I would say if you can afford the house, then do it. Yes, the housing market is depressed right now. Honestly, who knows exactly when the market will bottom out. It could be right now.

Just as investing in stocks goes, unless you know more than anyone else about when things will turn around or bottom, don't try to perfectly time the market.

What's better buying a home while it's still cheap, or buying when you've waited too long and prices have already gone up?

Real estate is not cheap, and is actually severely overpriced. Calling real estate cheap when in many US locations prices now are still 60-70% over the prices in 2000, people have more debt that they can afford to carry, and economy is in recession is just plain wrong.

Yep I'd certainly be considering the investment were I in your shoes. If you think the house is cheap, or more to the point if you can afford it, then get it!

I agree...I would think if you can afford it and the price is right...Go for it.

Take a look at what he is asking you to pay for the property, then take a look at what your income is, and then what percentage of your monthly income it will cost for you to make a monthly mortgage payment. Make sure its less than forty percent.

Then I would never invest in a property unless it could generate me a 10% profit if I had to rent it out (thats after you pay the mortgage and misc expenses). So if you notice rent for a similar property in your area is 10% or more than your monthly mortgage payments would be than I would say buy. If not, try to negotiate a deal with him. But this is a iffy situation, since he is a friend of yours. Good luck!

Another thing to consider is your ability to even get decent financing on investment properties as time goes on. I have been working in lending for six years and every week brings even tighter guidelines. For example, you cannot get a conventional or FHA loan on a new home purchase as a primary residence if you currently own a home that does not have equity. This is good in the long run because it at least slows down some of the "buy and bail" problems, but it makes it difficult for legitimate investors of course.

I definitely think it is a good time to start investing if you have the money. Try seeing what the current value of the home is compared to what he wants to sell it for. Obviously if he is selling it for below current market value it would be a good time to invest if you want to hold onto the property for a number of years.

You could also always rent it out while you wait for the economy to pick back up.