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 Burlingame, CA

Latitude: 37.583235 -- Longitude: -122.363691

Other Area Cities: Half Moon Bay Atherton Daly City Foster City Millbrae San Carlos San Mateo Menlo Park Palo Alto Burlingame

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Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for many surviving examples of Victorian architecture and its high residential quality of life. Burlingame was settled by wealthy San Franciscans looking for a better climate for their second homes, but industrial growth was spurred in the 1960s and 1970s by proximity to the San Francisco International Airport, generating airline support services growth near the U.S. Route 101 corridor. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Burlingame had a population of 28,158. Burlingame is located at 37°34'60?N, 122°21'49?W (37.583235, -122.363691). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.6 km² (6.0 mi²). 11.2 km² (4.3 mi²) of it is land and 4.4 km² (1.7 mi²) of it (28.19%) is water. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

California 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Burlingame	California	United States
Population	28,158	33,871,648	281,421,906
Median age	38.4	33.3	35.3
Median age for Male	37.2	32.2	34
Median age for Female	39.6	34.4	36.5
Households	12,511	11,502,870	105,480,101
Household population	27,672	33,051,894	273,643,273
Average household size	2.21	2.87	2.59
Families	6,954	7,920,049	71,787,347
Average family size	2.93	3.43	3.14
Housing units	12,869	12,214,549	115,904,641
Occupied units	12,511	11,502,870	105,480,101
Vacant units	358	711,679	10,424,540

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