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 Johnson City, TN

Latitude: 36.335399 -- Longitude: -82.37276

Other Area Cities: Kingsport Johnson City Elizabethton

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Johnson City is a city in Washington County, Tennessee; however a small part of the city is located within Sullivan County, Tennessee, to the northeast and Carter County, Tennessee, to the southeast. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 55,469.Johnson City is the home of East Tennessee State University, a public school with an enrollment of over 12,000 students. The university features the James H. Quillen College of Medicine, which is nationally known as a top-quality medical school for primary care physicians. Given the medical college's importance in the area, Johnson City is also known for its large medical community. In 2005, a new College of Pharmacy was approved at ETSU by the State of Tennessee, with classes scheduled to begin in January 2007.Milligan College, a Christian Liberal Arts School, is also located near Johnson City, TN.The city is also considered the hometown of football coaching legend Steve Spurrier. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Tennessee 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Johnson City	Tennessee	United States
Population	55,469	5,689,283	281,421,906
Median age	36.9	35.9	35.3
Median age for Male	35.3	34.5	34
Median age for Female	38.5	37.2	36.5
Households	23,720	2,232,905	105,480,101
Household population	52,096	5,541,337	273,643,273
Average household size	2.2	2.48	2.59
Families	14,013	1,547,835	71,787,347
Average family size	2.82	2.99	3.14
Housing units	25,730	2,439,443	115,904,641
Occupied units	23,720	2,232,905	105,480,101
Vacant units	2,010	206,538	10,424,540

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