The Bargain Hunters

continued

So she and Vijay bought it before their Saline home was even officially for sale. They knew they would lose money in Saline, and they were nervous about the housing market. But they decided “it will all kind of even out,” Anuja says.

They love their new neighborhood; they walk to Burns Park almost every day. They also walk to Trader Joe’s and sometimes downtown. And they appreciate the home’s spaciousness—Anuja’s grandmother lives part time in the mother-in-law suite. They use a push mower for their tiny yard, instead of the riding mower they used in Saline. And if they occasionally grumble about the sizable loss they took to sell the Saline place, they remind themselves that Ann Arbor feels like home.

Their advice: When you’re selling a home, says Vijay, be willing to cut your losses and not take low offers personally: “The old level of pricing doesn’t exist in this market.” And, says Anuja, “listen to your heart rather than advice you get from others.”   

[Originally published in November, 2008.]