Housing Carry Costs are the key

I have been thinking about how people decide whether to buy a home or wait. Most people are waiting until the market bottoms out and others are buying because they need too.

Not so many years ago, I remember telling my agent I don't care so much for what they are selling the house for, but care much more about being able to make the mortgage payment. So, I believe we need to start telling our clients that it isn't so much about the price of the home as it is the carrying costs.

Price is an abstract number, unless someone is paying cash, of course. What matters is the monthly carrying cost, which is a function of price, mortgage interest rates, and local property tax rates. Buyers should really concentrate on how much a month it would cost them to buy a home.