I love the movie A Beautiful Mind. One quote in particluar always pops into my head: "Terrified... mortified... petrified... stupefied... by you." I think that this quote represents how people feel about the real estate market right now. The media has scared people into not buying and selling houses. People who would otherwise move are hearing on the news that the housing market is so horrible that they think that their best bet is to sit tight until it picks up again. However, this is not true for everyone. There are several groups of people who should be buying like crazy right now.

 Group One: First time home buyers- Sellers are far more negotiable now than they were in the better market and rates are still low. If you don't have a home to sell, then it's the perfect time to buy!

Group Two: People moving up- I understand that people are a little hesitant when they find out that they will have to sell their house for less than they would like. However, say you are selling a house that is worth $100,000 and buying a house that is worth $200,000. If you are forced to sell at 5% less than what you thought, most likely the person selling the $200,000 house must also sell 5% lower. Therefore, you are saving more money on the larger house and will have more equity once the market begins to curve back up.

 Group 3: Investors- The best time to buy investment properties is not at the top of the market. You want to buy investments at the bottom of the market. Unfortunately you do not know when you have reached the bottom of the market until it starts to go back up. Buy a house now, rent it out, and then if you want, you can flip it later when the market goes back up and it is worth more!