Online House Hunting

Should I wait to buy a house or buy now?

I need about 30K for 20% down payment a 300K house. I live in a townhome now that will be very difficult to sell in Florida due to the market (and I have no equity in the townhome). I see some great deals on houses now but I will need about 3 years to save 30K. I am afraid by then, these deal will be gone and then prices will be high again. Should I rent my townhome now (I will have to pay about 300 month to meet the rent roll) and buy a home today (but I will only have 10% to put down) and sell my townhome in a few years when the market is better or just wait until I have the full 20% and sell my townhome and buy a house in 3 years and risk loosing a great deal today??? The townhome is very small and I will need to get a home soon.

Public Comments

1. why not if you have the cash why wait if you buy the house now you could use for rental purposes and gain some more cash but if you have no cash you could borrow from a bank that is if you currently saving with a bank
2. The housing market has nearly reached the bottom, but could still be moving downward. A housing boom will not happen for several years because there are still vacant unsold homes everywhere.. You might want to recalculate your numbers for down payment because $30k is only 10% which depending on your credit would make your payment around $2500/mo. Good luck on your search.
3. A great deal today would be a house you could flip quickly. All it takes is one big downturn in the economy, and WAM, today's good deal is a nightmare.
4. My advice would be to put the townhome up For Sale and For Rent at the same time. As soon as you find a renter or get a sales contract, go looking for the house you want and make an offer. Ask the Seller to contribute 6% towards your closing costs, which in this market should NOT be hard to do. Some Sellers are now willing to carry a seller held second mortgage, so this way you can obtain the normal 80% from the bank at a much better rate then a 90% loan and ask the Seller to carry a second mortgage for the additional 10% you need. Now if you're real lucky maybe you can find a Seller willing to carry a 2nd and pay all your closing costs. That would be the ideal situation for you. I'm actually a Florida Real Estate Broker & Mortgage Broker, so please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with. Thanks, Harry Misner 561-541-0000