Anyone who has turned on the news or picked up a newspaper lately is aware of the current disaster that is the real estate market. Or at least that is what the media is reporting to us. The truth is, although many markets across the country are in terrible shape, the Chicagoland area is not truly one of them. Sure our market has slowed, but our homes are not losing money at any significant rate. Prices have mostly leveled off in our area, but some suburbs are still experiencing reasonable appreciation.

 

In fact, this is a great market for first time home buyers as well as home owners who are looking to make a move up. Individuals looking to purchase their first home don’t have anything to sell. This strengthens their negotiating position and they are able to take advantage of the buyers market we are currently seeing.

 

Current home owner’s who are looking to make a move up, sell their home and purchase a larger one, can also turn the market in their favor. They may have to give up a small amount of their current home’s equity by pricing their home competitively, but they make more than that up by purchasing a larger, more expensive home in today’s market. As an example, by giving up $15,000 (5% of a $300,000 home) and getting their home sold, they were able to negotiate a $30,000 (5% of a $600,000 home) savings on their new home. And since real estate generally appreciates on a percentage basis, a $600,000 home will have gained more value over a few years than a $300,000 home.