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 12/06/09 the Kevin Satterfield RePage is ranked at 4,498 with 60 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 Royal Oak, MI

Latitude: 42.504568 -- Longitude: -83.150606

Other Area Cities: Royal Oak Clinton Highland Park Berkley Birmingham Bloomfield Center Line Clawson Detroit Hamtramck Hazel Park Oak Park Southfield

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Royal Oak photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Royal Oak was incorporated as a village in 1895, and as a city in 1921. The city's name originates from a tree located near the present day intersection of Crooks, Rochester, and Main that in 1819 reminded Territorial Governor Lewis Cass of the Royal Oak tree within which King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester. Notably, on November 14, 1991, Thomas McIlvane killed five people, including himself, with a Ruger .22 caliber rifle in Royal Oak's post office, which was one of a string of incidents across the United States in which current or recently fired postal workers attacked and killed co-workers en-masse, leading to the phrase "Going postal." -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Michigan 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Royal Oak	Michigan	United States
Population	60,062	9,938,444	281,421,906
Median age	36.9	35.5	35.3
Median age for Male	35.1	34.3	34
Median age for Female	38.9	36.6	36.5
Households	28,880	3,785,661	105,480,101
Household population	59,556	9,688,555	273,643,273
Average household size	2.06	2.56	2.59
Families	14,447	2,575,699	71,787,347
Average family size	2.86	3.1	3.14
Housing units	29,942	4,234,279	115,904,641
Occupied units	28,880	3,785,661	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,062	448,618	10,424,540

Visit US Census