Should You Believe Real Estate Agents Who Say 'It's a Good Time to Buy?'

"I am a real estate appraiser in Idaho. We have more units available for sale than buyers. It's economics 101. High supply and low demand. I am not a buyer here at these levels. I see 20% correction yet to come. We are seeing too many 'need to sell' mixed in with the 'want to sells.' - Dave R., Idaho

"NO, people should not listen to anyone in the industry as the authority on making the right decision. The industry is in it to make sales, period. It does not care if it’s a good decision for the consumer. If it cared as a whole, toxic mortgages would not have been invented and pushed. Right now, this particular industry is desperate. This desperation came at the end of an artificially inflated bubble created BY the industry, for this purpose; to make sales and make them for the highest possible price. People really need to make decisions based on their own or independent research, not industry hype that is always packaged as warm fuzzy images of homeownership." - Cindy 

"Don't try to catch a falling knife!" - Christopher S.

"Is it a good time to buy a house? Yes, if you plan on living in that house for at least 5 years. For the buyer right now selection is plentiful. Buyers can find their 'Dream Home' and are in a great position of power when it comes to negotiations. Sure, in the short term the value of their new home might fall a bit, but if they are in their new house for at least 5 years the market will have recovered and moved higher by then. If a buyer finds a house they really want and wait for the price to fall another 5% that house might be sold by the time they are ready to move. Look at the long term (5 years from now), not the short term (6 months from now). Real Estate is a great long term investment. Buy a house now and most likely in 5 years it will be worth more then when you bought it." - Don K., California

"This is only the beginning. People have been spending more than they earn for years. It will take years to catch up." - Frank D.

"I believe that now is not the time to buy and Jim Cramer along with several others that have voiced their opinions on CNBC are correct. The market still has a ways to go and they have completely overbuilt, and they are continuing to overbuild. There are not enough people to fill these spaces. Fewer people will be able to get mortgages because of the credit crunch and people are defaulting because of the credit crunch. Meaning that there are fewer and fewer buyers as time goes on. I believe, as one commentator projected, that the bottom will come in about 8 months to a year from now, when the credit market and supply starts to stabilize. This is not the worst time to buy but definitely not the best. In this argument people always tend to forget that you can always rent, and sometimes that is the much better option. I believe the best time to enter the market is in about 6 months from now. However, if you are entering on the foreclosure side of things, right now is the best time to enter the market. Additionally, the high end luxury market seems untouched in some parts of the country, but that is another story." - Grant M., Chicago

"As a real estate agent I have been asked this question many times over the past weeks, and my answer is always the same. It depends on the house, or other property, you want to buy and the seller of that property. Even in this challenging market, there will still be sellers who absolutely will not negotiate on price. However, there will also be many other sellers who have already declared the 'fire sale.' In my, mostly rural, area of the Sulphur Springs Valley in Cochise County, Arizona, our market is still relatively stable. However, we did not have the dramatic price increases of other areas, so we do not really expect to have much in the way of price decreases either. Really, as in all real estate, it comes down to 'location, location, location.' - Kellie F.

"If you wait to buy in places like Tampa, FL then you are going to lose, however if you wait in a place like Miami then you will win. This all depends on where you live and what kind of home you are buying, aka don't buy a condo in Miami." - Jeff

"Being in the mortgage side of the business, I can say that many potential buyers with the money are already looking in from the outside as lenders continue to tighten restrictions. It really depends on the borrower AND the area they want to live in (a lot of places are not being hit with drastic property devaluation as the headlines makes it sound). The chances are far greater that borrowers can refinance for a better payment in the future than getting a really good price for a home.  The best advice is to get with someone you can trust and get a feel if they are giving you a consultative approach to your particular situation (giving you options and weighing advantages to disadvantages to each) or if you're being sold (YOU GOTTA BUY NOW! or DON'T BUY NOW!)."  - John, Beltsville, Maryland

"If a local real estate agent was to offer to sell me a house in the overpriced Vicksburg, Mississippi, market. I would turn him/her down immediately. Cost of the home would be the real factor and the fact I wouldn't trust the local real estate agent. But I would fare better buying home via the net, which homesellers are now doing. For example, I wouldn't buy a home here at $899,000. Too expensive and I wouldn't care how historical or contemporary it is." - Chuck H., Mississippi