Here's a column from today's St. Petersburg Times:

It's a terrible time to buy a home, the naysayers claim. They cite the uncertain job market, the threat of further home price declines, the plundering of retirement accounts.

At the risk of raining brimstone on my head, I'll take the opposite view. Home buyers enjoy three discounts that might not survive 2009: a foreclosure discount, a tax credit discount and an interest rate discount.

Let's start with a typical $180,000, three-bedroom, two-bath home for sale in almost any city or suburb around the region.

Foreclosure houses — repossessed by the bank or soon to arrive at that dismal destination — have been selling for about 75 percent of the price of regular homes. The market is rich with such bargains. So let's take 25 percent — or $45,000 — off the top of that $180,000 home. That makes $135,000.

We'll move on to the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers. The government defines that as someone who hasn't owned a primary residence in the past three years. And the beauty of the tax credit is that you won't have to pay it back. But to get the $8,000 you have to buy a house by Dec. 1.

Take that $8,000 off the $135,000. We're down to $127,000. So far, so good.

We still haven't added in the interest discount. Rates have fallen to historic lows. This week you could get a 30-year fixed mortgage for about 5.2 percent, as long as your credit's good and your job pays enough. That's a point lower than rates from 2006, when Tampa Bay area home prices peaked. Economists predict rates will rise next year as the economy recovers.

Shaving off that point saves you about $1,000 a year on your loan. Assume you'll live in the house six years. That's close to the average stay in these parts. That's an additional $6,000 to subtract.

So that's $180,000, minus $45,000 for the foreclosure discount, minus $8,000 for the tax credit discount, minus $6,000 for the interest rate discount.

Our home price is down to $121,000, a tad below the Tampa Bay area's median sales price for January.

Not a bad deal.