I've of the belief that I won't be able to find a house I can afford that's safe and in a neighborhood I like. (One with character, preferably in the city.) Safety is huge for me.

Then there's the commitment factor: The general advice I was given was that you should stay in a place for at least two years for its value to increase and make the closing costs and etc. worth your while, but this was five or so years ago. I suspect it's longer now -- and I don't know that I want to be tied to a piece of property, when who knows where life is headed?

Maybe that's all just me.

What do you mean by affordable? In this town it is super easy. If you have $1000 to spend per month (including tax breaks for owning), you are set. If we could get all the poorly spent government dollars, we could get you set for $400 a month. Oh, well. You can't buy in the city if the assessment reflects the sales price. O, nevermind just don'y buy in Canton, or Federal Hill (they assess higher than sales price) and hand out a lotr of tickets. Try Lauraville, Gardenville, Parkville - they are way under assessed, no tickets. Nice neirghborhoods too.

It is very difficult for buyers to see solid reasons to buy, but consider that you don't buy a home simply for its investment potential. You buy because you want to put down roots and/or start creating some equity and long term growth. Interest rates are at one of the lowest points since the early 70's and the bloated inventory now offers tons of choices. Sellers are eager to make it work and lenders are hungry to help out buyers with reasonable credit. The negatives are current credit tightening and potential value decreases, but 20 years or so ago you never thought about making huge year over year gains on your investment. We have become an instant gratification society and some buyers and sellers fall into that trap too. As a Realtor with 24 years experience, I can tell you that there are some great buys out there right now and many sellers who are realistic and willing.

I'd buy a house right now if I didn't know I would lose $100,000 or so in home value over the next few years. I've worked to hard to save my money for a down payment...I don't want to see it vanish because of those instant gratification investors. I have my future to worry about, not fulfilling somebody else's pipe-dream.