Marketa Pospisil, CRS,GRI,CSP,e-Pro

Great Question, that should be addressed in out media instead of them making headlines with the doom and gloom... and scaring buyers from making great investments in this incredible buyer's market...
I'm sure you here all over the country that it is a buyer's market, not seller's. So regardless market conditions and economy predictions, it is an indicator # 1.
Second, the rates are still incredibly low and with some of the new government programs you can invest in the home with very little out of your pocket, gain equity over time, since you have to live somewhere anyway and get some great tax write offs on a top of it instead of paying mortgage for the investor that understand that he should be buying as many homes as he can...
There is also many opportunities in the foreclosure or short sale market and a large inventory to chose from. Many builders and owners are offerring huge incentives, bonuses and credits to be competitive with the rest and there might even be some new laws passing soon for buyers that buy a pre-foreclosure to receive a $7,000 tax credit for that year. How often that happens.
Mainly, I always say, that no matter what the market is, it is always trading money for money. So If you sell low, you also buy low and vise versa. And if you can qualify, there is no reason to rent. - Wed Apr 30 2008, 18:07

It is a comon myth that Foreclosures are always a great deal and buyers should only look for those!
Many First time home buyers these day do not have a lot of cash for a downpayment and therefore probably not for any repairs that many times are necessary to get the home financed that the banks many times will not do. Also, by the time the bank has the property back after no investors bought it at the sherrif's sale, they are many times deep into the equity and not always are willing to just give the home away. You might have a little better luck with pre-foreclosures and short sales. Short sales could be very complicated and drag for a long time, but the banks do not want the houses back and are willing to take less than what's owed and prevent the costly foreclosure. The deals are out there, no matter if it's a foreclosure, short sale or a regular home sale, so I advice not to eliminate the rest of the homes, since many times there is a great deal that is not a foreclosure you might miss. - Wed Apr 30 2008, 17:54