is now a good time to buy a home

When making a major decision such as a buying a home many factors come into play. The first piece of information would be how long you plan to live in the home. In my opinion, your time frame should be a minimum of five years, unless there is some plan to convert the property to an investment property, which can change the parameters of the decisions.

Below is the information for Yellowstone county to compare what has happened since 2007 mid-September to mid-September 2011. In reviewing the information from 2007 you can see why  my opinion is that five years should be your minimum time horizon. In looking at the debt pay down and essential a flat market you may just barely cover the cost to sell. Still factoring tax savings and the cost of renting your total costs of living in the home might be slightly positive.

Now when you look at the effect of the current interest rate environment and look out where you would be after five years, assuming a continued flat market, the most probable scenario is in the positive Colum financially in purchasing a home. First is your actual principal and interest payment to own is  $150 dollars less than renting.  Second your actual debt pay down from the original balance increases to $19,015 over the first five years meaning it is highly likely your cost to sell the property are covered and you are finically in a positive position.