Why Would You Want To Sell When The Sky Is Falling?

November 20, 2008

Are you crazy? Are you so flush with money that you don’t mind giving away $20,000 or $30,000 of your equity? I almost said “hard-earned” equity – but for most of us who’ve bought in the last 10 years, we didn’t have to do much other than sit back and watch our home appreciate. But however we’ve earned the equity, it doesn’t seem on the surface to be a good idea to sell right now.

But what if I told you that by giving away $20,000 I’ll give you back $30,000? You’ve now netted $10,000. Sounds a bit better now, doesn’t it? You’re continuing to earn equity the “easy” way – even in this different market.

Let’s say that you own a house that a few years ago was valued at $200,000 – up 30% from when you bought in 1999. Unfortunately prices have dropped in your area so now your home is only worth $180,000 – down $20,000 from 3 years ago. Ouch! It’s no good wishing you’d sold then – that window of opportunity has already passed. But if you have a stable job in an industry that appears to be weathering the economic downturn fairly well, then you might want to consider taking advantage of lower prices on larger homes. If you’ve had to drop your price 10%, then larger, more expensive homes will have to drop their price also. A home that would have cost $300,000 two years ago may now be listed for $270,000.

Then add in the monthly savings of an incredibly low interest rate (I just spoke to a Mortgage rep and he told me as of December 30, 30 year mortgage rates are holding at between the high 4% and mid 5% range. Fifteen year rates are slightly lower at 4.75%.) So what does this mean to your bottom line? For many, the cost is only a couple of hundred dollars more a month for a much bigger comfortable home. Only you can do your calculate what the cost of moving into a more spacious home would be. If I were looking to move up, and my long-term employment seemed secure, I’d definitely be looking now!

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Local Information for Gilbert, AZ

Latitude: 33.344439 -- Longitude: -111.762411

Other Area Cities: Chandler Gilbert Mesa Tempe Queen Creek Higley Sun Lakes

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Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. Gilbert was the fastest-growing incorporated place of over 100,000 people in the United States from 1990 to 2000, as well as in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Census estimates. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 109,697, but as of July, 2004, a Census estimate put the fast-growing suburb's population at just over 156,000, a growth of more than 46,000 people or 42% over the four-year period. The 2005 mid-decade Census survey placed the estimated population for the town at 173,072. Although it is large and growing rapidly, Gilbert is still incorporated as a town rather than as a city; it has the highest population of any area incorporated as a town in the United States (and the second largest in North America, after Markham, Ontario, Canada), and as of the 2000 census was the only town with more than 100,000 people. Gilbert was also the fastest-growing place among all cities and towns in Arizona. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Arizona 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Gilbert	Arizona	United States
Population	109,697	5,130,632	281,421,906
Median age	30.1	34.2	35.3
Median age for Male	30	32.9	34
Median age for Female	30.3	35.5	36.5
Households	35,405	1,901,327	105,480,101
Household population	109,631	5,020,782	273,643,273
Average household size	3.1	2.64	2.59
Families	28,915	1,287,367	71,787,347
Average family size	3.42	3.18	3.14
Housing units	37,007	2,189,189	115,904,641
Occupied units	35,405	1,901,327	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,602	287,862	10,424,540

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