...1)Buying for the short term: With home prices at the national level expected to continue declining throughout most of next year at least, 2009 won't be a good time to try to turn a quick buck in the real estate market. Many homes that are purchased in 2009 will lose value in the short term. And although they are likely to recover that value when the market rebounds, it remains unclear just when home prices will bounce back. "If you're not planning on living in that house for more than three to five years, I wouldn't buy anything right now," says Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. "Nobody knows what is going to happen to prices over the next few years." So if you're going to buy real estate in 2009, you're better off buying a home that you plan to live in for a long time, rather than as a short-term investment property...
