When is the best time to buy a home? first time buyer completely lost
trying to figure out when the best time to buy a home is because i keep getting contradicting advice from literally everyone. i'm in the US (colorado) and been renting for 6 years now paying $1,800 a month which feels like just dropping my money in the trash bin lol but every time i look at buying something the numbers scare me off.
my parents keep saying to just buy now because "you're throwing money away on rent" but they bought their house in 1998 for like $140k and it's worth $500k now so they don’t really understand my struggle.
i talked to a mortgage broker last month and she said fall and winter are technically better for buying because there's less competition and sellers are more motivated. but then my coworker who just bought in january said he overpaid because there was barely any inventory and he had no options. so less competition but also less to choose from?
i ran the numbers and with my salary ($78k) and about $35k saved for a down payment i could technically afford something around $350k.
has anyone bought recently in a similar price range and salary and actually felt comfortable with the payments? and is timing the market even worth stressing over or should i just buy when i find something i like and can afford?