Consumers are a little too nervous to take advantage, even though the combination of low rates and low prices would seem to make this the best time to buy a home.  Anyone who’s taking out a mortgage now has never had better rates in their entire life. Interest rates, for instance, will affect your monthly payment as you saw in the section on costs associated with buying a home. When rates are low, you’ll pay less. When rates are high, your payment will be higher. Economic factors such as inflation, cost of living and market conditions, affect interest rates. Buying real estate in volatile economic times, a bad market or the wrong time frame could cost you everything. Not only are seasons important to consider when buying real estate, but seller circumstances and motivation are also significant factors. Become informed and understand what to look for so you will know when is the best time to buy real estate.

Home prices have declined to a level that’s more in line with household incomes than at any time in the past several years. Residential real estate prices were artificially inflated because of wider access to easy-to-qualify loans that had features making affordability of payments, even if only for a year or two, seem attractive. So home buyers only looked at the payment, not the loan features or the price of the property. The idea was that home prices would continue to rise, and the borrowers would at some time refinance the loan or sell the house to recoup the equity and buy a different property.  If you are anxious to get moving, be patient. You have a few things to do first:

• Go to open houses – get the lay of the land
• Talk to Wright Mortgage to get pre-approved
• Interview agents (You may want to find an agent at the same time as you look for a mortgage broker – a good agent can recommend reputable brokers and help you make sense of the terms of the loan)
• Review credit report and scores with mortgage broker to determine if any repairs are needed