Housing prices are down.  Interest rates are unbelievably low.  Inventory is high so there are lots of great homes to choose from.  Many people are looking at homes right now but waiting to buy.  So the question is this: what are they waiting for?

The word on the street is that they are waiting to see if home prices drop even lower.  But, you might ask, how will they know when they have hit rock bottom?  The answer is they won't know.  No one knows when  that magic moment has arrived when home prices are as low as they are going to go so smart people can invest in a home, breathe a sigh of relief, and sit back while  prices start to climb again.  Just as with the stock market, a lot of people have lost a lot of money  trying to "time the market". 

At this point, it's  important to mention an obvious fact:  This is Columbus, Ohio, not San Diego, California.  We never experienced the huge housing bubble that resulted in housing prices becoming hugely inflated.  The good news about that is that we will not see the drastic drop in home prices that California and Florida and Arizona have seen.   For that reason, Forbes.com ranked Columbus third in the country in the most stable real estate markets.

The message is coming from everywhere right now -- newspapers, television, financial planners, etc. -- that this is a great time to buy a home.  If you are a first-time buyer and have no home to sell or if you are looking to buy investment property, the conditions couldn't be any better.  If you do have a home to sell, put it on the market at the right price and in the right condition and plan on making your money on the home you purchase.  But be careful about waiting around for the low point.   You might regret it later.