My own blast from the past

Boom

we were posting at the same time. funny, maybe. were you by any chance the poster who asked how to find out prior posting histories?

I'm a buyer, but I've made a determination, as I looked back at the economy, the state of NYC, the stock market and technology and internet stocks, and even the political environment in the US, that I'm only buying if I can find 2003 prices. Right now I see 2006 prices and since 2007 was the peak, we are hardly down. I'm hoping this is sooner rather than later as I am tired of renting and the rental quality of neighbors and the like.

"I WILL buy, probably in about 2 to 2 and 1/2 years. And I think I'm going to have a great time. If not, we could always move to the Bay Area, where I should be able to pick up a great deal."

So...yearend? Or mid-2010?

Topper, no. Sadly I was unable to portend the complete and utter destruction the MBS situation caused. I knew that things were sadly out of whack, but I had mistakenly thought had attributed more than was real to productivity gains and foreign growth. Never believed in decoupling, but did attribute some robust sales to foreign investment, which as an SE insider I see for some of the buildings was very true, for a time.

Long story short, I'm looking at 2011 or 2012, for any market I might consider. It may very well not be New York. But I'm more willing now to say that certain properties might be suitable for certain people who are willing to pay a premium above renting for a home (long term, as rents are continuing to fall so some consideration of that must be made against current pricing). I still think that we are at least 9 months from any point which would be a time to pull yourself out of the rubble and have a good look around. And I think that there is little to no chance of mortgage rates increasing substantially in the meantime. Keep an eye on rates, and if they start to go up, think about getting in if you don't have an excess of cash to put in. If you have 40% or more (roughly) of the cash that you need to buy what you currently want, I'd suggest waiting and letting the rates crash the price. My two cents.

my second sentence was really bad. get rid of both thought and had.