I might disagree with your “waiting game”. There is no guarantee the right deal will be there for you later. I personally have offered on a foreclosure (lost in a multiple offer) and have won a multiple offer short sale for my clients on another place this month.
Meaning, many preceived the prices as agood deal and jumped. This is still very rare, even in our worst months here after Red October.

You did acknowledge people could jump if it’s a steal. But finding the combo of good location, good building, good price is still tough… especially if you don’t write and offer.

I know of sales happening now that are $50K less (give or take) than previous sales on units for sale simply because the buyer wrote an offer (did not have to wait and compete when the price finally would be lowered).

Anyway, I’m biased here, but also put my own money where my mouth is. Making an arbitray decison when it’s better to buy based on the current market is like trying to time any market. I think if a home is what you want and you have a good understanding of the location… and you can afford it… take a shot.

If you were in the market today (say renting and needed a place for your growing family) you’d wait another 6 months even though a great house becomes availble?

Saw this in a recent What’s Your Problem? column in the Trib. regarding a builder’s failure to return an elderly couple’s earnest money deposit. A sad tale, the husband got cancer and subsequently died and thus the couple didn’t want to purchase the home. The potential buyer’s relied on the developer’s oral promise that they’d refund the earnest money if the gentleman got cancer. I read that in the end they did get 3/4 of the deposit back.

But really, would you expect a developer to honor an oral promise regarding an earnest money refund? Get it in writing!

As long as you can set a minimum bid, what’s to lose?

Hope for Homeowners

Designed for borrowers who are under water with their mortgage but can afford a new one insured by the Federal Housing Administration, the new program will insure up to $300 billion of refinanced, troubled mortgages into 30-year, fixed-rate loans.

A new mortgage cannot be more than 90 percent of a home’s new appraised value, meaning lenders must agree to write down a portion of the loan and the new mortgage amount can’t exceed $550,440.

The catch? Lender participation is totally voluntary. The other potential hitch is that if the loan in question carried a piggyback loan, any subordinate lender would have to agree to release their lien on the property.

Call the existing lender or a new lender to see if you qualify. The program runs through Sept. 30, 2011.

FHA Secure

The year-old program offers FHA-insured mortgages to borrowers who are either current or delinquent on their non-FHA adjustable-rate mortgage. The loan-to-value ratio of the new loan depends on how many payments were missed so a gap loan may be necessary. Delinquencies must have occurred because of payment shock associated with an interest rate reset or the recasting of an Option ARM.

If you don’t currently qualify, stay tuned. The federal government is considering extending the end date of the program, now Dec. 31, and may also expand the program’s eligibility to include borrowers with fixed-rate mortgages, Burns said.

A list of approved FHA lenders is available at www.hud.gov/ll/code/llslcrit.cfm.

Hope Now

The national private partnership of housing counselors, mortgage servicers and investors was established to assist borrowers who are afraid to call their lender directly or don’t know where to turn for assistance. Callers to the hotline, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, receive help in contacting their mortgage servicer or an appropriate housing counselor. The phone number is 1-888-995-HOPE.

Illinois Statewide Foreclosure Prevention Network

The state program offers counseling to families and works with lenders to refinance borrowers into 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages that carry interest rates of 5 to 8 percent, closing costs of less than $1,000 and no prepayment penalties.

Typical participants have a credit score of at least 590 and while they have kept up with their payments, an interest-rate adjustment is, or would, make the mortgage unaffordable. For more information, call 1-877-793-3470.

Local housing advocacy groups

Many local groups work directly with lenders on behalf of troubled borrowers to modify the terms of mortgages.

Another plus of contacting your local group: Some mortgage servicers and lenders have given counseling agencies a better set of phone numbers so it’s easier to reach a decision-maker. Some agencies also operate their own aid programs, so it pays to ask. For instance, in July the Northwest Side Housing Center began piloting an effort to provide troubled borrowers with “gap” loans of up to $50,000 that cover the difference between a refinanced loan and the loan it is replacing.

The first piece outlines Chase’s plan to halt new foreclosure filings for the next 90 days or so. The second examines their plan to expand their mortgage-modification program. Some program specifics:

In addition to Chase loans, the program will also be offered to customers with loans held by Washington Mutual Inc. and EMC. JPMorgan acquired Washington Mutual last month after the bank became the largest in the nation’s history to fail. EMC was a mortgage unit of Bear Stearns Cos., which JPMorgan acquired in February…

JPMorgan’s enhanced program will include the opening of 24 regional counseling centers, the hiring of 300 additional loan counselors, new financing alternatives, reaching out to borrowers with pre-qualified modification terms and a new process to independently review each loan before it is moved into foreclosure.

The latest: The Brixton Group has partnered with designer Matt Lorenz, winner of Bravo TV’s “Top Design” competition in 2007, to offer his services to buyers at its C/A 23 condo development at 23 N. Aberdeen St. Anyone who buys one of the building’s 48 units through the end of January will get a $30,000 allowance that can be applied to the designer’s fee and any furnishings the buyer chooses in consultation with him.