Jump in. The Water's Fine.

For people who are sitting on the fence right now, I have some good news for you. Now is a pretty good time to buy, especially in the Houston area.

Houston has been growing in population by over 2% per year for the last 10 years and our local economy remains strong despite what is going on around the rest of the country. These people all need places to live. (We recently had an event called Ike that put a damper on things for a few weeks, but Houston is resilient and is bouncing back quickly. Most areas are back to normal except for the hard hit areas along the coastline. It may take years for those areas to rebound.)

Interest rates are still at historically low levels and despite what the media is saying, money for mortgages is still available.

Low downpayment loans are still available and you can still purchase a home using a FHA loan with as little as 3% down. However, come January 1, 2009, the minimum down payment will go up to 3.5%. Purchasing in 2009 means you will have to bring more money to the table.

Furthermore, if you purchase before the end of the year, you will qualify for a Homestead Exemption on your primary residence for 2009 saving you approximately 15% of your annual property taxes overall.

Most financial pundits project that we should be out of any recession we are in within the next two years. If you purchase now, you should be sitting pretty 5 to 7 years from now when you are ready to sell.

In addition, right now there are fewer buyers in the market competing for the available homes so you get your pick. Usually after an election, people and businesses start making plans for the future and jump back into the market once they have an idea of which way things are going to go. Why not jump in now and beat them to the punch?

Builders have excess inventory and are discounting heavily to avoid paying interest on construction loans.

So, if you are thinking of purchasing a home, jump on in, the water's fine.