What I find interesting is that a lot of people are worried about the decline of property values (see PD article -or not) for the wrong reason. I have heard some people mention that they are thinking about selling because property values have come down. As a matter of fact, sometimes I do give people advise not to sell their home because other options might be better. I do like to sell properties but only when sold for the right reasons -> which are many.
If you live in the home you like and you can afford your mortgage, why worry about what the market does? If you are not planning on selling, what’s the problem? The value of your property is ‘paper money’ unless you sell. Over the long run, property values go up so don’t worry about what is happening. Yes, you might not be able to refinance and take equity out of your home, but that is only smart depending on what you use it for. If you are taking equity out of your home to pay of credit cards, you might have a different problem that needs to be addressed.
My husband and I owned properties in declining markets and quite frankly we never ‘lost’ on any of our homes. Of all the decisions my husband I made over time, Real Estate has always been good.
If you have questions or would like to get some feedback on your situation, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Oh, don’t forget: if you bought when the market was still hot and you have reason to think that the market value of your property is less than what you paid, don’t forget to take advantage of Prop 8 -> have your assessed value adjusted so you pay less property tax.
Mirjam de Rijk
mirjam@c21alliance.com