If you’re one of those people doing their home search right now, then you have probably heard that the housing market will continue to downward spiral. Of course this means opportunities for buyers. However, waiting for the market to bottom out (which no one can predict) may not be the best idea. Here are the top 5 reasons to buy right now and the top 5 reasons you may want to hold off.

Some markets in Northern Virginia have not hit their bottom yet, but they are not too far off. The Arlington, VA market hasn’t been affected as much as most areas in the DC Metro region. The pace of sales has slowed down, but the prices have held firm or in a few cases gone up. If you’re waiting for the Northern Virginia real estate market to hit absolute bottom, this puts you at risk in missing it and getting caught up in the market on the upswing. Plus, for some first time home buyers, owning a home just makes more sense from an economic and financial standpoint.

Homes that are situated in a great school district like Fairfax County and Loudoun County, are often not affected as much when the market goes south. The times that they depreciate, these neighborhoods are usually the fastest to recover.

Sometimes buyers get so caught up in the sales price that they miss out on a good deal. You have to ask yourself if it’s worth it to wait a few weeks to see if the home goes down $10K-$20K. It’s a gamble you’re going to have to take. Or is it? For those first time home buyers, look at your mortgage payment when you’re debating whether to pay an extra $10K for a home. Assuming a buyer pays $300,000 rather than $310,000 on a 5.7%, 30-year loan with $30,000 down, they’d be paying $1,575 a month rather than $1,634. Not so bad is it?

Now of course there are those people who bought their home a few years back and if they were to sell their home now, they would end up losing out. These people are encouraged to stay with their home and not think about buying, unless of course you can afford it.

5 REASONS TO BUY

1. Prices in the neighborhood you are interested in are relatively stable. Either they are holding their own or increasing, or the pace of decline is slowing significantly. If you have to move and don’t like apartments, the small penalty you pay for missing the bottom may not mean much.

2. You plan to stay in the home for more than five years. If you can stick it out that long before selling, economists say you’ll probably ride out any downturn and come out ahead on price

3. Your rent rivals a mortgage payment. If you can afford to buy, it can give you one bonus that renting can’t: mortgage-interest deduction on your taxes.

4. You’ve found the right house in the right area for you. The schools are great. You love the area and know it would be hard to find another house like the one you have your eye on. In a better market, you would most likely have much more competition for that home.

5. You’ve built equity in your house and are moving to a place where homes are cheaper. In your new market, your money will go a lot further.

5 REASONS TO HOLD YOUR HORSES

1. You’ve lived in your house less than two years. Chances are you haven’t had enough time to accumulate equity in your home. Indeed, you may have negative equity, if you live in many areas such as California, Florida, Arizona or Nevada.

2. Your job security is uncertain. If your company or business is in distress, it’s probably better to stay put until the smoke clears.

3. You don’t plan to stay in your next house at least five years. While it’s not important to buy at the exact bottom of the market, it is important to stay long enough to ride it out completely.

4. You don’t have good credit or a decent down payment. Do you have a job and income you can document? As a result of the subprime lending crisis, lenders are much more careful about whom they’re giving their money to.

5. You have an existing home to sell in a neighborhood where prices are dropping precipitously or where the number of foreclosures is spiking. In this climate, you’re probably better off waiting out the storm.

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