Posted on 03/15/2010 11:09:12 AM PDT by Reaganesque
I've been reading in real estate news that first time home buyers are starting to buy homes again. Interest rates are still low, the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is still available and houses are affordable but, I'm just curious, how many Freepers are looking to buy their first home? This isn't necessarily a thread to comment on the Obama economy, I'm simply interested in buyer's current attitudes. I'm a real estate investor and I thought I would ask some real people about this.
I made a cash offer on a condo yesterday that is a repo.
Yeah, cash is king right now.
Yeah. They have been showing the house since late January and still haven’t been able to get $520K. But since it is bank owned perhaps they are not negotiating much, which is a surprise.
I’m not sure if I really want the house of just don’t want anyone moving in behind us. :-)
see them get their $8,000
...that’s assuming the gov gets around to paying it, since the line is said to be 8 months long. We cashed out of So CA in ‘05 at 11 x the down payment after 9 years, rented for 4 and now will apply for the “new homeowners” credit which I spent a third of to get a 4% (free money considering inflation) mortgage on the new place, 5 acres with stone/brick ‘04 built house in central TX. I think we’ll get the double dip but I am looking to buy vacation homes that are overbuilt in long term vacation destinations,
Hilton Head, Park City, Monterey Bay, Taos etc. Upper middle classers will always take vacations. My .02, ymmv
$8,000 is 10% of $80,000
Uhhh, 10% of 800,000 is $80,000.
You would need to buy a home worth at least $80,000 to get an $8,000 tax credit.
While real estate may be local, the collapse in California, Nevada, and Florida has affected lending standards across all states.
While this is probably a good thing for the long term stability of the economy, it probably also means that real estate will not have a ‘boom time’ again in the next 10 years. Instead, the value of real estate will grow with inflation, but no faster. This should be considered, when buying - all the fees for title work, realtors, inspections, etc. are much more important, if the house value is not growing faster than the rate of money.
Translation - if you really like the place and plan to live there an extended period of time, buy away. But, its not really a growth investment anymore.
Yeah...see post 38. My bad.
i don’t know about Long Beach, but in Omaha, NE, you could get a very nice 4 bedroom 2,000 sq foot home for in the neighborhood of $200,000.
Try your math again. If it is 10% of the cost of the home, and you bought an $80,000 home (not $800,000), you could get the $8,000.
The buying is very good in Houston area. some great deals to be had.
Current example:
3178 Sqft, excellent condition. 164,999 list.
If you ‘re interested in buying a home in Houston, shoot me a freepmail.
I have never understood why “low int rates” are an attractant to an investor. They are an enabler, in terms of marketing a lower mo pmt. But we know the shallowness of the “low mo pmt” come-on. For a potential homeowner, sure, locking in a low int rate is an excellent way to control housing costs. But for an investor, it precludes (not absolutely, but as a tendency) the idea of refinancing the mort in the future. Also, if rates rise, it will surely impact RE prices in a negative way.
I don’t think the calculus on the intelligence of owning vs renting has changed, even through all this turmoil. I myself do not have a family. For external reasons, I live for the present in an expensive area (No Cali) that I don’t like, and I don’t expect to be buying RE for many years. At least not here. YMMV if you have a family and wish to nest. I’m not that happy about what I see as an inevitable targeting of RE owners by local taxing authorities; it is utterly relentless here. What I’m saying is that my own thinking on the issue is decidedly warped by having a flaming Marxist as president and by having no family, and I’m aware of those biases. I don’t believe that RE in general will offer much in the way of appreciation for quite a while, unless you research a specific area & situation, and/or, really steal something.
“Prices and interest rates aren’t going to get any lower “
You’re kidding, right? Price continue to fall and there is no trend to say they won’t continue to fall, but there ar eplenty of trends that say they will. If you are an investor, then you should know that.
Do NOT preclude the idea of buying the property (if you like it) out of the estate. Yours is a classic, golden set of circumstances. The heirs more often than not do not want the property and would be very happy to receive a 5% yield on their value, especially for a zero-hassle no realtor commission sale to a proven payer. Those are the easiest RE deals in existence. Don’t worry about a low down payment, your dn pmt is the RE commission they won’t have to be paying.
Have you asked a local agent to run the comps for you to see if it’s priced right?
When negotiating for bank owned, price is not necessarily the determinig factor— the bank also cares about contingencies, ie how likely is the deal to go thru. They are more likely to consider an offer when it comes with a pre approval for financing (NOT a pre qual) from an actual lender, not a broker & proof of funds for down, closing, etc.
Cash really talks. They hate FHA, too many hassles & too many buyers fall out on the financing.
The bank doesn’t want the asset tied up in escrow for weeks on a shaky buyer.
That could be why the one you like is still sitting.
I’d encourage you to get a local agent to pull the most recent comps before you go further.
Thank you for your advice. Hugely appreciated.
I would not be so sure what remnants of capitalism we will have left once the Democrats' program is fully in place. I can remember someone saying that it would take a genius to destroy the American economy. Maybe we have that genius in the person of the Democrat Party. Damn their souls.
My wife and I are living in our first home that we bought in 2001. Though values have fallen it is still worth at least what we owe on it.
We close Wednesday on 46 acres in Kentucky where we will be building our “dream home” but that won’t be for 2 to 3 years from now as long as our personal economic situation stays the same.
If it weren’t for the recent land purchase I would own 2 or 3 rental homes right now or one really nice vacation home that I would rent.
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