is 20/20 :-) Plus for you it's a trade - sell high buy high, sell low buy low. You are not losing anything. If you can afford your payment, just sit tight and enjoy your house -- in the long run it will pay off.

I don't recommend selling a family home to cash out. I wouldn't sell our last home (even though it has gone up 100%+) except DH has to relocate. However, now that we have sold and are looking to buy again, it's beneficial to be practical and financially prudent. Homeownership is a luxury in many parts of the country, and secondary to other necessities such as college fund, child care, etc... :-)

Plus my landlord let me paint our house to our heart's content so...it isn't too bad. :-)

Infodivamary wrote: What good is that if your house has lost $100,000 in value? Just ask Laura1202 in NoVA how much she originally had her house listed for...and how many times she's had to reduce the price after many months on the market. And it's still not sold.

Gee Mary, I guess I should be flattered that you're keeping up with my story. @@ But don't you worry now, that was just a paper loss or "ghost money" as my h and I like to call it.

Our market here in NoVa WAS inflated (but *my area/zip was NOT overbuilt, contrary to your posting above) and although our original listing price was only 3% above the last comp (keeping in mind 15-20% appreciation over the past 5 years), when the market stalled last Spring, yes we lowered the price (105K total so far) but we have not "lost" that money, we could sell our house for less than the median price of a house in FFX County (524K) and STILL MAKE money.

Very few homes are selling at all in my price range in my zip but OTOH there are NO homes for sale under 560K in my zip and only 5 homes under 650K. My price range (800-850K) is considered mid-range for this area.

The good news is that inventory is down (in my zip) as a few homes do sell AND (unmotivated?) sellers pull their homes off the market, possibly to wait for Spring.

I will never understand the appeal of renting, to me renting is what you do when your tenure in an area is completly uncertian OR when you absolutely cannot afford to buy, any other reasons are outweighed by the huge benefits (even if they ARE 100% psychological) of owning. jmo

Laura1202, I never wanted to suggest that you had actually lost money, other than on paper. But you must admit that if someone had bought your house in the winter/spring of 2005-2006, and suddenly had to relocate now, they would take quite a hit.

And while I don't want you to feel bad, the fact is that your house still on the market, so perhaps the price will have to be lowered still more to get the job done.

The housing market in your area is in an unprecedented state of flux. Unless a buyer is utterly certain that he can stay put for 5+ years, I still think renting for the next 6-8 months in your area is the prudent way to go.

Unfortunately, I don't think NoVA prices have stabilized yet. What went up 15-20% a year could just as easily go down another 15-20% this year.

That's possibly a young family's entire equity gone--which, to me, overrrides any psychological benefit of "owning."

As for putting down roots and having a house as an anchor for kids--well, I would say the answer is to rent in the neighborhood where you hope to buy.

bellaflora said: "Now if you had taken 400K downpayment and put in your bank, you'll get 2K interest/month (assuming 5% interest on CD) If you put that 2K toward rent, the rent is actually only 1600/month -- pretty cheap, huh :-)

But at the end of the day, if you buy you will have an actual house when you are done. If you rent, you'll have nothing but memories.

I will never understand the appeal of renting, to me renting is what you do when your tenure in an area is completly uncertian OR when you absolutely cannot afford to buy, any other reasons are outweighed by the huge benefits (even if they ARE 100% psychological) of owning. jmo

No, it's not just your opinion... many others share that opinion, myself included.

Something else I have not seen mentioned concerns the sense of "neighborhood" homeownership brings. I've read studies (IÂm neither a psychologist nor a criminologist) that state homeownership lessens crime in a neighborhood through the sense of pride and community. Not certain how accurate that is, maybe other with these fields of expertise could pipe in.

The psychological benefits of being a homeowner, in my opinion, are exactly what will prevent the "crash" that so many of the bubble theorists are predicting.

Renting stinks, and it always has.

