Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007

They sold their home in the nick of time

Cindy Whited said she had a sense that something was about to give in the housing market last year.

She and her husband, Randy, had planned to wait until 2007 to sell their home near Knights Ferry, a step toward moving to Montana. Instead, they sold a year early, after becoming convinced that home prices were about to fall.

Fall they did. Cindy Whited said they likely would have lost nearly $100,000 off their $644,000 price had they sold this year.

"We did it at the right time, before the market fell," she said. "I don't think we would have even sold it now."

She said another home for sale on their road is listed for about a third less than what it might have fetched last year.

The early sale meant the Whiteds have had to rent a house in Oakdale while their Montana home is being built, but the $1,500 monthly rent is worth it.

The Whiteds, both 55, plan to move in April to Stevensville, in the Bitterroot Valley, about 30 miles south of Missoula.

Cindy is a teller at Washington Mutual Bank. Randy is a press mechanic at Silgan Containers Corp. They have two grown daughters and four grandchildren.