Reply #4: in general Real Estate is overvalued right now [View All]

[librechik]

so it's not a good deal. But that is a very general trend, with very bad extremes, like California and the WEst coast and resort or sunbelt areas, where real estate is not valued reasonably, and you would be paying far more for the property than it is worth--you are paying a big premium for the location location location.

Nevertheless there are bargains to be found. If you are not tied to a certain area (for example, if you can telecommute or are self-employed, you could move to a cheap area in the country or in your area. Some people manage to do the research and so on necessary to buy houses for back taxes. Usually there is one day a year in a county where bids are accepted for properties. There is usually a newspaper listing of these properties for a few weeks before the sale day, so you can check them out. Details vary from place to place, though, so call the county tax assessor or look it up online. Talk to local real estate agents, they are well aware of buyers such as yourself, and know where to look.

Distressed owners are still a great opportunity. We just bought a small property which was assessed for 75,000, but we bought it for 30,000, just becuz the guy wanted to get rid of the obligation. He's a young single guy and the economy is too iffy for him to keep up the paymentson the place and pay rent elsewhere as well.

Goode luck! Owning a home is a great adventure, IMO.