In today's market, is it better to overpay or wait?

[Cameron Phillips]

Seems as if everything in the market is over priced, going under contract within a day or being purchased for over asking. I'm a firm believer of winners win and losers lose; but im curious, can a home be a good investment if I am overpaying for it from the start?

[David Da Silva]

Are you looking to buy and hold or flip?

Flips definitely limit your ability with profit if the market is expensive. 

If you buy and hold, the focus is primarily on cash flow. Prices are up, but rates are at a record low. High interest compounds much more than a high principal so the monthly is still lower with a lower rate. 

Also knowing what your target price is helps big time. I noticed that multi-families in my area that costed 400-500k in 2016 and are now in the 500-600k range. With that said the 600-700k range is more expensive, but it hasn't increased as much in value even though the rents overall have increased dramatically for those types of properties ($6k+ for a 3 bed 2 bath unit x 2 Units). This means that although more expensive, there's significantly less competition for higher priced properties but the cashflow potential is higher as well.

It all comes down to the #s. I'd rather buy high and make a lot on cash flow than to sit idly trying to time the market.

Hope this helps