Hi @Eric Samuels, I would say get started now if it's a primary residence and you have the down payment for it. It sounds like you need to figure out some logistics with your job between the LA vs Philly situation. I would assume you'll find a property much more affordable within the Philly market, but with $20K you could roughly get up to $400K property with 5% down using a conventional loan or higher if you went with an FHA 3.5% down. That is all dependent on what your W2 income is and what you'd qualify for though. As for whether to try to time the market, I don't think anyone on BP can accurately tell you that. I will say that rates are the lowest they've been historically and likely won't stay at these levels for long, so I'd lock in a low owner occupant rate now while you can. Let's take both scenarios:
Scenario #1 - buy now with low rates
$400k property @ 3% interest = ~$1,690/monthly payment; requires $20K @ 5% down
Scenario #2 - wait for a hypothetical 20% market correction in 2 years (let's also assume rates increased 2% over this time)
$320K property @5% interest = ~$1,718/ monthly payment ($30/month difference); requires $16K @ 5% down
Over this 2 years, you'd also lose out on the benefits of owning real estate (loan paydown, cashflow from other unit rentals).