Since the election I’ve kinda buried my head in the sand to try and stay sane, so I’m not sure what projections are looking like for the real estate market. Unfortunately I need to move pretty ASAP and I’m having the worst luck with rentals.
So, anyone have any advice or an idea of the outlook in the next few months?
Ah you’re right. I figured the US overall would kinda answer the question. But I guess NW Washington state is where I’m looking.
If you can afford it and plan on staying a while, buying is the way to go. I’m in NW Oregon and waited to buy because I was nervous and thought I “needed 20% down to avoid PMI” and essentially missed out on an extra 1000sqft for the same price by waiting. Putting 10% down, my PMI was $40 a month, which is chump change in the grand scheme of things, and has already been removed due to increased value and payments.
Even still, buying in 2019 when I did, I’m in so much better shape now than if I’d continued renting. Rent would probably be $500-$1000 more each month, and I wouldn’t be gaining equity on top of that.
Of course nobody has a crystal ball to make it 100% risk-free, but this is still a pretty solid strategy, and you live in an in-demand area in case you ever wanted or needed to sell, so you should be fine. If the interest rates go down substantially, refinancing is also a good idea.