[Sam335ix]

Originally Posted by whilechukwuzout

I rent a townhouse on Santana Row and I dont regret a dime of it. No maintenance, no liability, no poolboy for my wife to screw, no gardeners, no AC to replace... we dont even have to pay to have our carpets cleaned.

People look at their house as equity but its really not. Sure, you have a home worth a million dollars. You dont HAVE a million dollars. If you sell your house; THEN you have a million dollars.... and nowhere to live. And at my current rate, I would have to live at my place for 1000 months to equal a decent (starter) home in the bay area. For those of us playing the home game: thats 83 years! And thats before you get into maintenance and property tax.

Everyone I know under 40 who has bought a house here and isnt a millionaire regrets it fiercely. I know its different in other parts of the country but here it seems like a no-brainer.

I like guys like you, you pay the mortgage on my investment properties with that said, home ownership is a long term commitment like a marriage. You keep renting for 30 years and tell me what you are left with... no tax write offs, no equity and home ownership... in 17 years my house will be paid off and I am 39. Car is never going to get you rich or help you to build a nest egg... too late, time for bed.

[Catalina Wine Mixer]

Originally Posted by E90Company

You are still asking the community which you prefer/would go for, hypothetical or not. Next time post in Off-Topic discussions because this has nothing to do with the E9X platform and will hopefully get moved. Tired of this clutter in the general section.

I don't think the forum is going to explode or the world is going to end because he posted something that isn't exactly related to e9x, its no big deal. I see your point tho

[SuperBmw]

I didn't read the thread, but I noticed something similar. People living in older or smaller homes driving very nice cars often. Maybe they are comfortable and happy in their homes, but sometimes it's a bit crazy. I guess everyone has their own priorities which make sense to themselves.
I think whatever the price of your home is, it should be at least 20x that of your car when it was brand new off the lot it seems to make sense when I think of everybody I know and the type of car they drive vs the homes they live in.

Ex: really old home with NO garage and an orange lambo and white e92 m3, the house looked pretty darn small too. To each their own.

[marshall834]

Nice car, but that's dependent on my situation. I'm not at the point in my life where I want to buy a house and renting a nice house is fine with me.

[whilechukwuzout]

Originally Posted by Sam335ix

I like guys like you, you pay the mortgage on my investment properties with that said, home ownership is a long term commitment like a marriage. You keep renting for 30 years and tell me what you are left with... no tax write offs, no equity and home ownership... in 17 years my house will be paid off and I am 39. Car is never going to get you rich or help you to build a nest egg... too late, time for bed.

And I like guys like you! You assume all the financial liability for my home. You maintain it. You give me the option of moving every year if I really want to. You pay for the plumber to fix my garbage disposal and you replace my appliances. You cover my water bill, because your a nice guy. You even take care of the property taxes. You built me a swimming pool and a fitness center... Just cuz. You even gave me a monthly discount when that construction site started next door.

theres two sides to every coin.

[marshall834]

Originally Posted by whilechukwuzout

And I like guys like you! You assume all the financial liability for my home. You maintain it. You give me the option of moving every year if I really want to. You pay for the plumber to fix my garbage disposal and you replace my appliances. You cover my water bill, because your a nice guy. You even take care of the property taxes. You built me a swimming pool and a fitness center... Just cuz. You even gave me a monthly discount when that construction site started next door.

theres two sides to every coin.

Referring to your entire conversation - To each man his own. Some people will want a home, others not. Both work if it works for both people.

[slowSwede]

If the market rises/goes down, it does so across the board within a country/state.
In relation to other houses yours would still be in the same segment.
So, once you move, you haven't made real any gains if you don't own more than one house.

[Yvette]

if you could afford nice house, why can't you buy nice car? I mean 50K vs 500K????

[guribeng1]

I dont have to worry about buying a house cuz I'm still a student.

