Rent or Buy?

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by gortiz

Two words of advice from somone who just spent the last 3 months looking for a home in fairfax.

1. Be prepared to bid over 25k over the asking price.

2. Don't worry about selling your house before you buy your house. Equity is good, but look at it this way, most people can't afford the house they are living in now, and if they want to move out they couldn't afford to live in the same 20 mile radius of there current home...most people.

What ever you buy, plan to stay awhile, if your the averarge person making average $$.

#1 actually depends a lot on what the initial price is, the condition the house is in, the time of year, etc etc etc... normally sellers here get their price or slightly higher, but not always.

#2 make use of contract contingencies, if you NEED your old house sold before buying a new one you can codify it into the contract... it makes the contract look less appealing to the seller, but if its what you gotta do... (more important is when you sell first to make the salle contingent on getting the new house, or else you could end up without a house and unable to afford to move back into the neighborhood you just left).