Everybody knows that the housing market is in terrible shape these days. Depending on who you listen to, there are plenty of people to blame. The bottom line is that after several years of increasing prices, houses have dropped in value, and nobody seems to know where the bottom will be.

People who bought houses a few years ago could sit back and watch the value shoot through the roof. It wasn't uncommon for people to see the value of their homes double in five or ten years. People were taking out second mortgages and buying all kinds of things. Then the bottom fell out.

One thing that is very common today is negative equity. This is when you owe more money on your home than it's worth. That makes selling it virtually impossible. You can keep paying off your mortgage, until your equity turns positive, or you can hope that the housing market recovers, and the value of your home goes back up.

A few years ago, buying a house was an easy decision. You were almost guaranteed that your home would increase in value. But now, nobody can be sure. Nobody wants to sign a thirty year loan for something that may depreciate in value. So if you are considering buying a house, what should you do?

One thing to do is decide how long you think you'll be in the area. If you plan on moving to a different city, or if you think you may need a bigger house later on, then maybe you should wait. But if you think you'll be living there for a while, you may have nothing to worry about.

If you can't buy a house, what should you do? Renting an apartment, or even a house is a decent idea. You won't have any capital tied up, and you can pounce if the housing market suddenly takes a turn for the better.

If you're the kind of person that moves around a lot, then buying a house is probably not the best idea in this financial climate. Renting would probably be better. If you feel like you'll be sticking around for a while, then you can certainly buy a house without anything to worry about.

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