My point was simply that if you are currently a renter, there's little harm in renting for another six months or so if you are moving to a market where the number of listings is up dramatically and the number of completed transactions is way down.

That additional six months of patience might just net you a house that would have been out of your price range before.

Some times are just better than others for buying a house. This is one of those not-very-good times in some markets.

Homeownership lessens crime in a neighborhood through the sense of pride and community.

I have no doubt that this is true. However, due to the change in market psychology in areas like NoVA, renters now have their pick of homes in the nicest neighborhoods as sellers unable to find a buyer decide to rent their houses in order to cover their costs.

Infodivamary wrote: However, due to the change in market psychology in areas like NoVA, renters now have their pick of homes in the nicest neighborhoods as sellers unable to find a buyer decide to rent their houses in order to cover their costs.

Mary, where are you getting your information re: NoVA? (Which is BTW, a HUGE geographic area which encompasses at least five counties and over 2 million residents.) Many of the things you are stating simply aren't true, at least not in *my area...for example, rentals here are scarce (there are no apts, townhouses or condos in my zipcode) and are routinely snatched up in less than 24 hours for top rental $$$. We had several offers (pleas?) to rent our house while it was on the market, but we have no desire to be landlords.

"That additional six months of patience might just net you a house that would have been out of your price range before."

And it may not. You can't predict that. Life is a risk and you just need to go ahead and do the best you can. Unless you absolute goal is to buy in a higher price range and you won't be happy unless you do, why delay your enjoyment. Life is too short! You act as if the house is solely an investment and not the place where you live. You cannot remove emotions from house buying - it's impossible.

There are just simply too many people who look at this as an investment and don't see that there are more important benefits from owning a home.

Even if you never make a dime off your house, it's still more beneficial to the psyche to own rather than rent unless you are planning to move in the very near future!

This is why I always cringe when someone says "Your home is your biggest investment" because people take it so literally.

Sing sha la la la la sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la sha la la la la la
I'm in AGREEMENT with a Jersey girl
Sha la la la la sha la la la la la yeah yeah yeah
Sha la la la la sha la la la la la

So don't bother me cause I got no time
I'm on my way to see that HOME of mine
Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world
When you're in AGREEMENT with a Jersey girl

I couldn't have stated it better then jerzeegirl did in above post, apologies to the greatest rocker EVER for my take on his song ;)

While I do agree with jerzegirl, you gdognj are over the top, BUT in a funny sort of way.
Is there a song for that I dunno, but I can say "time is on my side, yes it is...

Or maybe with a rental , " I can't get no satisfaction"

Okay I'm gone...

"This is why I always cringe when someone says "Your home is your biggest investment" because people take it so literally."

I also agree with this, I live in SoCal, have millions in equity in my home, BUT if I sell it I can't afford to rebuy it, the money therefore means nothing since I have no desire to leave my expensive area. I can't really view it as investment money, only money for my children when I'm gone.

from Dido:

If my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine

While my heart is a shield and I won't let it down
While I am so afraid to fail so I won't even try
Well how can I say I'm alive

If my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine

If my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
Cos nothing I have is truly mine

Buy now, live for the moment, yadda, yadda, yadda

That is easy to say if you live in a house that has doubled in value over the last 5 yrs. What if you didn't own a house but were making the same salary you are now. How much house could you afford? What do houses in that price range look like? How excited would you be to fork over that kind of $ for one of those houses? How excited would you be to live in that neighborhood.

1st of all, you need to start somewhere...When we 1st bought in mid 80's it was a home in dire condition, but that was all we could afford,we remodeled as we could afford to do so...And the price of that POS was more then 4 times our combined income...While i agree that 1st time buyers are in a tough spot, not so different then the early-mid 80's considering interest rates then were double digits...The problem i see(i know this is gonna piss some people off, but oh well) is that 1st time buyers don't what starter homes, they want something that doesn't require much work, and good luck finding that in a starter home...300k home which in most parts of country will get you a nice home, would require 75k annual household income to support, as we did in 80's, but the advantage today is much LOWER interest rates

Many of the things you are stating simply aren't true, at least not in *my area...for example, rentals here are scarce (there are no apts, townhouses or condos in my zipcode) and are routinely snatched up in less than 24 hours for top rental $$$.

