Buying near the bottom?

Only time will tell if our market timing strategies are brilliant or couldn't be worse. We have our eyes on a late 1800's camelback in Faubourg Marigny, or in Bywater, apparently, depending on whether you are looking at historic districts or some other kind of district. In fact, we have discovered what many of you already know, that there are multiple types of districts for any one address. The market is slow in New Orleans right now, and not very healthy on a national level. One interesting fact is that Louisiana is not one of the states expected to be hit badly by the sub-prime mortgage debacle. In a way it makes sense, we did not have speculation running rampant here like in other places. So, the local dynamics are somewhat disassociated from the national picture, although there is always an interplay between them.

We hope that we are buying near the bottom, and that if things get worse before they get better, that in the long term we will find that we bought near the bottom, although possibly still on the downslope. We looked all over the "sliver by the river" before settling on this one. It was hard to find an older house at a good price that still had it's charm intact, on a decent street, and not needing major work. Not facing a parking lot or a welding shop. I was interested to buy in the Lusher school district but the lure of the Marigny won out. Now we have the space to spend more time here without falling over toys everywhere. The backyard is a bit smaller than I would prefer, and it has no off-street parking. But there is both a front porch and a great second story balcony on the back, the woodwork inside has never been painted, and the kitchen was completely remodeled and updated in recent years. We are looking forward to sitting on that porch and watching life go by, as soon and as frequently as possible.