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Should I Buy Investment Property Now or Wait a Bit Longer?

Anyone who invested in property in 2009 received extremely attractive mortgage rates.  In fact, a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage feel to an average low of 4.88% in November of 2009.  Even though banks have raised their qualification and approval standards, people with good credit can general get very good rates from mortgage lenders.  If you are an investor, you may not be looking to get a 30-year mortgage, 5-year ARMs can be found anywhere from 3.75 to 4.5%.

Even though home prices in the United States were up by 1.3% during the second quarter of 2009, they were down 7% for each of the previous two quarters, meaning that home prices were actually down by 12.7%.  Most experts say that a recovery has begun, but it will be slow, and it will take a while before the housing market begins to heat up again, especially since housing prices in most housing markets are in price ranges that have not been seen since 2003.

Investors are still in the middle of a buyer's market and that is not likely to change anytime soon, even with the signs of recovery that the economy has been presenting.  However, as an investor, you cannot expect the buyer's party to last forever.  Figures show that buyers enjoyed a median discount of 4.6% off the listing price in the beginning of 2009.  By October 2009, the figure was 2.7%, a clear sign that the gap is closing and that it will probably close further as 2009 progresses.

The answer to whether you should buy a home depends on your particular real estate market and the type of investment property that you are looking for.  There are some very good deals available, but you have to really know your real estate market to know where the deals are.

You need to study your market, read the information available from a local real estate blog, and speak to real estate agents.  If you read in the news that housing prices are down 12.7%, that does not mean that it is true for your market.  The news generally gives you national averages and that is something you definitely need to keep in mind.  You need to be intimately in tune with prices and trends in your area so that you can take advantage of the best deals available.

 

marco

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