My family is planning to make an offer on a house this Saturday, but I'm worried that we are buying at the top of market. A couple of recent NPR broadcasts unnerved me. The one I just heard on the way home was an interview with an MIT professor who advises his own daughter to hold off buying a first house for a couple years. The second story points out that 30-year fixed mortgage rates are on their way back down. Yikes!
I like the house we're considering--they're nothing wrong with it. It's priced correctly, is in a great school district, and is something we can live in for a long time. But it's not something I must have. And the rent I'm paying right now is really low.
So what do you think: Should I play it cool for a while, or buy now?
3 comments:
the "decision" really comes down to who your trust is in. if you believe the lord orders your ways, then pray about it, and whatever decision you come to - stick with it. if you have submitted your life and decisions to the lord, then there's no second-guessing involved.
when i first bought my house in '00, the going interest rate was 8 5/8%. i refinanced a few years later to below 6. both were affordable - the latter just freed up more finances. the main decision in buying a house is not the interest rates, but fitting the size of the house to your need.
thanks, bipen, for putting things in perspective. i made an offer on the house $4,000 less than the asking price and they countered with just $500 less. so we decided to pass on it for now and see if they aren't willing to negotiate after it's been on the market for a while. also, i want to see if really will sell for what they are asking or not.
it's a difficult decision, but i do know that if we buy something too expensive, it will have serious ramifications on family, career, and ministry.
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