I can't find my original link, but the one below will do, indicating increased single family rental activity in NoVA. I can't speak to your particular zip code, of course...but it certainly appears that single family house rental availability is up in most NoVA areas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Northern Virginia Assoc. of Realtors Reports

Maybe if 75K was a starter salary then I wouldn't mind buying a starter home for $300K. That is the problem, salary inflation hasn't been anywhere near home inflation. Plus interest is lower today but taxes are insane.

qdognj (I'm assuming you live in NJ). I live on the PA side of the border so I'm in a similar market to you. $300K doesn't get you much in this market. A friend of mine is looking at a 2 bedroom townhouse in NJ for $350K

I've been priced out of the market forever! What's that ... every 1st home buyer has been priced out of the market forever. Oh. Then who is going to buy all the houses?

And it may not. You can't predict that. Life is a risk and you just need to go ahead and do the best you can...why delay your enjoyment. Life is too short!

Re-read what I said. I'm a big believer in homeownership. Six months is a very short span of time to do a little watchful waiting. Given the huge inventory overhang right now in the NoVA market, a little patience can pay off big time, with very little risk.

Sorry..but while life is indeed short...throwing away $100K is unnecessarily painful, especially for a young couple starting out.

Why be in a rush, in NoVA, under the current circumstances?

I'm not talking about trying to catch the bottom--I'm only suggesting a short delay that could potentially reap big benefits, with virtually no risk at all.

Unless, of course, you think that an 18-month supply of houses is going to evaporate overnight.

I've been priced out of the market forever! What's that ... every 1st home buyer has been priced out of the market forever. Oh. Then who is going to buy all the houses?

Chrisdoc, I'm sorry to hear you've been priced out of your market. Have you thought about a condo to start? A further commute? I know Jersey taxes are ludicrous (one of the reasons we chose NOT to buy in Jersey), but aren't PA taxes more reasonable?

chrisdoc, i am now a PA resident, nw of Philly...Left likely one of the most overinflated real estate markets ,Bergen County NJ...500k there gets you a headache...At least in this area you can buy a home for less then 300k, and it is a home similar to my starter 20 years ago, which at that time was 185k, and was a POS

IDM: I have no idea where you have come up with this $100,000 loss idea. Are you saying if you buy a house for $500,000 and you live in it for five years and you put it on the market for $1,000,000 and you end up selling it for $900,000, that you are losing $100,000? Why are you using that number?

Unless, of course, you think that an 18-month supply of houses is going to evaporate overnight.

Sorry, that should have read 8-month supply.

I think Qdog was talking about $75,000 in combined income which is a starter salary range.

As for the people who own million dollar homes and rent them for $3600 a month, how do they do it? I live in NJ, property taxes on a million dollar home in my area run at least $20,000 - 25,000 a year. Factor in insurance, maintenence, mortgage payments and there is no way a landlord would break even.

We live in a house that would sell in the $900K range with no mortgage. But even with property tax payments, insurance, maintenence, etc. I don't think we could afford to rent our house for that little.

C

chrisdoc: In another thread you say you own a home. So are you a homeowner, or not? You can only be a first time homeowner once you know.

IDM: I have no idea where you have come up with this $100,000 loss idea. Are you saying if you buy a house for $500,000 and you live in it for five years and you put it on the market for $1,000,000 and you end up selling it for $900,000, that you are losing $100,000? Why are you using that number?

No. I am merely using the last year or two as an example. If you bought a $600K house in NoVA at the peak of the market--August 2005--and had to sell it right now, you could easily lose that much between market decline (10% now, and likely getting a bit worse) and brokerage commissions/selling expenses.

To put it another way: If you had put down 20%, your equity would be more or less wiped out by now.

