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 Alpine, TX

Latitude: 30.360718 -- Longitude: -103.665418

ZIP Codes for Alpine, Texas	79830 79831 79832
Area Code for Alpine, Texas	432
Time zone for Alpine, Texas	CST

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Alpine is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States.The population was 5,786 people at the 2000 census. In 2008-2009, Michael H. Marvins shot a photograph of a scene in the Rosillo Mountains south of Alpine. The picture, which depicts the remote desert area just before sunrise, is displayed in the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Alpine is home to the main campus of Sul Ross State University, a member of the Texas State University system, named for Texas Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross. Alpine is served by Alpine Independent School District. Alpine students attend Alpine Elementary School, Alpine Middle School, and Alpine High School. Alpine is home to the Big Bend Cowboys independent baseball team. A member of the Continental Baseball League, the Cowboys play their home games at Kokernot Field. Prior to 1959, Alpine was the largest city in the largest county (by area) in the largest state of the Union. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Texas 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Alpine	Texas	United States
Population	5,786	20,851,820	281,421,906
Median age	33.7	32.3	35.3
Median age for Male	31.7	31.3	34
Median age for Female	35.3	33.4	36.5
Households	2,429	7,393,354	105,480,101
Household population	5,672	20,290,711	273,643,273
Average household size	2.34	2.74	2.59
Families	1,436	5,247,794	71,787,347
Average family size	3.04	3.28	3.14
Housing units	2,852	8,157,575	115,904,641
Occupied units	2,429	7,393,354	105,480,101
Vacant units	423	764,221	10,424,540

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November 20, 2008

Local Information for Alpine, TX

Latitude: 30.360718 -- Longitude: -103.665418

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