Is This the Worst Time to Buy Real Estate?

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That seems to be the message from national news outlets; high rates, little inventory, high home prices, etc. The reality is there is no “good’ or “bad” time to buy, just a right time for your specific situation and goals. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to time the market. We bought our first home in 2015 at what we thought was the height of the market and now I look back and think about if we had tried to wait out what I thought were “high” prices. 8 years later in April of this year, we bought our 4th rental property with an ARM at an interest rate of 7% because, even in this high interest rate environment, the numbers still made sense for our goals and we plan to hold the property for the next 20 years or more. That is the great thing about real estate as an asset class, the values will almost without exception go up over enough time due to appreciation.

The other component of the conversation is that even the top economists in this field simply can’t agree on where we are heading. They spend their whole career pouring over the data, the same data, and yet they are all split on their thoughts as to what will happen over the next 6-12 months. For every economist who thinks we are headed for a recession which would cause interest rates to drop, you’ll find one who states we are in route to a “soft landing” resulting in no recession and rates could be in the 8’s by the end of the year.

For me, I just go back to the thought process that if it is the right time to buy for you, and you feel comfortable with the monthly payment, then do not try to wait it out to see what happens because you might be waiting for quite some time and end up in a worse situation than your current one. The flip side is if you do not feel confident with the monthly payment and aren’t confident with your current situation, then it might be wise to stay put for now until you are fully ready. I’m happy to discuss any of this further and offer additional guidance for your specific needs if you are interested, give me a call at 219.433.9154.