To buy or not to buy, that is the question????

To buy or not to buy, that is the question???

Take if from me, don't believe everything you see or hear on TV.  Why can I say that wish such authority?  Well, I use to be a television news producer with one of the major networks--and believe me, the news skews, and objectivity is hard to achieve. 

Many first time buyers tell me they want to wait to buy a home because of all the doom and gloom they see on TV.  We'll, I'm here to tell you, it's not all bad, especially in San Diego. 

Yes, our county has been hit hard in the housing crisis, many of our neighbors have lost their home and still many more will lose their homes.  The housing market isn't going to recover any time soon.  That's about the only thing the news has gotten right.  

So what's a first time buyer in San Diego to do??  Well, buy a home of course.  Why?? The reason is simple.  In some parts of our county it's cheaper to own a home than it is to rent.  That's right ! The price you are paying now to rent a home or an apartment could be a little less or exactly what you're paying in rent.  

I know what you're thinking, well, if I buy and it costs the same to rent, why would I move and buy something when it's not going to affect my monthly budget.  Well, first of all, when you buy, you'll be building equity.  When you buy a home it's like a forced savings acccount for yourself.  The longer you own the home and pay down the pricipal and interest the more equity you build. It's a win!  

Secondly, as a first time buyer, you get to take advantage of many loan progams and down payment assistance programs that are available to you.  There are programs available to first time buyers where you can come in with as little as 3% down and have all your closing costs paid for.  There are  also loans where you can actually borrow money to make repairs to the house.  

The city of San Diego has downpayment assistance programs as well as other cities around our county.  It's another win! 

So what are you waiting for?  You'll probably never see another housing market like this.  Let's gear up and get you into your first home.