Who's spinning whom?

Not only is real estate local -- it's completely individualized to the buyer's and seller's own financial and other life situations. Today may be a great time for Jane Doe to buy but a terrible time for Jane Doe's sister to buy, regardless of where each lives.

Of course, our readers already know this, having worked side by side with all sorts of buyers and sellers over the years.

The differing points of view on today's market and the $6 million question, "Is now the right time to buy"?" are still fascinating.

On Thursday, Inman News published a letter to the editor responding to an article written by Dian Hymer, "Is buying a home today a good investment?" Hymer is a veteran agent in the San Francisco East Bay and has been writing a syndicated column for Inman News for many years.

In her latest installment, Hymer ponders this question she gets from today's buyers and advises:

"Buying a home is still a good investment if you can afford it, if you are ready to put down roots in a community, and if you want to invest in your personal happiness. Profit potential shouldn't be your only reason for buying a home, even though in most cases your home will appreciate in value if you maintain it and if you own it long enough.

"The housing market, like any economic market, is cyclical. There are periods of robust activity followed by periods of sluggishness. Prices can go down as well as up. Now that the market has softened in most areas, it's time to look at owning your home as a way to gain control over your personal domain -- not as a source of quick cash."

One reader, Erik Gartzke, an associate political science professor at the University of California in San Diego, who likely caught Hymer's article in his local newspaper, strongly disagreed.

"By any reasonable measure (expected trends in prices, the ratio of rents to mortgage payments, the ratio of incomes to mortgage payments), now is a phenomenally and historically BAD time to buy. Smart buyers will wait until smart sellers lower prices to conform to reasonable income multiples.

He continues: "This is just wrong. All of the reasons to buy are made better by waiting a year or two (or more) for prices to fall. By definition, an "investment" is something that will appreciate in price or pay a dividend. Neither is expected to be true in the next few years for housing."

As you can imagine, readers who were paying attention wrote in to rebut.

Jay Barnes, a Realtor with Keller Williams in New Bern, N.C., said:

"For Professor Gartzke to make a sweeping statement like, 'this is a historically BAD time to buy a house,' is simply wrong. It's like saying that the economy will never get better again – of course it will. Have we hit bottom yet? Who knows? And in real estate, it depends. In some areas of the country, prices never fell (NC Mountain area.) In others, prices have bottomed and are expected to rise this coming year (NC Outer Banks.) There are good values to be had in various parts of the country right now; mortgages are still low but may rise, inventories are strong – offering better choices and incentives.

"Certainly, some areas of the country may not have hit bottom yet, and Southern California’s market will be complicated by the recent tragedy of the fires. But it's statements like the professor's that further illustrate why a buyer needs a Realtor, not just a salesperson. Dian Hymer’s point is very well made. There are many reasons to buy property. But far and away, the primary one is still as a principle residence."

And Bill Fooks, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Coventry, R.I., said:

"You should always buy based on your income stream, not on some 'magical mortgage' product. We have undisciplined lenders lending to undisciplined buyers. We are now experiencing the results of this. In the process, the people who live in these houses, and are being forced out because of foreclosures, will still need a place to live. This will slowly push rents up, which in turn will have people thinking of buying again."

One positive outcome of this downturn surely will be a return to seeing a house as a primary residence and a way to take control of your personal domain, as Hymer points out. One could argue that the rampant behavior of spec buyers, flippers, spec builders, and those cashing in on their homes like ATMs that contributed to this downturn in the first place. (This leaves out the subprime meltdown and associated headaches, which we know have their place in this blame too.)

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