buy, according to Lawrence Yun, chief
economist of the National Association
of Realtors. He says, “. . .for those look-
ing to trade up, selling low on an exist-
ing home is more than offset by buying
the new move-up home at a lower price.
When the market recovers, home price
appreciation on the traded-up home
will bring bigger bang for the buck.”
Some people are hesitant to buy,
worried that prices will drop even more
and they’ll miss better deals. It’s impos-
sible to predict whether the market will
keep falling, and there’s always the pos-
sibility that prices might get higher be-
fore you find the “perfect” deal. It’s wise
to aggressively search for a home and
only buy what you can truly afford, no
matter what the market does.
In a buyers’ market you’ll benefit
from the opportunity to negotiate a
great price. Take advantage of your
bargaining power and look for value
added incentives such as free upgrades
or landscaping. Some sellers are offering incentives such as free big-screen
televisions, cruises, golf carts and even
new cars.
When you consider all of these fac-
tors—affordable housing prices, an
abundant selection of homes, incen-
tives and low interest rates for fixed rate
mortgages— there’s never been a better
time to buy!
Southern Living Offers Tax
Havens
One of the biggest benefits of moving
South is lower taxes. If you live in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut,
New Hampshire or New York, you’re
well aware of the burden of paying high
property taxes.
It’s possible to save thousands of dol-
lars a year by moving to lower-tax states
such as Georgia, Florida, Delaware,
Tennessee, South Carolina and North
Carolina. “When people are consider-
ing a retirement relocation destination,
I think most of them focus too much
on income taxes,” says Robert Barbetti,
senior manager of JP Morgan Private
Bank’s Advice Lab. “I think they should
definitely look at the property-tax situ-
ation. While many states might exclude
some or all of your pension from in-
come taxes, property taxes go on—and
often up—year after year.”
Property tax rates vary significantly
from state to state and municipality to
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