subject: Should I Buy A Home Now In This Recession? [print this page] Is now the time to buy a home, or should you wait until there is proof that the real estate market is recovering and proof that the economy is well on its way to recovering? What is the real estate market doing to do in the months and years ahead? What about interest rates? What about that retirement account in mutual funds?
There are many questions, and few answers, but there is common sense, and there is wisdom, if we will seek it. While I do not suppose that I can be sure of the best and ultimate answers for you, I can offer 30 years of real estate experience, including 20 years as a real estate attorney. There are a few things I think we can all agree on, and these are foundational to your own decision making process.
1. No one knows what the future holds, and even good news would most likely mean that the economy doesn't dip into a deeper recession.
2. If the economy sinks deeper, parking retirement funds in mutual funds driven by a market over which you have no control is not taking control of your own destiny.
3. While real estate itself offers no guarantee of future appreciation, it is dirt that cannot go "poof" on you like paper stocks.
4. Many retirees in their 60s have told me they have been waiting for two years or more to retire and build or buy their retirement home, but they are now tired of waiting. They have all repeated a variation of this, "We are 62 and 64 years old. We don't know how much longer we have, and we don't know what the future holds. We don't know if the real estate market will dip lower or steadily increase. We don't know what will become of our retirement fund. But we aren't going to wait anymore. We aren't going to let circumstances or uncertainty determine our happiness. We are not going to put our lives on hold anymore."
I would like to suggest that in a world full of uncertainty, the safest place and perhaps the most secure place you could place your money and key investment is in your own retirement home.
Don't live your life out of fear and anxiety. As has been said long ago, "There are no guarantees in this life." While that is true, the prices of homes are certainly lower than they've been for a long time, and interest rates are at historical lows after three decades.
I would suggest that buying a home involves many variables, but certainly your own happiness is a major factor. In my humble opinion, this is a good time to invest in a retirement home, regardless of what the pricing charts do over the coming months and years.
