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 Oregon City, OR

Latitude: 45.347393 -- Longitude: -122.597879

Other Area Cities: Oregon City Canby Central Point Gladstone Lake Oswego Milwaukie Oak Grove Tigard Tualatin West Linn Wilsonville Beaverton Troutdale Portland Gresham Clackamas

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Oregon City is the first city in the United States incorporated west of the Rockies. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,754; the 2006 estimate has the population at 29,540. The city's motto is Urbs civitatis nostrae prima et mater (First and mothertown of our state), as seen on the city's seal. Known in recent decades as the site of several large paper mills on the Willamette River, the city played a significant role in the early history of the Oregon Country. It was established by Dr. John McLoughlin in 1829 near the confluence of the Clackamas River with the Willamette to take advantage of the power of Willamette Falls to run a lumber mill. During the 1840s and 1850s it was the destination for those wanting to file land claims after traveling the Oregon Trail as the last stop on the trail. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Oregon 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Oregon City	Oregon	United States
Population	25,754	3,421,399	281,421,906
Median age	32.7	36.3	35.3
Median age for Male	31.6	35.1	34
Median age for Female	33.9	37.5	36.5
Households	9,471	1,333,723	105,480,101
Household population	24,851	3,343,908	273,643,273
Average household size	2.62	2.51	2.59
Families	6,669	877,671	71,787,347
Average family size	3.06	3.02	3.14
Housing units	10,110	1,452,709	115,904,641
Occupied units	9,471	1,333,723	105,480,101
Vacant units	639	118,986	10,424,540

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