Should I buy a house now or wait?

Hard to give you a definitive answer, not being in your shoes or state of mind. There’s definitely a lot to be said for having rainy day savings, but home ownership is security, too, both financial and mental.

If you’re really craving your own home—not just for financial reasons—now’s a great time to buy. Prices are starting to rise (depending on geographic location) but Interest rates are still historically low. Loans are harder to qualify for, but if your credit rating is decent, which I presume it is, you should be able to get one.

Do some Web searching for info. Lots of it out there. And good luck!

Buy now. Simply because the economy and the housing market are recovering, and the same house will be 5%-10% more expensive next year.

I think I’d be inclined to buy now while prices are low if you can afford it. If you have $100,000 more in a few years you can always pay down your mortgage some at that point. You could look into various types of mortgages if you know you will have the extra money in a few years such as an interest only mortgage for three years.

I’m no real estate or personal finance guru, but here’s my thought: It sounds like you’re in a good position to buy. So why not start looking? If you find something you absolutely love, you can take it. If not, you’re not hurting, so you can wait until you find something more amazing.

Buy now. It is a buyers market and rates are exceptionally low.

If I had it to do over again I would probably not buy a house when I did (in 2002), and would not buy one now. I don’t think that houses – residential real estate in general – will be the investment bonanza that they have been in recent decades.

Productive real estate, such as commercial, residential rental or farmland may be a different story, but we’re not likely to see the appreciations that we’ve seen in the past in family homes. (And that’s probably a good thing, because so much of that “appreciation” was inflation-driven and speculative. I think we’re going to see wild inflation in the not-too-distant future, and there are other debt instruments that would be safer places to conserve and grow capital when that happens.)

I’d prefer to have cash on hand for other investments, and the flexibility to move as conditions and the job market dictate. Having a home is nice, but it’s a very ill-liquid investment if the market sours, the neighborhood deteriorates, the national or state economy weaken, etc.

If you want the house and are determined to stay there “through thick and thin”, and you enjoy the maintenance and improvement projects you can get involved with, then that’s another story. As an investment, I would advise against it.

According to a mortgage lender I know, interest rates are slowly creeping up. He says now is the time to buy before it goes up again.

We got a 3.75% interest rate last September. Not too shabby, considering the status of my husband’s credit at that time.

Real Estate prices are beginning to recover, and interest rates are at an all time low, so I would suggest now.

What we do is make an extra payment every year (spread out through the year) to pay down the principle. It saves a lot of interest that way.

I’d buy now if I could. You don’t say where you are, but here in Northern California we are seeing houses on the market less than three weeks and selling with multiple offers. The extra cash you anticipate can always be put into the house later.

Buy now and get a mortgage which has a redraw facility so you can put the extra 100 k on it but can draw on the money should you need it. That’s what I did, I got a big mortgage with small dep. then paid a huge chunk off it one day later which I now have access to. We did renovations with it and I was able to buy a car, it’s like having your own line of credit whilst payibg off your home. Just need to be cautious and judicious about using those funds.

Interest rates are really low right now and my gut tells me the prices will only go up on the next 5 years. I would buy now.