Considering everything that is going on right now, would you buy a house if it was cheaper than renting?

go with the lower monthly pmt

renting is throwing your money away.

if you are payng less and owning and still lose your place after a while, you wouldnt lose more than if you had kept renting anyways.

I heard a respected Real Estate person say recently, "It's a great time to be a slum lord".

If you can buy low and plan for any sudden upward rate corrections, then yes, get in on the fire-sale.

at least if you have a house you have a chance at building equity..

renting you are building the landlords equity...

That was my thought too, about building equity. Just concerned because of all this shit that seems to be hitting the fan, and because of all the banking troubles.

I've been wondering if rental rates are about to skyrocket?

I would need lots more info before making a definite determination.... but in general owning is better than renting and saving money is always a good thing.

Things I would need to know.

1)What is the house value,,,as in has it gone down at all in price recently? What is the auditor's value and assessed? When was the auditor's value listed? What does the comparative market analysis show and was it a good one?

2)How did you come to the conclusion of what your payment would be? Did it include everything from PITI and PMI?

3)Condition and likely future condition of the home. Anything from structure to neighborhood and surrounding homes.

4)What kind of financing are you eyeballing?

buy, buy, buy, I wish i had the cash
to buy an investment property right
now, it doesn't get much better than
this if you're in the market to buy,
equity, tax write-off's etc., make
home ownership worth it.

Ok, one more question. Would you buy a house for yourself to live in where you are now? Or would you buy a piece of land or "vacation home" to bug out to, should TSHTF?

Every year since 1947 they have said that house prices have topped out.

There is never been a bad time to buy a home that you plan to live in for five years or longer.

The long term tax advantages over renting far outweigh the possible risk of short term depreciation.

If you can afford it,,,Buy a house and love it as your HOME.

Not an investment.

If you bought a house now at say $200,000 there is a chance that in five years that same house will be worth $125,000 and then you would lose equity.

My house is already perfect for now and when SHTF.

Just make sure you can pallette future rate hikes. THe current levels will not stay this low forever so plan for that and you are fine.

See if you can find a broker who will offer a variable with free parachute clause as then you'll have the best of both worlds.

This means you can buy on a variable and ride the these amazing low rates but if things over-correct to an unfloatable high rate, you can "parachute" into a prime-related fixed mortgage without penalty.

start with a few books ...

[link to www.whiffyksunk.com]


regards
JF

Well, my spouse is in the military, so we are guaranteed a VA loan. Our credit is pretty good as well. Problem is, if we get sent to where I think we will, I really don't want to buy a home, as if we can't sell it when we get transferred again, I don't want to be stuck with a house in a place we don't plan on ever going back to. On the other hand, we have talked a long time about buying a "retirement" property or other such place, in an area we would love to be in. Just wondering if we should buy a house where we will be living and take our chances we will be able to sell it when the time comes in a couple of years, or buy a property/house/bug out place where we want to be after he retires.

I'm playing it safe right now and renting. If TSHTF, I can move in with my parents. It'll be like I'm a kid again.

Thanks.

all your house r belong to us

Isn't a fixed rate locked into the low rate we are guaranteed with our VA loan the best? I would never get a variable. I've seen too many people lose their houses with them.

No way should they go variable! First, there is not much room for down but tons of room for the rate to go up. Even with caps you get screwed.... Geez, isn't this kind of tactic the very reason we are having a mortgage problem right now anyway for the 'keep up with the Jones' crowd.

Go fixed. They are lower now and the banks might be very tight and leary on new ARM loans. Then you won't have to worry about that garbage anyway and when the rates soar you are totally safe.

with the military there will always
be a need for housing, the taxes
you save owning should factor over
resale fears., with VA you can
practically move in with $0 down and
no closing, that should be a huge
incentive

there is always risk in life

where would you be after paying rent for five years ???

that's the comparison to make

Good luck.

I heard on the radio this morning that because of the mortgage crisis banks are demanding high percentage down payments and are dolling out mortgages with an eyedropper.

I know you're all correct, it just scares the shit out of me buying in such an unstable market. I wish we were going to be stationed near I want to really buy. Sucks to say the least. It's either buy where we live or not. Can't afford two mortgages (second one being bug out/retirement property)

Thanks. With a VA loan we don't need a down payment, because the loan is automatically covered by the government, should we default.

I'm not familiar with the VA loan program so you may be correct. As for variable rate disasters, newer products are out there that negate the exposure to situations such as the late 70's-early 80's where people had no "outs" on a variable and were forced to ride all the way to foreclosure.

They have been!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!In 5 years a one bd was $850 now 1395.00 in LA. NIce neighborhood. If you want chaep rent live near the illegals and die.

Buying is almost always better than renting.


Advantages to Renting:

-Repairs to house are someone elses problem

-Don't want to live there anymore? Just rent somewhere else.


Disadvages to Renting:

-You can live the the same place for 35 years and walk away with nothing.

-Rent generally will increase every year.


Advantages to Owning:

-Even if your forced to give up your home after 5 years, as long as you sell before the bank tries to take the home back you almost always end up with at least getting your down payment back. The longer your able to hold on to it the more ahead you are.

-The costs of owning a home arn't really that much more that renting the same thing. Sometimes cheaper.

-You can make changes to a house you own, can't always when renting.

-If your able to get it paid off by the time you retire, your retirment will be MUCH eaier. (Easier said than done, but...)

-The amount you pay only changes based on the rates, unlike renting which only really goes up every year.


Disadvanges to Owning:

-If you fall behind and are unable to sell your house and the bank forecloses.. your screwed. They take your home and you get NOTHING.

-Heating and cooling costs create spikes durring certiain times of the year. Though many who rent have to pay their own gas/hydro anyhow.

-It's much harder to get up and leave.

-If you buy when the rates are REALLY low (like now), by the time it comes around to re-new... you can be out of your price rage. However, again, worst comes to worst you sell before the bank takes it and your at worst breaking even. (most of the time)

Rent cheap and pay cash for a house. Don't borrow money that's what got us into this mess.

Ultimately, I would love to buy a piece of land now in the area we are thinking of retiring in. Then over time, build the house we want to be in, as money allows. I want to do it right and have a house that is not just beautiful, but is more on the green side, i.e. solar power, steel frame to help withstand strong weather/winds or any 2012 doom that may come our way, "shelter" somewhere near the house for any future doom, etc. Just can't figure out which to do. We're not exactly Rockefellars.

you have to have a 10 year plan , that way you can wait out the bad times .

Remember , the house payment is a deduction .

If house payment is 2k per month

you dont pay income taxes on that amount .

If you make 5k a month you are only taxed on 3k

The tax thing is one thing that most new buyers

dont have a clue about