I'm following this with interest!
We had been hoping to buy a house this spring or summer.
It's been a little weird.
We wanted to get in on the current low interest rates. But so did everyone else, so there's tons of demand, and the banks aren't actually lowering rates as much as you might think. And systems seem swamped -- it was hard to even get through to the Equifax web site today.
Once we are pre-approved for a mortgage, we will want to check out houses, including in a rural area a few hours away from here. But should we be traveling? Riding around with a realtor, going into strangers' homes? What would be best from an etiquette and public health standpoint?
If the market is stalled now, should we wait a couple of months when there are more houses available? Will the prices be lower?
Our current landlord wants to know by May whether we will be staying or leaving. So I'd like to have the future figured out by then, but we might have to say yea or nay without really knowing our next step.
There's just so much uncertainty and strangeness about the whole process now.
One thing I am REALLY grateful for is the fact that we kept our down-payment nest egg out of the stock market.