is the right time to buy a home?

       The truth is no one has the definitive answer and shame on real estate professionals for telling someone to buy at some time in the future. The only time we can assuredly tell someone about market conditions is NOW. No one has a crystal ball.

       Case in point, a homebuyer told me in February of 2007, when I started working with him, that a previous real estate agent told him and his family to wait until August to buy as property values were going down. This real estate agent was predicting that property values would hit bottom in August.  This client wanted to purchase a home in February, not wait. We found one and they have been living in it for 6 months as I write this article.

       Fast forward to the banking woes of August 2007, this family would never have been able to get financing because of all the problems in the mortgage industry if they had waited. The loan program that they qualified for in February was discontinued this August, and they had no other alternatives. I've been selling Real Estate since 1985, and I NEVER could have predicted this. I have never seen so many loan programs disappear overnight, nor have I seen so many real estate purchase transactions stop in the middle because of loan programs being discontinued overnight.  It is a wild unpredictable market right now.

       Is the value of the home this family purchased lower now than when they purchased in February? Absolutely not. We found an incredible buy! Even if the values had dropped a little, they are not SELLING now. Any lower amount in the property value, or depreciation, will never be noticed especially if the family stays in the home for the average 5 years. Truly, if the family had not purchased at the time they did, they would still be renting and missing out on the opportunity of appreciation and the tax breaks for home ownership!

       Media Hype! We all read it in the newspapers and hear it on the news. Home buyers get caught up in the newspaper and news too. Journalists retrieve bits and pieces of information from the past and piece it together for a story. Clearly this was what happened in 2005 with the flood of inexperienced investors purchasing properties with hopes of just flipping and making a quick dollar. While there were a lot of folks who did make money this way, many did not and we are seeing the effects of it today with the record high levels of investor property foreclosures in the Phoenix market.

        Now the newspapers only print the bad news and not the opportunities. We're hearing in the news how bad the real estate market is today. Everyone is skittish, buyers and sellers alike.

       When is the best time to buy? NOW! This is the best time to buy a home since the late 1980's. Even better as interest rates are lower. The economy is better. Why are buyers stalling? I have not a clue

       The good news is real estate will always go back up eventually! If you are purchasing a home to live in, owning is more secure than renting! You have appreciation, a tax break, and if you do get into financial trouble, it takes longer for a foreclosure process than an eviction.

       If you are purchasing as an investment, figure your expenses versus the income the property will produce and what you can expect the appreciation to be with a conservative normal yearly schedule, like 3% or 5% per year. If it makes sense, buy it. As financing options get tighter, rental fees should increase. Good news for the real estate investor. Bad news for the renter.

       Maricopa County, where I live, is still one of the fastest growing counties in the country with an average of 125,000 people moving here each year. Our economy is good. Our unemployment rate is low. The interest rates are great. Time is of the Essence! This is the time to buy!

     Visit Janet Mohr's website: Mohrhomes.com