Should I buy?

I have been researching on Streetasy and other placesfor a while and am thinking of buying my first NY apartment. I have about 175k in a mutual fund that is performing very flat and would be willing to empty out (with very little tax issues) and about 95k in cash (started working the day Lehman went bankrupt so just banked all my paychecks rather than in a 401(k), foolish I know). No outstanding... [more]

I have been researching on Streetasy and other placesfor a while and am thinking of buying my first NY apartment. I have about 175k in a mutual fund that is performing very flat and would be willing to empty out (with very little tax issues) and about 95k in cash (started working the day Lehman went bankrupt so just banked all my paychecks rather than in a 401(k), foolish I know). No outstanding debts. Work in finance, around 200k/year. Currently rent a decent apartment in Williamsburg for about 1500/month. Would like to move back to the city and would rather have my paymets go towards my equity rather than a landlord and feel like there are some good investments to be made (nervous about putting my money in the stock market). Given my financial situation (and the market turmoil), is now an acceptable time to buy? If so, what should my max price be? I am looking in the EV, WV, Soho and LES. Thanks for the help. [less]