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 Lewiston, ID

Latitude: 46.400245 -- Longitude: -117.00103

ZIP Codes for Lewiston, Idaho	83501
Area Code for Lewiston, Idaho	208
Time zone for Lewiston, Idaho	PST

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Lewiston is the county seat and largest city in Nez Perce County, Idaho. It is the second largest city in the Idaho Panhandle region behind Coeur d'Alene. Lewiston is the principal city of the Lewiston, ID-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of both Nez Perce County in Idaho and Asotin County in Washington. As of the 2000 census Lewiston population was 30,904 (2003 estimate: 30,937). Lewiston is located at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. Its main industry is paper and timber products production at the mill owned and operated by the Potlatch Corporation. Because the portion of the Snake River between its confluence with the Columbia River near Pasco, Washington, and Lewiston is navigable by some oceangoing vessels, Lewiston has the distinction of being Idaho's only seaport and the western United States' farthest inland seaport. Barges of timber products, grain and other goods are shipped via the Snake-Columbia system to the Pacific Ocean. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Idaho 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Lewiston	Idaho	United States
Population	30,904	1,293,953	281,421,906
Median age	37.9	33.2	35.3
Median age for Male	36.5	32.2	34
Median age for Female	39.1	34.2	36.5
Households	12,795	469,645	105,480,101
Household population	30,242	1,262,457	273,643,273
Average household size	2.36	2.69	2.59
Families	8,277	335,588	71,787,347
Average family size	2.88	3.17	3.14
Housing units	13,394	527,824	115,904,641
Occupied units	12,795	469,645	105,480,101
Vacant units	599	58,179	10,424,540

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