2011 should i buy a house

A few different factors have created this homebuying environment, says Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow. The most obvious is the Covid pandemic, which accelerated many people's homebuying timelines. Coupled with historically low interest rates, buyers wanted to lock in extra space and a good deal on their mortgages.

That coincided with a large group of millennials, America's largest generation, reaching their prime homebuying years, says Tucker. He expects demand will continue to be high for a few years as these late, earlysomethings naturally start to nest. But with such a hot market, prospective homebuyers might be better off waiting until the fall or even next year to buy, Tucker says. Though no one can say with exact certainty what will happen, he says inventory is already starting to rebound a little bit , which will give buyers more options.

Zillow expects home prices to stay elevated for the next year, at least. The market is as hot as we've ever seen it before," Tucker says.

Of course, many people may not be able to wait for the opportune moment to buy a home, or they simply may not want to put it off for a few more months. But I would rather buy than throw my money away on rent. The job he's had the past two years took 15 months to find, and it pays a lot less than his previous job. He's afraid buying now isn't a good idea because of the shaky economy.

What do you think: Should we buy or continue renting? This is a self-serving notion real estate agents often spout that not only isn't true, but isn't a basis for making a rational decision when it comes to buying versus renting.

Fact is, when you rent, you are buying. You're buying a service: the use of a house for a specified period of time. And as long as the rent you're paying is in line with what others are paying for comparable digs, then you're getting that service at the market rate.

Granted, you don't have some of the potential plusses of ownership, such as seeing the value of your home climb over the years. But renting has other advantages. You can move more easily, and you're not on the hook for real estate taxes and upkeep. And the money that would have gone into your house can be spent on other things or go into other assets. Besides, as recent experience has shown, house price appreciation is hardly a given. Many people who bought during the most recent housing bubble now owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

That's not to say a house can't be a good investment. It can. But whether it is depends on a variety of factors, ranging from the price you pay to the prospects for the market you're in to the tax advantages you get and how long you remain in the house. But, just as with stocks, no single metric can tell the whole story.

Besides, in the case of a house, the decision to rent or buy isn't just a financial one. There are personal and lifestyle issues that matter just as much as the numbers. It sounds like both you and your husband would prefer to be owners, but he's just not that sure about the timing. She sees many single people think of a home as an investment. But she wants them to think of it as a place to live and a place that fits their lifestyle.

She also has single clients who have homes but are selling them and going into townhomes and condos. When you are alone, you are the one responsible for all the maintenance and the cleaning. If a single person is in a relationship as they begin thinking about buying a home, they truly need to have some of those financial talks about credit card debt, student loan debt and other issues that can affect getting a mortgage — if you decide to buy a home together or even just live together.

I see the ramifications all the time. When looking for that perfect home, she suggests that you be realistic about what makes sense now. An FHA loan requires 3. Also, there are mortgage insurances out there that might offer job loss protection to help with the risk of foreclosure.

Laura Lasher, mortgage president at Arbor Bank, says that single people also want the chance to pull into their own garage and grow their wealth through a home investment. But homeownership really makes people feel safe. And they are better employees when they own their own homes. Your employers know that, and they want you have your own home.