For us, we bought in 2007 after my wife was laid off. Doesn't everyone buy a second home right after losing an income
.
The fortunate(?) part for us is I was able to continue working remotely for a company in Lexington, MA and I still do today (I actually like it).
I do not think I would have bought a home if I could not have moved here (snow birds at the time). It is s personal thing, you have to look at how much you will use it, are you willing to rent to offset costs, etc. and compare that to the cost of ownership. Now speculate what it will cost for a similar home in five years.
Personally I would
bank the money, rent in TV until I was closer then invest.
Someone else mentioned Zillow (Zestimate I assume?) and here is approximate value of my home. There are two numbers listed with each date which I find interesting:
Year: My home, The Villages average
2007: $232,000, $254,000 Purchase
2009: $188,000, $196,000 Low point
Now: $248,000, $246,000
Who knows how accurate that is, but I guess my gut feel is that prices will remain stable as there is always inventory, so unless I could find the perfect house, I would wait...
Now matter what you decide, good luck!
PS. We are full timers now, as owning two homes seperated by 1500 miles was expensive and a pain.