When is the Best Time to Purchase a Home?
Over the past 20 years, I’ve seen buyer’s markets and seller’s markets. I’ve seen rates way up and rates at all time lows. I’ve seen home values appreciate out of sight and home values spiral back to earth. Throughout every market, buyers have asked the same questions. One such question that’s especially relevant today is:
“Is it a good time to buy a home?”
There are two ways to answer that question:
The first answer involves the economy, the housing market, and the interest rate environment. The second answer is specific to your unique situation and lifestyle.
When talking generally, I’m convinced that now is the ideal time to purchase a home. Over the last several years, we’ve seen home values in many areas on Long Island drop substantially to affordable levels we haven’t seen since the late 1990’s. Yet interest rates are still very low. This perfect combination won’t last forever. In fact, it probably won’t even last through the end of the year!
I’ve witnessed prospective buyers remain on the sidelines, waiting for the absolute bottom, only to lose the perfect house or be outbid. Even the best stock pickers rarely buy stocks at their absolute lows and sell at their very peak. Buying and selling a home is no different. Market timing rarely works.
But the real elephant in the room is interest rates. The economy is slowly starting to recover, the national deficit is out of control, and inflation is already rearing its ugly head. It’s an almost certainty that mortgage rates will be higher next year. Even if home prices remain constant, higher rates will make those same houses less affordable.
Today the opportunity for homeownership is the best we’ve seen in over a decade and probably for years to come.
Now that we’ve established it’s a great time to buy, is it truly a great time for you? That answer is not so cut and dry. There are many financial and lifestyle factors to be considered; many more than you might realize!
If you want excellent and unbiased medical advice, you should talk to your trusted family doctor. But if you want excellent and unbiased housing and financial advice, don’t expect to get it from a salesman at a local bank. For excellent advice tailored to your specific needs, make sure you work with a Mortgage Planner.
A trusted Mortgage Planner will help you determine whether buying a home is the right move for you. Only a qualified and competent Mortgage Planner can ensure your loan will be structured to take advantage of the lowest available interest rates while ensuring your mortgage accommodates your cash flow needs and financial goals.
Warren Goldberg is a Mortgage Planner, and published author. His newsletter is read by almost two thousand subscribers and his interviews include Blog-Talk Radio, Newsday, and the Long Island Herald. Since 1992, Warren Goldberg has helped thousands of clients own their homes, refinance their mortgages, restructure their debts, and invest in real estate. Warren is known for his wide knowledge of mortgage products and wealth-creation strategies. (To learn more or subscribe to his newsletter, visit www.WarrenGoldberg.com.)
