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 Scottsdale, AZ

Latitude: 33.590709 -- Longitude: -111.895985

Other Area Cities: Carefree Scottsdale Phoenix Mesa Paradise Valley Tempe Fountain Hills

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Scottsdale is a satellite city of Phoenix in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. Named by the New York Times as "The Beverly Hills of the Desert,"[1] Scottsdale has become internationally recognized as a premiere (and posh) tourist destination, while maintaining its own identity and culture as "The West's Most Western Town." However, despite this motto, in the 1970's, most horse corral new construction was prohibited. It seems that repairs are permitted on old corrals. What had, in the twentieth century, been vacant desert, is vastly converted to either urban &/or suburban environment. As of the 2000 census, the city is the 82nd largest city in the United States, with a population of 202,705. The most recent census estimate (2005) is 234,752, an increase of 15.8%.[2] -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Arizona 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Scottsdale	Arizona	United States
Population	202,705	5,130,632	281,421,906
Median age	41	34.2	35.3
Median age for Male	39.5	32.9	34
Median age for Female	42.4	35.5	36.5
Households	90,669	1,901,327	105,480,101
Household population	201,028	5,020,782	273,643,273
Average household size	2.22	2.64	2.59
Families	54,458	1,287,367	71,787,347
Average family size	2.79	3.18	3.14
Housing units	104,974	2,189,189	115,904,641
Occupied units	90,669	1,901,327	105,480,101
Vacant units	14,305	287,862	10,424,540

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