Have you thought about getting that bigger, better house in a better neighborhood?
NOW IS THE TIME!
Whether you need more space, want to upgrade your location, or for any other reason, the current real estate market presents a unique opportunity to capitalize by trading up!
5 reasons why this is the best market to trade up!
1. You will make money NOW on the trade!
Here's how this works. You currently own a condo that was worth $1,000,000 three years ago, and now it's worth $700,000 (that's right, it's gone down 30%!). You may be thinking, I've lost $300,000, right? Wrong!
What you do is go out and sell your condo and purchase the home of your dreams for $1,400,000. That house, three years ago, was worth $2,000,000 and you probably couldn't have afforded it. By buying it now, what you've just done is bought your new home at a $600,000 discount! Just like that, on the trade, you've made $300,000! This doesn't even take into account the money you'll save on property taxes because you're paying taxes on a $1.4M house, and not on a $2M house.
2. ... AND you will make money LATER when you sell your new home!
OK you've listened to my advice, bought that new home of your dreams and traded up. YES! Fast forward five years and the real estate market has gone up 20%. Let's take a look at what has happened. Your old condo is now worth $840,000, for a $140K gain over today's value. Your new home is worth $1,680,000, or $280,000 more than when you bought it today. Just like that, you've made an extra $140,000 on the trade!
3. You can likely buy a house you otherwise could not have afforded, and may not be able to afford again!
Going back to my example above, you probably couldn't have afforded that $2M house three years ago when you bought your condo. You also may not be able to afford it again in 3 - 5 years when the market rebounds. If you've been dreaming about a bigger home or one in a nicer area, now is really the time to capitalize.
4. It's much easier to trade up in a down market than in an escalating market!
I've had clients say that they will trade up when the market "goes back up." Let's take a close look at that. Let's say that 5 years from now, the market is back up 20% from today's values. You then sell your condo for $840,000 and your dream home is now worth $1,680,000. You've gained $140K on your condo (from today's values) BUT your dream home is now worth $280,000 more! That means that, by waiting, you've now spent an extra $140K to buy that house!
5. You'll probably get a better house by trading up in a down market!
The current market presents some very unique opportunities. In most areas, inventory is pretty high and buyers have a lot of great choices. By shopping in this market, you can really get the home of your dreams and take your pick of all the inventory available. In most cases, you can get a good deal on a great property in a terrific area.
The bottom line is that if you can afford it, now is a terrific time to upgrade! Interest rates remain at historic lows and there is plenty of financing available.
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