If you don't believe the NoVA market has softened that much, ask Laura1202 about her currently listed house.

IDM: But the same thing could happen to you in the stock market. The short term is always more risky than long term one. But your scenario can happen to someone in a rising market also if he sells too quickly after buying.

I don't understand why you are using Laura as an example. Even *she* says she will not be losing money. Unfortunately Laura has an issue that has nothing to do with the state of the market.

A lot of sellers (not you Laura) are unrealistic about the falling market and are unwilling to be flexible on price. Those are the people who will lose money at the end of the day. There is one of those sellers on my street. Their house sold after a week on the market for full price at $465,000. It appears that the buyers backed out. The sellers still have it listed for $465,000 and are clearly unable to accept that lightning is *not* going to strike twice. I would say it has been on the market for well over six months now. It's *never* ever going to sell at that price. These folks just need to get a grip. (They bought in late 2004 for $338K). Their listing agent is just not doing these sellers a favor imo. What they need is a dope slap and education in reality. It's greed that will prevent these folks from selling. I have a feeling that this scenario is happening in a lot of places.

But this seller's loss is going to be a buyer's gain. Because other sellers will have this phenomenon explained to them and they will price their homes just right! I firmly believe that if the seller is willing and the house is priced right, the house will not linger on the market, no matter what kind of market we are in.

Just want to clarify that I don't advocate renting forever (though for some families that's the only option). However, I believe in delaying instant gratification and making sensible practical financial decision. Right now, short term renting while waiting for the market to stabilize seems to be the most practical option for us and may other buyers. We are betting that it will go further down but, hey - we could be wrong.

Some sellers want to be sold and nowday the only thing that gets house sold is the right price. Every comp seems to lower than the last. Some sellers want to hold on and betting on a market revival next year and I respect their choice (although I won't be looking at their house hahaha.. ;-) especially since there are like 10 identical ones selling at 100K less *g*)

I don't own a home. I live in a home (sometimes I call it my house for simplicity). Anyway I pay taxes & repairs but I don't own.

Something NJ people don't realize about PA is that most school districts charge a 1%+ income tax. Plus our state tax is slightly higher. It doesn't equal NJ property taxes but it is closer than most people think.

qdogPA I'm looking to move to central/upper Bucks County for schools/commute. Not exactly Bergen county but still on the steep side.

A $300K house will cost $2050/month after $3K in taxes and $1K in insurance. Couple just starting out makeing $75K after income tax, child care for 2 kids (900/month/kid is not considered high in this area), car insurance (200/mo) and a car payment of $500 between 2 drivers would leave them w/ $2185/month. They would be looking at living on $135/month for food, clothes, utilities, car repair ... If my wife and I made $75K we couldn't afford a $300K house.

chris, it can be done...My example of my 1st home bought for 185k, and a POS...We had 2 children in childcare at 350 +-per week back then(late 80's) combined we made 50k+-, mortgage was 2k+- per month, we scraped by somehow

I don't understand why you are using Laura as an example. Even *she* says she will not be losing money.

I am only using Laura1202 as an example because she has been so frank about the $100K+ markdown she has had to take on her NoVA house, which went on the market originally at $900K.

No, she will not lose money, but that's because she bought before the big run-up in prices of the last few years.

Unfortunately, anyone who bought in her area in the last couple of years probably won't be so lucky should they decide to sell.

IDM, but perhaps those who bought in the NOVA area in the last several years sold homes to get there, and hence made some $$$ from the sale of home and ploughed it into the new home...Hence, also a paper loss...The real killer is someone who paid big $$$ for a home without the benefit of "rolling" over profits from a prior home, or someone who blew the profits on other things, and are saddled with a home and no equity

I believe that you did it but things are definately differnt now.

I'm one of those people that believes inflation is grossly understated. Child care, health insurance, food, energy, taxes, cars, car repairs and education costs have all skyrocked since the 80's. I bet you were probably better off making $50K in the late 80's than you would be today making $75K. Would you agree?

