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!

As of 12/03/09 the Jeff Amburgy RePage is ranked at 426 with 1,705 points.
The monthly top RePage owner will receive a cash prize. Help this agent by bookmarking this site and posting it to blogs and other Web pages and encourage others to visit.

Local Information for South Lyon, MI

Latitude: 42.462814 -- Longitude: -83.651163

Other Area Cities: South Lyon Milford Whitmore Lake Plymouth Northville

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your South Lyon photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

Submit your photos of South Lyon and become eligible to win $200. Click Here for details.

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,036 people, 4,246 households, and 2,704 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,143.0/km² (2,958.2/mi²). There were 4,461 housing units at an average density of 508.1/km² (1,314.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.68% White, 0.39% African American, 0.17% Native American, 1.09% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.60% of the population. There were 4,246 households out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.98. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Michigan 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	South Lyon	Michigan	United States
Population	10,036	9,938,444	281,421,906
Median age	35.2	35.5	35.3
Median age for Male	34.1	34.3	34
Median age for Female	36.2	36.6	36.5
Households	4,246	3,785,661	105,480,101
Household population	9,962	9,688,555	273,643,273
Average household size	2.35	2.56	2.59
Families	2,706	2,575,699	71,787,347
Average family size	2.98	3.1	3.14
Housing units	4,461	4,234,279	115,904,641
Occupied units	4,246	3,785,661	105,480,101
Vacant units	215	448,618	10,424,540

Visit US Census