MOLI VIEW™

Is it a good time to buy a house? The economy is volatile — if you trust the stock market as a valid indicator. But there is a huge inventory of brand-new houses and condominiums that have yet to be sold and occupied, an equally large number of resale homes that haven't attracted buyers, and a growing inventory of foreclosures.

If you don't own a residence yet or are looking to trade up, it's certainly worth considering. But prices may go down even more, so what do you do right now?

Get your proverbial ducks in a row.

How much money are you currently spending on housing? That figure includes your rent or current mortgage payment, association or condo fees, parking (if you have to pay for it), and whatever extra property taxes and insurance you pay. Ideally, when added up, you should be spending no more than 30 percent of your income on housing — and that includes your partner or spouse's income, too.

That amount is what you can afford to spend right now. If you anticipate a raise (or pay cut) or intend to change jobs (or your company is doing poorly), take those factors into consideration, too. You don't want to move into a new place and then lose it because you're broke! You also want to get the best (not the bigest) place you can afford.

You're probably going to need a mortgage, and your bank or lending institution will be running a credit check on you, too, so be proactive and order your own free credit report — a really free one, not the one they advertise in commercials, which is not exactly free. You can examine it to make sure that there's nothing funky in there like evidence of identity theft, or debts that you already paid off but are still reported as being open. You then should apply to get pre-qualified for your mortgage, so you'll know what you can spend.

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