WOT: buying a new 901, real estate in San Diego - buy or rent? Options

[siverson]

Way, way, off topic, but I'm about to make a pretty big decision (for me), and I'll always listen to free advice (may not follow it though... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ). Anyways, I'm about to buy condo #901 (<-- only 914 tie in in this entire thread!) in a building in downtown San Diego.

It's expensive. I can afford the payments on a 30y fixed and have 20% down, but I'd hate to see my 20% down payment go poof if the real estate market crashes. And we're due for a crash - it's been gaining 20%+ PER YEAR for the past several years.

What's your crystal ball say? Buy now, or continue to rent and then buy when it all comes crashing down?

-Steve

[Lou W]

I'm in mortgage lending, I think Bernie's right, the market will fluctuate over time, you still need a place to live. I would be more inclinded to keep as much cash as possible as long you are confortable with the payments ( Called Leverage). If you ever need to access your equity, and the value has decresed or the money has gotten tighter, you may not be able to access as much as you want. Rates are good on the 3 year and 5 year programs, not so good on the 7 and 10 year programs. That tells me that things look good for the next 3 to 5 years, after that it's anybodys guess. There is a lot of money out there to loan, you can tell by the easy qualifying requirements, when it's start getting harder to qualify, that will tell you the market is turning. In addition, I don't believe you can go wrong in the San Diego area. Just keep in mind, the Aero-Space and Defense industry lay-offs really had big impact on our last recession we had here in California. The vast majority of those affected have gone on to something else. Good Luck and Happy House Hunting (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)