Camaro vs House?
 

(Jump to :wave: to skip the boring stuff.)

I was reading insideac's thread where he's trying to decide between a Camaro or going to school. The Camaro5 community has been extremely helpful and supportive so it got me thinking. First, insideac, go to school! :paddle:

Second, I live in an apartment.....and I like it. I'm single and don't plan on getting married any time soon. I like being single. I have a nice ~8 year old car which I love and is in perfect condition. In fact, my parents have offered to buy it off me for 10K because they know the condition it's in and has very low millage. I'm mean, come on, that's a great deal! I can't pass that up. :headbang: But I don't HAVE to get a new car. My current car is perfectly fine. I was also brought up to basically run your car to the ground before buying a new one. Not sure I agree with that.

Anyway, I'm told maintaining a house is a lot of responsibility. If your A/C goes get ready to spend some money. Need new roof? Money. Need to repaint, new carpet, fix the garage door or whatever. Honestly I don't want to deal with maintenance. Basically, I'm lazy...I admit. I don't want to mow a lawn. I like being able to call the fix-it man to take care of a problem in less than 30 mins...no hassles. It's easy as ordering pizza except you don't have to tip. I'm also in a similar situation as insideac in that I have a nice savings. That would be, I'm embarrassed to say, because I chose to live at home probably longer than I should have. :( It's because of that, though, I was able to put some money away. In fact I could buy a Camaro in cash and still have a little bit left over...not a great amount but some.

:wave:*For those that don't like a long read start below*:wave:

My plan is to get a Camaro and stay in an apartment for another year or two and then look for a house. I will have a small amount of money to put down on a house later but obviously not as much as I would have if I had not purchased the Camaro in cash. I know the responsible thing to do is save my money and start looking for a house so I can put a nice down payment. I know by living in an apartment I'm "pissing my money away" as people in my office so kindly remind me. But I may never be in a situation like this again. I'm single. I have no debts. I could actually buy my own dream car and have no payments. How many people can say that? What would you do? I know there's no clear answer but any advice would be helpful. I just don't want to find out buying a fancy car before a house was the stupid thing to do.

Oh, I would be getting the 2LT RS instead of the SS. I figure I won't be racing this thing and the V6 has more than enough power for me. I rented from AVIS so I know. That'll save me, what, 7k? That's pretty responsible, ain't it? I keep telling my self that anyway. :D

(Sorry for all this "lifey" stuff. I wish I had more experience in it. My parents just say it's cool either way. :facepalm: I was hoping for a bit more wisdom. I just don't want to be screwing my self in the long run.)

get the house for many reasons. With current banking situation you will need more than a little bit for a down payment for a house so if you have the cash and means to do it now then go for it. Also now is a great time to buy a house and as a bonus you are first time buyer so you don't have to sell your current house while upside down. In a few years the market for real estate may recover a little bit. With a big camaro payment will you still qualify to buy a house ? If you have great income maybe so but then again if you have great income it wouldn't be an either or question just buy both.

Also your mortgage is tax deductible, this is a huge benefit of owning a house as opposed to renting.

Buy the house, then get a camaro. It's far easier to qualify for a car loan than a house loan, and if you own a house then getting a car loan is a snap. But for a first time home owner they will be really strict about your income/debt ratio. This was true a couple years ago before the collapse when a guy working drive thru at McDonals could instantly quality for a million dollar home in LA, but post collapse things have changed.

As much as I love the Camaro ... House first ...

You get equity (eventually), tax write off (eventually) and joy of fixing things that break (immediately)! :yikes:

Oh ... and then you'll have a garage to park your Camaro in!!

Both!

Don't pay for the Camaro fully and have a small monthly payment on the Camaro and drop the rest on the house. Best of both worlds!

I personally agree with hawk x7. Make a nice down payment on the car. Own the car and take your time looking for a place. You can decide to buy a house and still have it take well over a year, to find exactly what you want. For all you know you could find an awesome soulmate in 3 months that already owns a house ;)



ps) owning camaro may help find above soulmate even faster

+1, Only if your income can support this though.

You definitely don't need a house. The incremental cost of owning and maintaining a home vs. renting will more than offset any tax benefit of owning the house. In texas, our property taxes alone are over 3% of the tax assessment. As you also know, Texas real estate never really appreciate like in some other areas so you will be able to buy one down the road for a reasonable amount. Alson, it means that if your house does not appreciate by the 3% + interest you pay on the loan+ maintenance cost you will build zero equity. Just my two cents.

I actually had this same dilemma back in 2001, although I was newly married. I received an inheritance and we seriously considered if we should use it as a down payment on a house or buy a Camaro. Keep in mind this was at the time when they'd already announced the Camaro was being discontinued, so it was a now or never type deal. Well we ended up doing the "responsible" thing and got the house, saw it double in value, and fall back to reality. If we had gotten the Camaro, we probably would have had to wait a couple of years to buy a house, during which prices sky-rocketed. My reward for doing the responsible thing 8 years ago: I have a home which is still worth more than I paid for it (along with all the other advantages of owning a home), and I have a 2010 Camaro in the garage :D

Didnt someones sig say you can sleep in your car but you cant drive in your house... =p

Ok.

One thing to remember...and I don't know if anyone said it because I skipped to the :wave: and passed all the other posts...:laugh:...

House prices are on the rise according to MSNBC and all the other news stations. Before long, not only the cost of the house you will eventually buy will go up, but the APR on the loan itself will go up. Therefore, you might actually end up "paying for the car again" if you get the car now and then wait an extra year or two and get the house (in the actual cost of house and loan on house).

So....

...what will it be?


You COULD get the car and have it paid off.

That is actually pretty darn smart to have it all paid off. You'd save approximately $2k to $3k tops in finance charges. However, the finance charges in getting a house again...over the life of the loan?....top that 2 to 3k easily.

You already know the answer.

The REAL question is......




CAN you get the 2LT RS NOW AND be able to still get a good rate and have enough to put down on that house at a later time!;)

Ok. I read your first part.

Get ready to mow a lawn....or the HOA will be banging on your door.

LEARN how to fix a garage door. Dude...it's really simple.

The AC? Don't try it. Call someone...and get ready to pay someone to fix it. That is, unless, you buy the appliance warranty from someone and have it done for either free or next to nothing.

Maintaining a house is easy. But, even better advice?....buy NEW. That way, you don't have to buy someone else's problems. You KNOW what you are getting. Oh...and if you are a first time buyer, don't forget about your tax break. In fact, our wonderful gov't is currently thinking about raising that tax break so you can get more back right off the bat.;)

Plain and simple. It's a buyers market today. You say there is nothing wrong with your current car. Get the house while it is a buyers market. IT WILL CHANGE someday.:word:

Depends what you have for a garage. If you have a garage at your apartment, get the car.

If you are parking outside, get a condo with a 1 or 2 car garage.

I say get the Camaro. I had a house and what a pain it was to up keep. took most of my free time plus any extra cash went into the house i hated it i will never own a house again it realy sucks. I am also single and plan on staying that way as well. I love just calling in for a problem and having them come and fix it. no money out of my pocket to do so. the apt life for me.