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 Chattanooga, TN

Latitude: 35.045473 -- Longitude: -85.267255

Other Area Cities: Ooltewah Soddy-Daisy Chattanooga Signal Mountain East Ridge Red Bank Harrison Middle Valley Estates Hixson Collegedale

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Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in Tennessee and the seat of Hamilton County. It is the state's second oldest major city behind Knoxville. It is located in southeast Tennessee on Nickajack Lake. Chattanooga is the corporate headquarters and home of Olan Mills, Rock Creek Outfitters, Double Cola, Krystal, CBL & Associates, Chattem, Covenant Transport, U.S. Xpress, Inc, National Model Railroad Association, UnumProvident, and Miller Industries, the largest tow truck manufacturer in the world. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which is also known locally as UTC, is the second largest campus of the University of Tennessee System.Chattanooga is the home to the Hunter Museum of Art. Chattanooga is home to the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera which is currently lead by Musical Director & Conductor Robert Bernhardt and holds its performances at the Tivoli Theatre.Chattanooga has traditionally marketed its tourist attractions very aggressively, including the Tennessee Aquarium. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Tennessee 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Chattanooga	Tennessee	United States
Population	155,554	5,689,283	281,421,906
Median age	36.8	35.9	35.3
Median age for Male	34.5	34.5	34
Median age for Female	39	37.2	36.5
Households	65,499	2,232,905	105,480,101
Household population	149,728	5,541,337	273,643,273
Average household size	2.29	2.48	2.59
Families	39,650	1,547,835	71,787,347
Average family size	2.92	2.99	3.14
Housing units	72,108	2,439,443	115,904,641
Occupied units	65,499	2,232,905	105,480,101
Vacant units	6,609	206,538	10,424,540

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