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MookyJ · Aug 13, 2007, 09:48 AM

Okay they say it is a buyers market now. So it would not be a good time to sell. I own a one bedroom 1 Bath condo in Chatham New Jersey which is a very desirable town. Actually it was rated in the top 5 best towns to live in, in the US. :p Well my wife and I are going to be living with my parents for 2 years while we both finish our Masters degrees. In 2 years we would like to buy a house so we would need to sell the condo then anyway, but my question is should we take what we made on it now or rent it. I looked at recent sales of comparable homes in our complex and it looks like we can walk away with 50K after all is said and done. I am scared what the market will be in two years when I need to sell... What if the market drops further and I lose out on the 50K I could make? What if it is booming and it is worth triple what is worth now.
Can anybody take an educated guess on what the housing market in Chatham NJ will look like in 2 years. Good? Bad? The same?
:confused:

ballengerb1 · Aug 13, 2007, 10:56 AM

A buyers market simply means there are less buyer than there were before. Some people balk at 6.68 % interest rates but that is frequently short lived. I paid 13% for my first house in the 1970 so I'm happy with 6.68. Put it on the market, it won't cost you anything to test the waters. There are less buyers at the moment but there still are buyers out there. You can try to rent but if this is your first attempt at being a landlord I'd advise getting some advice from an experienced landlord. There can be many pitfalls if you are 100% sure about what you are doing or who you rent to. Fr_Chuck may jump in with a few tales about the pitfalls.

Fr_Chuck · Aug 13, 2007, 07:02 PM

There are so many good and bad times, a lot has to do with location.
I would love to have properties in down town nashville right now to sell, they are fairly hot. But where I live the house may sit for several years to sell at the current rate. If you want to sell, set a price and put it on the market, the worst thing is it will not sell right now

DianeV Sr Loan Officer · Aug 13, 2007, 08:52 PM

No one knows what the market will be like 2 years from now. I am a firm believer that there really is no "right time" to do anything. It simply depends on your circumstances and what is right for you now. I am assuming that you will be saving money by living with your parents for a while. If you keep the condo, you will have the responsibility of being a landlord and absorbing costs when it is empty. You will probably NOT have the tax right off if it is not your primary residence. At this point in time, consider what you have invested in it.ie down payment. Has the condo provided you with a place to live and some tax benefits ? Will you come out with a profit if you sell today? If so, selling may be the right choice. If you are losing money at this point, you need to decide whether to put good money after bad or cut your losses. It's pretty simple. No one has a crystal ball.