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 12/04/09 the Marie-France Levesque RePage is ranked at 8,982 with 40 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 Los Angeles, CA

Latitude: 34.086159 -- Longitude: -118.375984

Other Area Cities: Commerce Alhambra Bell Bell Gardens Beverly Hills Burbank Cudahy Culver City Glendale Inglewood Lennox Gardena Pasadena Downey Paramount Rosemead San Gabriel South Pasadena West Covina La Puente Los Angeles El Monte Santa Monica East Pasadena Montrose

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Los Angeles photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Los Angeles, known as "L.A." or the "City of Angels", is the most populous city in the state of California and the second-most in the United States. One of the world's major global cities, it is located in Southern California and has a population of more than 4 million people, spanning 498 square miles. It is the core cultural and economic center of the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, a region home to over 18 million people. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850—five months before California achieved statehood—and is the county seat of Los Angeles County. Los Angeles is one of the world's most important centers of culture, science, technology, international trade, and higher education, and is home to numerous world-renowned institutions in a broad range of professional and cultural fields. In addition, the city is a leading producer of popular entertainment—such as motion pictures, television, and recorded music. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

California 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Los Angeles	California	United States
Population	3,694,820	33,871,648	281,421,906
Median age	31.6	33.3	35.3
Median age for Male	30.8	32.2	34
Median age for Female	32.6	34.4	36.5
Households	1,275,412	11,502,870	105,480,101
Household population	3,612,223	33,051,894	273,643,273
Average household size	2.83	2.87	2.59
Families	798,719	7,920,049	71,787,347
Average family size	3.56	3.43	3.14
Housing units	1,337,706	12,214,549	115,904,641
Occupied units	1,275,412	11,502,870	105,480,101
Vacant units	62,294	711,679	10,424,540

Visit US Census