Reply #1: thank you. [View All]

[shireen]

i was in the market about 2 years ago, even put in contracts that were not accepted. But i started reading blogs like Dr. Housing Bubble and bubblemore.blogspot.com, and realized that it is NOT a good time to buy. Even today, people tell me that it's a great time to buy, and look at me funny when i say, NO it's not. I guess everyone parrots the realtor commercials on tv or think a 10% drop is a great deal.

I say ... do the math. One simple formula for home value that i have is to figure out what the house was worth before the boom (before 2002), then extrapolate based on a 3% to 5% annual appreciation. And apply the same calculation to comps in the area. It's not accurate, but gives a decent estimate.

I'm still trying to figure out how much land should be worth. If anyone has suggestions on how to evaluate it, please let me know.