One Million and Beyond

House Hunting in an Uncertain Market

By Matt - Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

House hunting can be daunting at the best of times but it can be truly unnerving in an uncertain market. My wife and I have just started to look at houses to purchase. This is right around the time that things in the overall marketplace seem to be as uncertain as I can remember them. For many people this is not the time that they should start looking for a house, but for others there are many deals to be had. I can’t say that we’re debt free with huge cash reserves but we’re financially sound for this huge investment.

As some of the readers of this blog know I’m a Canadian and the real estate market in Canada and our region specifically aren’t nearly as bad as in parts of the US. Our economy has slowed a little but there hasn’t been a sub-prime meltdown in Canada. The whole world might have been impacted by it but there are many markets that are still quite sound, thankfully we’re in one of those.

Since there is a lot of risk in taking on a large purchase such as a house we’re taking what I see as a cautious approach. We’re trying to find a house that either one of us could pay the mortgage on. The whole idea here is that we’re going to make sure not to put ourselves into a situation where we might not be able to make ends meet. This does mean that we’re not going to buy the best we could possibly afford. The good thing is that we’re looking for good value and places that might need a little updating, which we can do over the next couple years.

The other thing that we’re trying to be conscious of is investment value. Our real estate agent is also very firmly in our court when it comes to this. We’ve made sure that we’re not in a rush to purchase the house and we can find the right fit for our needs as well as getting a house that will have a good return on our investment over time. The locations we’re looking in are also regions where there is a lot of potential to flip houses. The prices are going up and there is a lot of room for value increase.

The most important thing to keep in mind when house hunting in an uncertain market in my opinion is taking the extra precautions that will ensure you don’t put yourself into financial hot water. Making sure that you know what you’re looking for is extremely important. It’s not only the house that you need to consider but also the investment value of your purchase and the financial implications in the short and long term. I think we’re entering the market at a great time for us and we’ve already seen some houses that have a lot of potential.

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