Is now a smart time, or a REALLY dumb time to buy a home? Me and my wife moved to Korea in 2019... Mostly everywhere now we aren't allowed to go to because of the vaccine, we can go to small marts and old markets to get food and shop online, most everything else we can't. We believe in the next month or so they are going to start fining people who aren't vaccinated, we don't know how this will effect us as we are both American citizens... but if you don't pay the fine you go to jail... so over night Korea went totally authoritarian, with zero push back.
We are looking at moving back to the USA ASAP, there is a presidential election in Korea in March, so maybe that will change something, but I doubt it.
I know very little about home buying, I have what is considered a great credit score and I own my own small online business as a sole proprietor, it does seem to be doing well despite everything. I am not rich, I do have money saved for a down payment of some sort and my income is very medium income sub 60K on average.
Just with all the uncertainty and inflation, is it a really dumb idea to buy a house now? I'm looking at rent and it seems astronomical currently, I just wanted some opinions, should I just rent when I get back and see what happens over the next year or so?
I would second your last statement. Now would be a terrible time to purchase a home in the U.S. Residential housing markets nationwide are over-inflated, not only because of low interest rates, but also because institutional buyers are paying a premium for homes so they can sew up entire markets. https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/02/business/family-homes-wall-street/index.html
But you should also be aware of consumer credit trends. People are piling more and more on credit cards, and the storage business has been growing by leaps and bounds as people buy more than they have room in their homes or apartments to store. Student loan debt, car loan debt, mortgage debt, etc, etc., are all adding up to be massive warning bells. The financial markets are poised for an epic collapse.
I could go on and on. Take your time.
Yeah I think would be best to wait I guess.... seems like the best option really. I just feel like something major is on the verge of happening, so I'd hate to lose money, but really in the end it might not matter.
I'm leaning towards renting a house 2 hours outside of charlotte, in the mountains or foothills somewhere.