Michael Corbett's House-Hunting Tips: Is It Safe to Buy a Home Now?

This week's tip:

Buying a home right now is "safer, saner and smarter." The thought of jumping into home ownership today can be frightening, but despite the tremendous up-and-down swing of home prices in the past decade, buying a home is still one of the best long-term investments you can make.

Corbett says, "After the explosion of poor decisions, overspending, and badly structured mortgage programs, the smoke has cleared to reveal a new market of real estate standards and practices that provide a safer, more secure, and healthier climate for homebuyers and homeowners."

There are now many new consumer-protecting safeguards in place -- and lenders are adhering to much-needed regulations when offering mortgages. With low prices, great interest rates, incentives and new consumer-protecting safeguards in place, this year presents a perfect storm of buying opportunity. It allows for something that the real estate market has not seen in a decade: home affordability.