I live in NoVA myself and have been watching the market for the last couple years (bought in fall '04). Things are not as bad as they may seem from afar. Have they gotten worse? Absolutely. Prices have fallen roughly 10% where I live (Alexandria), and I do know people who bought last summer and thus probably have seen some significant paper losses. That said, they are the only people who would take a hit by selling now. And none of them plan to sell this year or next; if they expected to stay for that short of a period of time, they wouldn't have bought in the first place!

I purchased 2 years ago, with 5% down, and have an interest only loan (oh the horrors!). But if I were to sell today, I would still walk away with equity, even after paying closing costs, realtor commissions, and even factoring in the roughly $30k in cash that I've spent for remodeling.
There are two issues at play. For one, prices went up so substantially each year that even a 10-15 percent drop right now does not cancel out the gain from the prior year (in my neighborhood at least 25%; my neighbors sold last summer and netted a 35% profit after having purchased the home one year earlier; as buyers they were the high bidder with bidding wars, and they sold to a high bidder after bidding wars). And second, people who work in or near DC want to minimize their commute, and this creates a demand for closer in housing that prevents prices from bottoming out, especially in the closer in suburbs. I also suspect that high fuel prices have made people more reluctant to take on a super long commute.

Unless prices go down another 20%, I plan to sell in the spring. I realize I could not sell for the same price I'd have received if I'd put the house on the market last summer. That said, I want to trade up and the increase in inventory and lower prices should make it easier to find another house, and make the gap between the sales price of my house and the cost of a 'better' house smaller.

chrisdoc: I happen to agree with you on inflation. I also think it's understated.

IDM: Oh, now I understand. You are equating asking price with sold price. You can list your house for any price you want; whether that price is realistic or not will be determined by the market.

You cannot say that someone loses $100,000 if someone's idiot realtor tries to get a listing by telling their seller that their house is worth more than it is.

The value of a house is always determined by the market (not the asking price). Asking price is pretty much a suggestion. It may be a good suggestion or a bad one, but it's doesn't become real until someone is willing to pay it. The only time you can truly call something a loss is if someone buys for $300,000 and sells for $250,000 and doesn't get any benefits during the time they own the property (like appreciation, tax breaks, etc.) to mitigate the difference between the two prices. And remember you can lose $50,000 on the selling side but if you gain it on the buying side, it's a wash in my book.

"This is why I always cringe when someone says "Your home is your biggest investment" because people take it so literally."

Even in a literal sense it isn't true for a lot of us. I for one, have about 3 times as much in my 401k as I do in home equity.

Oh and about inflation: it is underreported in the "real world" sense that we live in, because it is discounted to account for getting a better quality of goods. For instance, a computer that is twice as fast as one made 3 years ago, but costs the same, is considered by government economists to cost half as much. A car that is 10% "better" (whatever that means) than one made last year, but costs 15% more is considered to have gone up only 5%.

It is constantly tweaked to remain in the politically acceptable range of 0.5% to 4.0%. Only when one political entity has a ton of power, and has it in is best interests to generate headlines and outrage in the public, will you see the inflation numbers ever move outside of that range.

And none of them plan to sell this year or next; if they expected to stay for that short of a period of time, they wouldn't have bought in the first place!

Life doesn't always go as planned. Job loss, job transfer...all of these things happen.

IDM: Oh, now I understand. You are equating asking price with sold price. You can list your house for any price you want; whether that price is realistic or not will be determined by the market.

Laura1202's realtor priced her house, according to her postings, very realistically at the time--within 3% of comps.

The market in her area declined. No one should be calling the person who priced it an "idiot realtor," as you seem to be doing.

The market moved--quickly and without much warning. That's how you can lose $100K in a flash.

Not $100K on paper--$100K in real green.

