Quick question about buying a house

[Chuck1986]

I can't help but to marvel at the amazing market of cheap foreclosed homes with astonishingly low interest rates. It is truly a buyer's market like I've NEVER seen before! Ex. there's a really nice 2800 square foot house down the street from me with an asking price of $140k. I can't believe my eyes!

I won't be graduating from grad school til 2012. I will be working a nice job in high demand that pays six figures and I'd really like to buy a house - nothing great, but something that's under 150k (no wife, no kids) so I don't make the same mistake many people made during this recession.

Now for my question:
Will the housing market still be this good in 2012?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Hmm... I seem to have misplaced my crystal ball...

Do you have a good source of income right now? If so, buy the house now, don't wait. You'll be paying mortgage instead of paying rent - gotta live somewhere. Just keep in mind that mortgage is not everything. Maintaining a house and paying utility bills on it will be more than what you're used to when renting a 1br apartment.

 

[eljefino]

Erie PA? Steel town? Does the region have direction? Will it be the next Flint MI (no offense, Flintians)? Will your future degree get you a job in Erie?

If you can get a mortgage now, shoot, go for it-- even if you sell for what you paid you'll have built equity instead of tossed rent out the window. And you can always be a landlord if you go somewhere else.

 

[GMBoy]

eljefino is right - consider why the houses are so cheap. Is the economy there failing? If so, then you should probably skip that bargain. BUT - if you're sure you will be gainfully employed and can afford it, than that's a bargain worth shooting for. Ownership beats renting.

 

[Chuck1986]

Both of you guys are spot on about tossing rent out the window!! (Hence I would never live in Boston or NYC - which are black holes for rent $$).

Unfortunately I (or actually my parents) are getting suckered into paying rent right now. I told them it would be an INVESTMENT to just buy a house, but they wouldn't budge on it. And frankly, I have no leverage for negotiating that cuz it's their $$, not mine.

I'm actually not interested in buying that house I mentioned - I just meant to use it as an example of how the market is looking so great right now. I also don't plan on living in PA permanently. I want to move to Georgia or Arizona when I'm done.

 

[Drew99GT]

The housing market isn't a buyers market everywhere! A 2,800 sq, ft. house that's not a total dump is going to still fetch probably $200,000 to $250,000 in Denver or CO Spgs. today.

In Southern California? HAAAAAAAAAAA! $140K will still only get you a cradboard box.

 

[Chuck1986]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Erie PA? Steel town? Does the region have direction? Will it be the next Flint MI (no offense, Flintians)? Will your future degree get you a job in Erie?

If you can get a mortgage now, shoot, go for it-- even if you sell for what you paid you'll have built equity instead of tossed rent out the window. And you can always be a landlord if you go somewhere else.


The local economy here is horrible.

Although I don't wanna live here permanently, my future job could get me a job in Erie cuz there are pharmacies EVERYWHERE here and big chains are constantly opening up new stores, while CVS and Walgreens continue expanding hours of some of their pharmacies to 24/7. People are living longer, the elderly are the fastest growing age group and medications are treating more and more conditions. I hope I got it right with my career choice.

 

[Chuck1986]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
The housing market isn't a buyers market everywhere! A 2,800 sq, ft. house that's not a total dump is going to still fetch probably $200,000 to $250,000 in Denver or CO Spgs. today.

In Southern California? HAAAAAAAAAAA! $140K will still only get you a cradboard box.


I would NEVER EVER live in Southern Cali. There's something about those population-dense blue states with high costs of living that really turns me away.

 

[Drew99GT]

There's another guy here who's a pharmacist. If you have the brains, I'd say you could do a heck of a lot worse. Just be glad you didn't get an accounting degree like me.

 

[Drew99GT]

I typed cradboard. That's like a Boston accent. Or would that be cadboard.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
The housing market isn't a buyers market everywhere! A 2,800 sq, ft. house that's not a total dump is going to still fetch probably $200,000 to $250,000 in Denver or CO Spgs. today.

In Southern California? HAAAAAAAAAAA! $140K will still only get you a cradboard box.


In Southern California (Irvine, Newport Beach ...), you can not even buy a 800 sq-ft 1-br condo for less than $200k. A 2,800 sq-ft house (with 5000 sq-ft lot) still demands more than $700-800k.

 

[ryan2022]

I have a few family members in the Real Estate business, and it is still very much a buyers market up here at least.

Things have started to switch though, and the prices will start to recover.

I would say, as long as the area is a good one, there are bargains to be had.

I think it would be a good move, and a tough one to lose at assuming the house was solid. It would sure beat paying into rent for the next few years.

Good luck.

 

[expat]

For me, back when I was 20, Buying a house was a good move. It worked well for me! But man! in the last 35 years if I have learn anything, it's how fickle the future can be. Prices (and the economy) rise and fall, careers become obsolete (sometimes seemingly overnight) Don't 'assume' you will have a Six figure job in 2012 'Hope'
Remember the Spotlight is on the medical system worldwide (as we Boomers get older and stress the systems)
Expect change!

 

[labman]

The Erie economy can't be too bad long term. I forget what is there. Is GE still building locomotives there? As energy goes up the rail roads should do well. Great harbor for unloading all the imported goods.

As for the housing market in 3 years? We just had a thread locked because it got too political and threats to the culprits.

 

[PandaBear]

Price is a reflect of the reason behind it: employment, income level, desirability, demand and supply.

If you may not be living there for long to pay off a huge portion of the mortgage, you can run a risk of not able to sell the house if you need to move. I've had a friend who move to Hawaii while working remotely in CA, but have to move back because he can't sell his house for the price he want (150k above market, he was asking for 900k when the market is only 750k).

Sure, he could afford the house, but now he can't pursue his dream of living in Hawaii.

 

[Ursae_Majoris]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
There's another guy here who's a pharmacist. If you have the brains, I'd say you could do a heck of a lot worse. Just be glad you didn't get an accounting degree like me.

It depends were you are, I guess. I just hired 2 accountants for my department and had to scrape high and low to find qualified people. Barely found two out of 40+ applicants.

PS was not looking for CPAs.