My Mom has an extremely nice house. It is an all brick rancher with hardwood floors, two fireplaces, spacious rooms, over 3,500 square feet of living area with a finished basement, covered rear porch and beautifully landscaped grounds, and it is very well maintained. She bought it new in 1977 for $65,000 using a 30 year mortgage at 7.5% for about 100% of the purchase price. Adding the interest of $98,165 which was paid over the course of the loan she has invested $163,615 in the property. Today it is worth about $375,000.

"Wow, it's worth $211,385 more than what I put into it and it's such a wonderful place to live."

Mom, that's great, but what can you do with that equity, besides live in it.

"I can get a reverse mortgage or a line of credit and I can reinvest it."

Oh, but haven't you heard about the declining values in real estate? With the rapid depreciation, what took you 30 years to build will be gone in 5 years. You need to sell it now before it is too late.

"Oh; you are right, but how can I sell in such a slow market?"

The value today is $375,000, but with so many houses on the market, you will have to distinguish your house from the others. Put it on the market for $300,000. I know it sounds low, but if you try for too much it will just sit on the market and eventually be worth much less. Eventhough it is the best house in the neighborhood, it will be stigmatized and everyone will think that it has problems.

"That's good advice, son, but what will I do with the money?; invest it in stocks?; and where will I live?"

You can find a nice one bedroom and one bath apartment in the City for about $500 a month. The stock market? No way; it's headed for a big crash. Put the money in your mattress and buy everything from Europe. The dollar goes a lot further over there.

YES, YOU COULD LISTEN TO THE ADVICE OF A FOOLISH IDIOT WHO GETS HIS IDEAS FROM THE MISINFORMED AND SENSATIONALIZING MEDIA, OR YOU COULD CONTACT THE EXPERTS AT

ZENITH REALTY AT 410-935-5844.