My FIL bought a house in 91 for 210K. 3 months later SIL bought a very same model next door for 160K. He almost had a heart attack. Fast forward to 2006 each of their house is now worth 600K and both of the houses are paid off. He's still mad because if both of them are selling right now, his gain is still 50K less than hers. :-) But he did get to enjoy his ownership 3 months earlier so I guess it evened out. :-)

IDM: I wasn't talking about Laura's realtor. I was talking about realtors who will tell a seller that their house is worth more than it is just to get the listing. I can attest to the fact that these realtors exist. Some of them are my friends. :-)

You can say it all you want but Laura has *not* lost anything, either real or perceived. If I bought a house for $250,000 and last year it was worth $400,000 and this year it's worth $350,000, I have lost nothing. If I decide to sell it next year and get $250,000, I still will not have lost anything (and will probably have made more than my CD did).

That's a curious one, Bellaflora. "Exact same model" with the "exact same" finishes and upgrades as well as the "exact same" lots, landscaping, fencing and outdoor accoutrements (blacktop vs cement, etc)? Was this a new home with the builder in financial difficulties or a used home with different scales of work involved? If everything was equal I'm very curious as to what market dropped 25% in 1991 at that low price range (although I bet it wasn't too low in 1991).

"If I bought a house for $250,000 and last year it was worth $400,000 and this year it's worth $350,000, I have lost nothing. If I decide to sell it next year and get $250,000, I still will not have lost anything (and will probably have made more than my CD did)."

Unless, of course, you want to move to a different market where a starter house starts at $400K. You'd be priced out of that market if all you afford was another $250K house.

You can say it all you want but Laura has *not* lost anything, either real or perceived.

I never said she did!

But you seem to think that the housing market is completely unpredictable, and that you should never "delay your enjoyment" and wait a bit before buying a house. Even when all the indicators suggest that prices are going lower.

I merely pointed out a scenario where the loss taken could be very real and very painful.

I still think prudence suggests a wait of 6 months or so before buying in the NoVA market. You think otherwise.

Obviously, more people agree with my approach at the moment than with yours--that's why the NoVA market is dead right now.

It's your money, of course. But know that you're a seller's dream come true!

Question about the No Va market - isn't there movement now due to elections? Ie, aren't things picking up now as people get ready to move to the DC area in January? So, won't real estate start to sell now? Or, is real estate still moving in the DC area under $500K and those over $500K are the ones that are currently experiencing a dead market?

IDM:

Most markets are dead right now. This is the worst time of year to sell a house. Therefore, it may be the best time to buy a house.

Since house prices aren't etched in stone, you can really never tell whether you are going to come out okay until you sell.

You can wait six months and possibly find yourself back in another seller's market - unless you have a crystal ball - I don't have one. Could be that all the sellers are going to hold their line and the interest rates go up too? Ya just never know, now, do ya?

I have an adjustable mortgage and I kept waiting to modify my mortgage to a fixed rate as interest rates slid down, and I never did because I was waiting for the bottom - and then all of a sudden interest rates were back up and I was still waiting for them to go down, and they kept going up and basically I blew it. I should have taken the lock when I thought of it even though rates weren't rock bottom. Now they are as high as my original rate. How dumb of me to wait.

I know that for most people who purchased houses prior to 2000 that they bought as much as they could afford, struggled to make ends meet but eventually they advanced in their careers and career and home inflation worked in their favor. I think that is great and I know they suffered through difficult times to get to where they are today.

But just because this approach worked 10 yrs ago doesn't mean it will work again today.

It is similar to retirement and the stock bubble. Many people put their money in the market and retired to a nice nest egg when they turned 65. I worked w/ a retiree who came back to work as a contractor 3 months after retiring because his portfolio lost $100K. Just becasue an approach worked before doesn't mean it is going to work again.

If you buy a house now you can't count home inflation. It may lose value. The rules are constantly changing.

5 yrs from now we may look at 2005 home buyers like we look at 2000 NASDAQ buyers.

bellaflora: Just want to clarify that I don't advocate renting forever (though for some families that's the only option). However, I believe in delaying instant gratification and making sensible practical financial decision. Right now, short term renting while waiting for the market to stabilize seems to be the most practical option for us and may other buyers. We are betting that it will go further down but, hey - we could be wrong.

