Why am I listening to you guys. Ya'll have a cool car already. It's easy for you to say hold off. No seriously. Thank you for the responses!!! I'm a little teary-eyed. I never thought I would get this advice from a Camaro site. I sort of knew this was the type of responses I would get. I'm not gonna lie. I'm a bit sad. I was hoping you guys and gals would say I can simply do both.
To give you a little more idea of my situation, I've been working for a small architectural firm for over 10 years now doing 3D visualization. I LOVE my job. One thing I know for sure, if you don't like your job find a new one. I'm lucky that I like what I do. But! I'm told I don't really make all that much money. And it's probably true. I don't know. I can't compare to anything else because this is the only job I've had. We don't have 401k so I decided setup an IRA about 6 years ago. And who knows, being a small company we could fold in a year or two.
But here's the thing. I paid off my first car in less than two years so I have never really had to budget. I feel I need to develop those skills first before getting a house, No? Maybe I don't pay the car in full and give myself a monthly payment that'll force me to budget. What concerns me is that if I go the house route it may be a "shock to the system". For example, I'm able to easily put 5k away to my IRA. If I get a house, am I ever going to be able to do that? Most people tell me those days will be long gone. It may be a long time before I'm going to be able to afford a car like this with a house payment? Am I worrying to much?
I'll save you guys time and answer my own question. I need to do my research. I guess what I need to do is find out what the going rate is for a newish small house here. A condo or town home sounds like it might be a good option as well for the convenience factor. What I would like to do is talk to someone to see realistically what I would be paying monthly. I don't know if I could handle anything over $800 - $900 with my income and still make a car payment. Should I start talking to a real estate agent to see my options? Can I trust their advice or are they going to tell me what I want to hear just to sell me a home? Is the goal to put 20% down? I have a lot to think about.
A month ago I was stressing out over the color of the Camaro before I ordered it. Now I may have to make the call to cancel it. Life can be so cruel. :(