I live in New Hampshire and I have been looking into buying a house. It seems to me that when house prices are low, interest rates are high, and when interest rates are low, house prices are high. Is there really a better time to buy a house compared to other times? Someone I know said we should wait because houses are not appreciating very well in the area right now, but, is this true? And is it better to continue renting? The prices in the area are outrageous at best, and I can’t believe that there is ever going to be a time when they are going to be lower. It seems to me that if appreciation continues at any rate, that ordinary people wont be able to afford a house at all. $200,000 plus for a small place seems crazy. Any input on this?
I live in the mid-atlantic. In 1988, we bought a townhouse for 92,500. The neighbors had bought theirs the year before for 130K. The prices stayed stagnant, even as other neighborhoods rose, because our townhouses were older. However, as all the land along our highway exit got built out, the value of our townhouses was seen – close to the highway, but surrounded by woods, roomy inside, bigger yards, lots of open space. In 2001, we bought a neighbor’s townhouse for 116K and started renting out ours for 850/mo. In 2003, we sold the rental for 175K. In 2005, we sold the house bought for 116 for 325K. People tried to keep those prices going up, and some people bought at 350 – 370. (Lots of those homes were wonderfully remodeled, with the granite and hardwoods and upgraded baths people seek here.) Now, nothing is selling at all. Makes it hard to know what the value of those houses is, then, but around 300K is probably right.
Bottom line – as long as the neighborhood isn’t going to hell, isn’t majority rental property, isn’t near some terrible future development or landfill, then over time the values will go up. There will be temporary stagnations or even drops in value, but the trend is relentlessly upward. You want to get in as soon as you can – as long as you don’t buy at the top of the market. How to judge that? It’s a guess, but you can make it an educated guess. Best options, if you have skills or money to spare, would be to get a fixer upper. If you can get the worst house in a good neighborhood, you can increase its value even while the market is stagnant. As soon as you can, get a rental property and start reaping those tax rewards.
it’s not for nothing that the person you pay the rent check to is called the landLORD.
White House Press Briefings are conducted most weekdays from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the West Wing.
One of my favorite tv shows! If you haven’t seen it yet, go check it out!
The gag reel from the series 2 House DVD