Truliavisitor

I am a single teacher (no children) in California. The teacher incentive HUD homes available are incredibly far from where I teach and many are the same price as what is available on the market. Also you have to bid for them so any good ones will have alot of competition. Finally, there were about five homes available when I checked last, again really far from my place of work. Most are really old and I can't just move out there because I am under contract. My lender applied for a CALFHA for me, which seems the best. Having children actually helps because they look at your income and number of people in the home to see if you qualify. I almost make too much to qualify. Can you imagine?

I think waiting and saving up for the down payment and closing costs would be best. The seller may pay closing costs. Ask if they will because it is a buyers market. Remember, get your credit as good as possible so you can get the best interest rate. Pay off your cards if you can and don't buy a new car or finance anything big before purchasing. - Sun Feb 10 2008, 10:44

Although I am not an expert on when to time the market, the realtors who have answered aren't either, so here is my opinion. I hear many saying if you don't buy now you will miss out when prices start rising and others "flood" the market. The majority of people who would have bought homes have already bought them and many have lost them. They won't be the ones rushing in to buy new homes. Some people are buying now, but not as many as you are being led to believe. If you look at homes that are going into foreclosure it is really staggering. I have been following the number of homes in California and there are more and more each month. There are simply not enough buyers to offset the astonishing number of homes for sale.

When prices start to rise, they will not jump so high that you would say gosh I wish I would have bought in February, 2008. It just won't happen. The homebuyers left will mainly be investers (many who were burned trying to flip) and new home owners. Lenders now have stricter lending practices which eliminates even more competition. If you can wait until you see the signs of home prices rising, homes will be much lower than they are now, even if you don't time it "exactly." - Sun Feb 10 2008, 10:09

Lex, is it best to have an agent when you do these foreclosures? I have one now while purchasing my first home. I am interested in buying another investment property shortly after. What do you recommend? I am a teacher. Could I show my retirement funds as cash proof or would the potential rent from the rental home be enough proof? I don't have any cash in savings. Just two different retirement accounts. One is an annuity. - Tue Jan 29 2008, 17:54