The housing market may be a little rough right now, but that just means a great opportunity to buy or many would-be homeowners. Thousands of people that have been renters for years are quickly finding that their rental payments are closing in on the cost of a mortgage payment, meaning that now could be a great time to make the switch and start building equity. Meanwhile, the many desperate sellers are willing to lower prices well below their asking price in order to seal a deal and get much-needed money. In the end, those who are on the fence about buying a house may want to take a close look now while rates are low and prices are even lower!

From SmartMoney:
INDIFFERENT TO THE bleak real estate headlines, 26-year-old Michael Klauer and his fiancée recently bought a two-bedroom condo in the desirable Lake View neighborhood in Chicago. They weren't in a rush to buy, but when an opportunity presented itself only a month after they started looking, they jumped on it. The apartment, listed at $519,000, was theirs for only $480,000 — an initial offer they didn't back down from, even though they knew the seller had bought the place 10 months earlier for $512,000. Factoring in the broker's fee and sales taxes, the seller lost more than $44,000 on that deal, according to the couple's realtor, Jay Michael, owner of the Estate Property Group in Chicago.