When Is It a Good Time to Buy 2026: What to Tell Borrowers Who Are on the Fence

Borrowers waiting for the perfect time to buy have been waiting since 2022. Rates are not at their historic lows. Prices have not crashed. MLOs who know how to reframe this conversation win more deals. The right framework is not market timing. It is personal readiness and the cost-of-waiting math.

The Cost-of-Waiting Calculation

If rent is $2,500 per month and a borrower waits 12 months for rates to drop 0.5%, they spend $30,000 in rent with no equity accumulation. Meanwhile, a home they were considering appreciated 4% during that same period. On a $400,000 home, that appreciation is $16,000. The cost of waiting is $46,000 in combined rent paid and appreciation missed, minus the interest savings from the lower rate. Run this math with every fence-sitter client.

The Refinance Solution

• ✦Date the rate, marry the house: buy now and refinance when rates drop
• ✦Break-even on a refinance at a 0.75% rate reduction: typically 18 to 24 months
• ✦A borrower who plans to stay 5 or more years is almost always better off buying now and refinancing later than continuing to rent
• ✦Rate buydowns including 2-1 and 3-2-1 structures can create an effective lower payment in the first years while waiting for market rate relief

Qualifying Personal Readiness

The right time to buy is when income is stable, credit is optimized, debt is manageable, and the down payment is funded. Market conditions are secondary to personal readiness. A borrower who waits for the perfect rate but adds $10,000 in new credit card debt during the wait may not qualify when rates finally improve. Help clients build toward readiness during the wait rather than leaving them idle and uncommitted.