Sounds like you're a first time homebuyer. You should buy something and get the wheels moving.

http://www.gregorygarver.com

Hi Katie - I agree with both of these answers, very insightful comments. Noe Valley seems to keep its value well but past performance is not necessary indicative of future performance. And as Artur says, a big factor in buying is how long you plan to be in the home.

Also, Trulia has a rent vs buy calculator for you to play around with and run the numbers behind different scenrios.

Hi Kate,
TIC offers you significantly lower price (24-30%) than a condo. It major drawback was a difficulty to sell. Now with fractional TIC loans it is not an issue. The reason clients buy TIC properties are twofold: 1. TIC property are more affordable, 2. There might be an upward surge in its value, if TIC is converted to a condo. This is, however, far from certain. You have to enter a lottery every year (as the number of condo conversion permits is limited) and you might never win. You might want to check the statistics on what the odds of this ever happening are. The key in your decision making should be the amount of time you might want to keep this property. What will you do next? Buy a house and rent out or sell your condo or TIC. In other words, have a plan - the right decision will jump at you. The rule of thumb, longer you plan to stay, better TIC looks. Good Luck!

I have never seen Noe Valley go down in value. S.F. is such a strong market. If you have the opportunity to buy, the morgage rates work for you, then buy. You won't lose your money depending on how long you are willing to hang on to this property and the type of loan product you are going to use. Gets a bit trickier if you are going to use a neg. am., other than that, buy, buy, buy.