Excellent post.

jerzeegirl: You can wait six months and possibly find yourself back in another seller's market - unless you have a crystal ball - I don't have one. Could be that all the sellers are going to hold their line and the interest rates go up too? Ya just never know, now, do ya?

But a reasonable person can make reasonable decisions based on market indicators. All the lines are going down, you can sit and wait for them to flatten out and start going up again. Real estate doesnt turn on a dime, its a slow moving beast, keeping yourself well informed about your market gives you the best chance and making the best decision. You dont need a crystal ball, you just need to stay informed. A turn around is never instant and missing the bottom an catching the lines go up on the far side of the trough is much better than buying too early.

"A turn around is never instant and missing the bottom an catching the lines go up on the far side of the trough is much better than buying too early."

Caroeib: I guess I simply don't agree. In the long run, it doesn't matter a whit (except if you buy earlier you will have begun building up equity earlier - on a $500,000 30-year loan at 6.5% a year's worth of principal is $5,650 and then there may or may not be the tax break). But we can agree to disagree :-)

Infodivamary wrote: If you don't believe the NoVA market has softened that much, ask Laura1202 about her currently listed house.

No no, don't ask me--my house isn't even ON the market right now!

But wait, does that mean that Mary isn't keeping up with my story as well as I thought she was??

:::pouting:::

Sorry Laura1202, I forgot that you were off the market for a bit!

And Jerzeegirl, you're right...the price you pay doesn't matter in the long run...but you're assuming you have a "long run" in the house!

As you say, no crystal balls available. And if you have to sell prematurely, especially under current market conditions, it won't be fun.

But hey....you'll have a couple of thousand in principal paid off, which will make walking away from the closing table without a check much easier!

Honestly, I'm just kidding with you--to each his own.

XAMSX,

I've heard that with the elections there is likely to be some influx, but I don't know firsthand how that works.

Sales never stopped in my area. They just took longer. When I was home shopping, all contingencies were waived, any remotely serious bid had to have an escalation clause in case of a bidding war, and homes routinely sold before the open house, within a day or two of being listed. The 'comps' sellers used often were prices that had been bid up in a bidding war, so prices were going up 2% or more each month. It really made no sense and made it very hard to get into the market. In fact that's why I did a 5% down mortgage; prices were increasing much faster than I could save money, and sticking with my plan of waiting to put down a 20% downpayment no longer made financial sense.

I tracked a decent # of listings this summer from listing to sale. What I noticed was that homes that would have sold in a day or two last year were taking a month or two to sell. Many sold at the listing price or within 10K of the listing price; I didn't see any that sold for more than the list price. Some homes still went under contract within a week or two, but those were very competitively priced or had prime locations within the neighborhood. So really it seems to be a return to a semblance of normalcy more so than anything else. That's 'bad' compared to the last couple years, but objectively still pretty darn good. It's very much like jerzeegirl's example of buying for 250 and selling for 350.

Most markets are dead right now. This is the worst time of year to sell a house.

Trouble is, NoVA has been dead all for most of the spring and all of the summer, traditionally the BEST time of year to sell a house.

Therefore, it may be the best time to buy a house.

Few seem to think so in NoVA.

Are you a contrarian? :-)

Mid-term elections do not typically produce a large impact around Washington (including No. Va.). Not enough turn over.
Presidential elections with a change in the White House produce a pretty decent tick. Along with the new office holders come all the support staff, cabinet, etc.
Many of the newcomers are shocked at housing prices in the area (and any recent declines will still leave many of them forced into renting).
Representatives who are not independantly wealthy often rent apartments in groups since that is all they can afford.
A few have been known to actually sleep in their offices.
I have leased to reps a few times, and still remember the complaints that the rent was more than the mortgage they had "back home."