I've been looking for quite a while but I'm stopping until next spring. There's just nothing on the market right now that catches my eye and a lot of people are taking their houses off the market for the winter. It's frustrating because I'm well qualified and ready to buy. As a recent seller myself, I realize not many people are going to bring $50K to the table to sell their house so it's understandable they're either waiting to sell or staying put. After getting some really low bids, I got lucky and found someone who fell in love with my house like I did years ago and paid near full price.

As a buyer in these economic times, I find myself in a difficult situation. I don't want to screw anyone but I can't make a bad investment. My job is no safer than any other and I refuse to be upside in a house if I can avoid it. It's tough to even pay fair market value when prices are potentially still falling. I worry about losing the great interest rates by waiting but I worry much more about overpaying and then taking a loss if I need to sell.

MS Hpkins
This is slightly off-topic.But i just wanted to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving. And thank you for your interesting articles that you post here

Brian, that is frustrating. Hope you have better luck in the spring.

Pete, happy Thanksgiving to you, too! I enjoy your comments.

I have three new buyers out looking starting this week, so people are still out there and looking. But I definitely agree with Brian in that it can be better to wait until Spring. That's basically what I am telling my sellers who are thinking about listing to do. The market grinds to a halt from Thanksgiving until the weekend after the Super Bowl (weird "start" to the spring market, eh?). The buyers I started working with this week probably won't end up buying until then, which may be good since prices will probably dip down more by then...

I recently put a couple offers on foreclosures -- and just got a counter back from a bank on one of them. If this doesn't pan out I'll probably take a break during winter and start fresh again in the spring (plus it will help me save up more money for those ridiculous closing costs - - about 6%!). I don't think the market is going anywhere over the winter, and in fact, feel like prices might only go down even more... So I'm not too worried about taking my time. Fortunately I'm in a position where I can do that.

Based on several weekes without showings and the thought that the approaching holidays wouldn't bring many more, we were close to taking our house off the market for the winter, when out of the blue buyers who saw our house in August gave us a contract a few weeks ago. So now we are selling and buying in mid-January. We'll be packing during the winter holidays and settlement is scheduled for our son's bday in January. I didn't think it would happen now, and it will be hectic, but we're happy to have it!

Glad that worked out for you, SZ. Good luck with the move.

My wife and I are in the market. This would be a second home for us and we would rent the first. I'm just finding it hard to pull the trigger right now. I guess I am really worried that the prices will keep falling and I will be in the same boat I am now. Our current home is underwater but while I could rent it easily enough to cover the new mortgage and I have cash to put down, I'm still uneasy about it. I think a lot of potential buyers are going through the same thing.

@ Mike B - I think you're right, I think prices might fall a little more BUT it comes down to the real monthly outlays you'd be locking in with a mortgage. Prices probably will fall in general, but if you could lock in a low 30 yr mortgage rate and you have a cash cushion, you might not really save anything by buying at a slightly lower price next spring/summer. Winter sellers *should* be willing to deal with lower prices, since there will be few buyers/offers (even fewer than now, which is saying a lot!)

I did the math before settling on a deal just last week. By locking in a 3.875% mortgage rate on a 30 yr mortgage, it was the equivalent for us of buying the same house for about 50k less at a 4.5% interest rate (which is where I think your average rate will be heading by next Spring/Summer).

So, depending on your situation, you might be better off. The key in ALL of this, though, as any landlord will tell you: If you rent you need to get good tenants who give a healthy sec deposit, pay on time, and don't/can't mess up your house. In particular, I wouldn't leave any premium appliances or valuable furniture at the rented house unless your renters are truly high end and willing to pay a premium. Go to a used appliance broker and get decent-but-used stuff, then move the good stuff to your new place. Remember--"covering the mortgage" is really only half the battle when you're renting. It's an overly simplistic approach that forgets about wear and tear, appliances, and possible headaches.

@Chappy: Yea I know a little bit about the renting deal. Hopefully my agent will weed out the bad seeds. I'm also looking into a home warranty to cover some of the costs if things start going kaputz. One of the good things though is the home is fairly new so I am hoping nothing breaks for a while lol.
You just never know though do you.

My wife and I are actively looking in the Towson area. We sold our Baltimore Rowhome almost two years ago and have been renting since. Many other move-up buyers are stuck unless they bring money to the table or decide to rent out their first home. This is definitely affecting the mortgage applications. Many of the same worries as others, job security, not overpaying, etc. The Fed has basically pledged to keep rates low "for an extended period of time". So I am not too worried about a jump in rates. We just haven't seen the home for us at the right price. Some homes we have watched over the past year start out way too high and after 4 or 5 price reductions they finally sell. They end up selling for less than if they just priced it right the first time. If sellers came to the market with a more realistic price I think they would sell much faster. I am betting a lot of people who have held off selling because of the market or were unable to sell in 2010 are going to try and sell in the Spring season. This could bring much more inventory on the market without the demand to support prices. That would continue to put potential buyers in the driver's seat.