Is it too soon to Buy in USA?

[casinobonusguy]

My husband and I are buying a property in Florida this year , My husbnd wants to buy it within next couple months but i think maybe we should wait for another 8-12 months. What do you guys think who have first hand knowledge of the realestate prices down there?We are looking to buy a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo 1700-2000 sq ft.We only need it 3 months of the year and figure we will do short term rentals the rest of the year.

[GoodKarmaKid]

Flip a coin ?

Personally I don't think the market could get much lower in S. Florida but you never really know, it may not have bottomed out yet, but it has to be close

I mean when you can buy stuff for 50 cents on the dollar for what it costs to build, it isn't getting much cheaper than that.

My mom owns three properties in Florida. Miami, Naples, and Orlando. The Naples condo is for sale, and the house in Orlando is also for sale. She's retirement age and was waiting to get the nice tax write offs and ended up getting screwed

Personally, I'd say buy: rentals are still strong in the winter. My mom gets like 2500 a month for Dec, Jan, Feb and its just a basic condo (but on the golf course, so the green fees are included)

Good luck with your purchase,

Jason

[NickM]

I think we will see lower prices for the next couple years still. The housing and stock markets are doing a very good "head fake" right now, but the foundation of the economy is still weak and weakening. We are about to hit the commercial subprime implosion in a few also, which will (probably) push prices down across all real estate markets.

Here are a couple really good articles by my one of my favorite writers on subjects like this:

charles hugh smith-Why a 50% Drop in Housing Is Not the Bottom

charles hugh smith-Is Buying a House in 2010 a Good Idea?

[MJ]

The Florida market is unique, and actually will vary depending on part of state - for the most part oceanfront is a steal.

Our family bought a 3 bdrm oceanfront in 05, watched it double/triple and now it's down back to where we started really. If you are thinking panhandle I can help just pm me.

[PokerDude]

My husband and I are buying a property in Florida this year , My husbnd wants to buy it within next couple months but i think maybe we should wait for another 8-12 months. What do you guys think who have first hand knowledge of the realestate prices down there?We are looking to buy a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo 1700-2000 sq ft.We only need it 3 months of the year and figure we will do short term rentals the rest of the year.

Being a licensed real estate guy, I can honestly say that trying to time the bottom in real estate, just like anything else, is a crap shoot. What you need to ask yourself, is how long do you plan on holding onto the property ? If the answer is "more than 10 years", then it probably doesn't matter whether you buy it now or at a 10 % lower price. If your duration is 3 years, then it becomes a much more critical issue. Although you cannot predict the future, I find that it is always good to come up with a holding assumption, and then work back from there.

Just IMO, I think we are still in for some more downward pricing in most of the country, for about 2 more years. Florida, which has been hit especially hard, is real smarting. My brother-in-law, who lives in Naples, could have sold a condo for $ 200,000 about a year ago, and now cannot give it away for $ 150,000.

There is supposed to be another hard round of foreclosures predicted this year, based on a lot of ARM rate changes firing off. However, given that rates are rock-bottom, I am personally not too sure of what the effect of these will be.

Regardless, good luck with your decision.

[casinobonusguy]

Thank you for all your feedback.We are looking at waterfront and something fairly new ,this will be our retirement home so plan to keep it 20 years for sure hahaha.

Judy

[CasinoMack]

I'm in S Florida. Its going lower. BUT you can get it now and be happy.

[PokerNations]

You can usually check sites like Real Estate Listings, Homes for Sale and Rental Property Listings ? REALTOR.com to find homes and compare prices, see pics and so forth.

Definitely strike while the prices are low, I'm sure you can find some great values

[casinobonusguy]

We have a Real Estate Agent now and been just amazed at what you can buy there for $150,000 these days.We decided to wait til May to offer on a place then I will have a condo for rent hahaha

[NickM]

NICE! You'll have to rent it to me. What area specifically are you looking?