Why Should I Buy Now?

All we hear right now is about unemployment, health care reform and bailouts.  That doesn’t mean there has not been talk of the real estate market and what is happening in that part of the economy.  The question I am hearing more each day is, why should I buy now? Depending on who you listen to the market may or may not be at its bottom and who in all reality can forecast it.  Many of those so-called forecasters were the ones that missed all aspects of the economy as it was tumbling downward.  And down is not always a bad place to be since the only other way is up.  Whether we are at the bottom, close to the bottom or on our way up it is a good time to buy your home or condo.

Why should I buy now? There are several factors that are in your favor by acting now.

Pride of ownership is the number one reason people want to buy a home.  Home ownership offers you and your family a sense of stability and security while making an investment in the future.

Home ownership is currently one of the best tax shelters available with the volatility of today’s stock market.  Mortgage interest is fully deductible on your tax return which lessens your tax burden year after year.

Mortgage reduction builds equity in your home.  Each month you make a payment the principal portion of your loan goes down and as the principal goes down and the price of your home goes up, you are building equity or more asset value.

Another reason to ask yourself why should I buy now is interest rates are lower than they have been in years.  Do you realize that you may be able get a 30 year fixed rate for less than 5% which makes a purchase start to look very appealing and if you tie that with anticipated inflation you will be paying back the loan with devalued dollars meaning you are getting more for your money than when you started. That means you can afford more home or if you want you can buy a more reasonably priced home and keep the payments low, maybe even less than you are paying in rent.  Would you have imagined several years ago that you could get free money and a great interest rate on buying a home?  If you are like most of us you would have laughed us out of the place, but it is happening now.  We would never have guessed it, just like we are never going to guess the bottom of the housing market.  So just do it!