Compare mortgage payments to rents in your area. When you own, you pay property tax and all repairs as well.

Buy now, interest rates are going to be 10% or higher sooner than you can imagine. Then when the inflation skyrockets and your income catches up in a decade you can pay your house off really fucking fast.

Hyperinflation is underway.

For what it is worth, the only protected weimar republic middle class germans were the ones who owned property.

Every other wealth was stolen

See if you qualify for a USDA home loans for "agricultural development program" you don't have to get a house in the country or on a farm. Just need o be in a county that qualifies, have a decent credit score, and be in a certain wage bracket. 0% down payment to become home owner. Just need escrow, closing costs, inspection fees. Stuff like that

Just don't buy more house than you can afford. Think about the max you want to pay a month then deduct 300 or so from that to save for repairs, maintenance and improvements. No matter how good the inspection reports look.

A secluded cabin you can alter to be off-grid? Maybe. Otherwise I'd rent, and maybe buy something in another country. Here property can easily be stolen/confiscated....the checks and balances are nearly gone....and in a commie coup, what little protections remain are cast aside.

I'm gonna get hate for this, doesn't mean it's incorrect:

Property is a liability. Why? If you don't pay on it (mortgage to the bank, taxes to the city/county/state), it's taken from you. That means if hard times come, all the money you've put into it can be wiped out. Ask the folks who tried to sell in 2009 if their property made or lost them money (I lost about $50k myself, bought for $280 sold for $230). this doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, just be Educated. Warren Buffet has stated that buying his house was probably the worst financial decision he's made, but it had payoffs in other places (quality of life). It's worth understanding that this current up-trend is most likely the upswing correction from 2008~9 (and not a bubble that's about to burst).

Buying now or later is a personal decision. Some think the market is ripe for a crash, some think it's going to do nothing but go up, others think it'll be somewhere in the middle (I'm there ~ expect a fair number of banked owned, but they'll come at a trickle as the courts of overwhelmed and slow down, plus there are plenty of active buyers looking). I'd suggest looking for the Right property for you and being prepared to move when it shows up (have a home inspect located, a mortgage broker/bank/credit union lined up, etc... looking for these After you've found a property adds needless stress). How to handle the money depends 100% on the lender. I'm very much against 30 year fixed as they just never seem to be the smartest option. My last loan was a 10:1 ARM that had a 15 year payoff time. The total loan payback on that was HALF of a 30 year fixed, same loan amount. So ASK about different options, understand them. Small banks and credit unions will usually have the most flexible loans (the ARM was a small bank, this was an in-house loan product). Another benefit of a small bank/CU is that they're less likely to sell your loan (and all of your financial information) to someone else. I went through that one time, the spam was incredible. Ask about principle-only payments (some lenders allow this, some will apply "extra" payments to interest first ~ better to be principle only as it reduces the interest), go out of your way to make extra payments every year... if you're foolish enough to give the Gov free money (get a tax refund), then use this... if you're smart enough to not give them anything extra then you should be smart enough to work out how to pay a little extra on a mortgage.

It's not always smartest to buy, urban areas tend to be a dumb place to buy. The best money tends to be in properties that need work, the more work needed, the fewer people looking to buy and the bigger the discount. My best buy was a high end house from 1930, Gov foreclosure so first rights to owner-occupants (knocked out the flippers and developers), had a fair bit of damage from neglect so it wasn't move-in ready and that scared off most other buyers. It was my 4th house, and I'm an experienced DIYer so I could do the work for materials cost only... ended up spending About the same in materials as I did for the property, but spread out over a couple years (took about 5 months of busting my ass till I moved in).

If you cant get it in full in cash dont buy wait for the collapse and rebirth. When the commies finish with us anything you get is a blessing sinc3 theyre going take your shit anyways

Housing market is overdue for correction. You'll be able to buy a recently built foreclosure in a year or so, if you're still employed.

On the flipside, if you buy now you may be able to keep it despite being 'under water' on the valuation once hyperinflation really takes off.