Home | Newsletter | Advertise
loading...

5 Reasons For and Against Buying Real Estate in 2009

  • February 11th 2009

by Will Smith

MarketWatch has published a pair of articles that each make five good points on opposite sides of the debate, Is 2009 a good year to buy a home? While you may have already heard many of the points made in each article, it is useful to have the reasons for and against purchasing a home in this market laid out side-by-side.

Below we have summarized the five reasons for buying a home in 2009. See the full article, Five reasons to buy a home this year, for an explanation of each point.

  1. Affordability is better than ever
  2. You have a large inventory of houses and condos to choose from
  3. Builders are offering big discounts on new homes
  4. Mortgage rates are at historic lows
  5. You may qualify for a federal tax credit

And from Five reasons not to buy a home this year, here are the reasons against buying:

  1. Prices are still dropping
  2. The low housing prices will last for a while, so there’s no rush
  3. You may move or leave the area
  4. Your job could be the next to go
  5. Your “rainy day” reserves may get eaten up by the down payment, which is risky. It is important to hold on to some cold hard cash, especially in this economy.

What do you think: buy this year or don’t buy this year? Let us know in the comments.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/5_reasons_for_and_against_buying_real_estate_in_2009/537.

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse