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 Colorado Springs, CO

Latitude: 38.863443 -- Longitude: -104.791914

Other Area Cities: Colorado Springs Security Widefield Woodland Park

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Colorado Springs is a large city located just east of the geographic center of the U.S. state of Colorado.In July 2006, Money magazine ranked Colorado Springs the best place to live in the big city category, which includes cities with 300,000 or more people. The city itself is situated near the base of one of the most famous American peaks, Pikes Peak, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains. The city is the county seat of El Paso County. Today, Colorado Springs has many features of a modern urban area, such as parks, bike trails, urban open-area spaces, business and commerce, theatres and other entertainment. It was first established as a posh resort community and the tourist industry has remained strong and offers many activities and attractions. A large number of religious organizations and churches make their headquarters here, particularly Evangelical Christians. Many high-tech businesses reside in the city, including a large number of computer chip manufacturers. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Colorado 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Colorado Springs	Colorado	United States
Population	360,890	4,301,261	281,421,906
Median age	33.6	34.3	35.3
Median age for Male	32.3	33.2	34
Median age for Female	34.9	35.4	36.5
Households	141,516	1,658,238	105,480,101
Household population	353,737	4,198,306	273,643,273
Average household size	2.5	2.53	2.59
Families	93,049	1,084,461	71,787,347
Average family size	3.06	3.09	3.14
Housing units	148,690	1,808,037	115,904,641
Occupied units	141,516	1,658,238	105,480,101
Vacant units	7,174	149,799	10,424,540

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