Today might be an ideal time to buy a home. Bill Basic has seen this time come around maybe three times in the past 25 years. The long time homebuilder and president of the SouthWest Suburban Homebuilders Association ticks off the key points:

* Interest rates are at historic lows.

* Mortgage money is available to qualified buyers.

* Rising rents are roughly equal to monthly mortgage payments.

* Prices are stable.

* Builders are holding off price increases even though their own costs are still rising.

* Many are offering incentives such as free upgrades on inventory homes they need to sell.

It is THE single biggest wish in the American dream of home ownership: the “buyer’s market.”

Full Story: Available on Search Chicago

Last week I published the the stories of three recent home-buyers, and one of them was brave enough (masochistic enough?) to offer a more detailed account of her decision to ignore the  comments on this blog and buy a house. Milla Goldenberg, who writes the blog Milla Times, on finding a home in L.A. for $400,000.

* Full Story: Available on LA Times

Richard Kent Green, a professor of real estate, finance and economics at George Washington University, looked at renting vs. buying when he decided where to live. Green said the active rental market in the Washington area can help you find a rental property to compare with a potential purchase. The key is that the properties are comparable in size, neighborhood, age and all other factors.

For Green, the magic number is six at current interest rates.

Here’s what that means: Find a rental property that’s comparable to the property you’re thinking of buying. Figure out how much it costs to rent annually; if the rent is $2,500 a month, you’re spending $30,000 a year, or 6 percent of $500,000.  So by Green’s math, if the house costs $500,000 or less, it’s a decent bet.

* Full Story: Available on Washington Post

Although the worldwide real estate market is softening as credit reservoirs dry, some spots are poised for growth.

To find them, we looked at economic expansion, inflation rates, strength of individual property rights and access to lending in emerging markets, to examine housing conditions in capital cities and business centers. These markets are not expected to explode in value in the next six to 12 months, but in the next five years, they will likely have proved to be worthy investments.

* Full Story: Available on Forbes

Almost everyone has a notion of their dream home, their personal showplace. Unfortunately, reality dictates that most of us will buy and sell a number of homes before getting there. And both the buying and selling of homes can be sheer torture. Play your cards wrong and even living in a house can be torture, as the roof starts to leak and the basement starts to flood and your lousy neighbors never mow their lawn.

To make the buying, selling, and living easy (or easier), Gerri Willis has written the new book Home Rich, which gives you all you need to know to be happy and not sad when it comes to your home choices and transactions.

* Full Story: Available on Zen Personal Finance

There’s roulette and there’s skydiving. Then there’s investing in Detroit and Cleveland real estate. That’s especially risky because those markets are in freefall. Lenders have fled, foreclosures are on the rise, homes aren’t selling and local economies have stalled.

Given the state of the country’s housing market, it wasn’t hard to find others like them. To do so, Forbes.com looked at the country’s 40 largest metros and combined data on foreclosures, from RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing service.

* Full Story: Available on Forbes

Everyone likes a bargain. So it’s no surprise that as home prices fall in many markets, those who have been priced out of owning a home are beginning to take notice.

And some in the real-estate industry are saying that factors are aligning to make this a good time for first-time buyers to be in the market because they don’t have to face the challenge of selling a home to buy another.

* Full Story: Available on  Columbia Tribune

Property sharks looking to take advantage of local housing slumps are doing their best to time the market, searching for the precise moment when prices bottom out before taking a bite.

They’d be smart to look for markets where job growth is strong, foreclosures are relatively low and inventory is high. With these factors in place, buyers can still dictate terms of sale and negotiate prices, but aren’t as exposed to the economic and lending risk problems that have sunk many markets around the country.

* Full Story: Available on Forbes

Despite the housing slump, most middle income workers still don’t earn enough to buy a median-priced home in their hometowns, according to the Center for Housing Policy.

The center, an arm of the affordable housing advocacy group of the National Housing Conference (NHC), compared housing costs in 201 metro areas with the median wages in those areas for 60 major vocations, such as police, firemen and teachers.

* Full Story: Available on CNN Money

The housing crunch and the excessive inventory–exceeding 10 months on resale homes–continues to take its toll on housing prices. But over the long term, housing is still a good investment. In fact, it’s more than an investment; it’s a home. Plus, you’re not really saving anything by renting, as the costs of renting and owning are about equal (well, owning may be a little more). The tax benefits of home ownership far outweigh renting, too. With good housing prices in many great areas, this may indeed be the time to buy.

* Full story: Available on Entrepreneur.com