When is the right time to buy
Why the answer is about your situation rather than about the market.
4 minute read
People wait for the market to be right. Nobody can tell you when that is, including anybody who says they can, and the waiting has its own cost.
What can be answered is whether you are ready, which is a different question and a more useful one.
The questions worth answering
Are you likely to stay put for a while? Buying costs money at both ends and needs time to absorb it.
Is your income steady? A lender will ask, and a job change right before you apply complicates things - talk to one early.
Do you have the money for your contribution, closing costs and something left over? Arriving at closing with nothing spare is stressful and occasionally expensive.
What waiting actually costs
Rent paid while waiting does not come back. Prices may move either way while you wait, and so may borrowing costs; neither is predictable, which is the point.
Waiting can absolutely be right. It is right when it is buying you something specific - paying down a debt, building your savings, finishing a probation period. It is rarely right as a general posture.
On timing the market
Nobody knows what borrowing costs will do. Anyone telling you to wait for a particular level, or to hurry before one, is guessing.
What is true is that the house you wanted may not be available later. That is worth thinking about, and it is not advice to rush.
The short version
- Readiness is answerable. Market timing is not.
- Waiting is right when it buys you something specific.
- Nobody knows where borrowing costs are going. Be skeptical of anyone who says they do.
This is general information, not advice about your situation. Zoila Moscoso can tell you what applies to you.
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