It May Be Time to Think About Buying a House
by Hilary Marsh
An article in Sunday's New York Times echoes what the National Association of REALTORS has been asserting for months: That for consumers in the right financial position, home-buying is an attractive option now.
"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." The article goes on to talk about investing in a down payment vs. leaving that money in a savings account, as well as the availability of rentals in certain parts of the country. Aind first-time home buyers have advantages -- they don't need to sell a place before they buy -- and create additional movement in the housing marketing by opening up opportunities for other homeowners to move on.
Author Ron Lieber also mentions that since real estate is local, this is not the case everywhere, but overall, this article is worth sharing with prospective home buyers, especially first-timers. Continue reading the article.
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Comments
I'm glad you went the extra step to mention that buying is a good idea...depending on*where* you buy. Too many blanket statements are made about real estate, especially these days. We still really need to get away from looking at primary residence equity as a measurement of wealth. Personal residence equity can only be seen as wealth if your plan actually leverages it to some profitable end. Most people don't ever do that or even think about doing that...because they need a place to live, and they like having their home paid off. We need to get more people investing in real estate, not just living in it.
Posted by: Christian | December 9, 2008 12:59 PM