I just received this question in my e-mail box, so I thought I would share the question an answer with you.
James,
I’m sure you get this question a lot, but is now a good time to purchase a home?
Bob Gomez, Spokane, WA
This is what I responded back…
Hi Bob:
Thanks for the e-mail. Wow! That’s a loaded question, but I will answer it best I can.
First, only you and only you know what you can financially tolerate for a mortgage payment; but I must stress that according to my budget criteria I teach people, only a maximum of 35 % of your income should be set aside for housing! If you can not find anything that falls within those parameters, I would suggest that you consider purchasing a duplex or multi-family and live in one of the units while getting your mortgage paid for you (you will be essential living for free) and receive all the tax deductions, while saving money towards a larger down payment – which will lower your mortgage payment.
Secondly, if you are going to pull the trigger and purchase a home, I suggest you plan on staying in it for at least the next 10 years! Hopefully, that will be enough time for the housing market to give you a big chunk of equity.
Finally, there are a lot of great deals out there for individuals wanting to become homeowners – not investment property; at least not at this point in time. Let me qualify my last statement. There is always an exception to every rule, but great investment property deals are few and far in between without using leveraged investing techniques such as lease options and assignments.
I believe in the near future there will be opportunities for those of us that have cash to get great deals after the 3rd wave of foreclosures makes an appearance.
I hope this helps Bob.
Be well.
James Gage
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