[SilverII]

get both

[Sam335ix]

Originally Posted by whilechukwuzout

And I like guys like you! You assume all the financial liability for my home. You maintain it. You give me the option of moving every year if I really want to. You pay for the plumber to fix my garbage disposal and you replace my appliances. You cover my water bill, because your a nice guy. You even take care of the property taxes. You built me a swimming pool and a fitness center... Just cuz. You even gave me a monthly discount when that construction site started next door.

theres two sides to every coin.

Buy a house in the right time of the market, with prices and rates being as low as they are then its a no brainer. What will you have after renting for 30 years? Explain that? Yes, there are maintnance issues with everything in life but after 30 years you have a house that is paid off (200k to whatever it is you can afford)... its your house, its paid off and now you have a nice chunck of cash sitting there. 40% of the people buy homes thinking they are going to become rich, its a long term investment that will payoff at the end. Stop worrying about the pool boy banging your wife, if she is that easy then its time to move on and find a truthworthy wife

[bb103]

I was in the same boat about 2 years ago... about the same age too... 21- bought house... now 2 years later bought the car... way i looked at it was car I will lose money for sure... house can't go wrong... when things are looking up then you know you earned a reward...

It was a bit easier for me to do that though because i didn't have school debts...

[vince217]

Nice neighborhood (doesnt matter if rent or own), then nice car. i don't want my car to be the target of theft or vandalism because it is the nicest one on the block.

[Castle]

I would do whatever made me happier. I wouldn't know which one is a better "investment" in the long run, nor do I care. Life is not meant to be lived in the long run, is meant to be lived every day. I always advice people to do whatever makes them happy, today. If you screw up, at least you would have learned the lesson and won't make the same mistake in the future. The other option is to take the "wisest" choice and feel miserable for not doing what you really wanted to do. Screw finances. Finances were invented to make banks rich, not people. Haha, I know I'll get flames about this, but I'm probably older than most people here, and still haven't had to regret any of the choices I made following this theory. Sure, maybe if I had taken the "right" choices in the past I would be fairly rich by now, but I didn't want to reach 40 or 50 and say "Hey, I'm rich!", I chose to look back and say "Man, I'm happy!" and guess what, I've been very happy the whole time. But...maybe that's just me...

[Nalod]

I am blown away by the kind of money people spend on their cars in the name of being "an enthusiast"!

Some can outright afford this luxury but I see all to many times the short term gradificaton wins over long term financial stabilty.

I too was once a younger man who wanted the "hot car". I always had nice cars but was always reluctant to really pay up for the expensive amenities. Compromise is not a bad thing.

Home ownership can be fiscally tough but there are some guide lines and one I always followed:

20% down.

Home value is 2x your annual gross salary.

That may be tough to digest for many. It does not sound realistic in todays world but maybe it speaks to how prices may be too high for the amount of folk that want a home.

I followed this matrix for the last 3 homes and now I am in a 60% equity with 10 years left on my 15 year mortgage in a home I plan on retiring into. Even if not, I won't buy a more expensive home so in effect what ever I live in is "Paid". A 15 year loan in the last 7 years of it really accrues high equity.

With two kids in college my car buying is on hold. My 07' coupe only has 56k on it and the '10 A4 Avant only 26k miles. THe coupe is paid for.

I have the means to buy much more car than I currently have but given my goal to pay off the house and not take on any debt for college (we invested for majority of this).

It all started way back with modest savings and restraints with cars. The compromise was usually "No mods" and not get the super deluxe model. I have saved over 15k in not buying cars with GPS in them! My reward is a house with a view in an old section of the city close to everything that holds its value and appreciates given its logistics. I also don't drive nearly as much as I used to before I moved 5 years ago. I can walk to things I used to have to drive 15 miles each way! My homes have apprecited beyond my 2x matix. Be patient, it will happen.

I don't think in this environment you can loose "100 grand" on a house if your prudent. Prices have adjusted down enough (if not then we all in trouble and one should not be buying 50k cars!) In normal times you lost money in the first year and usually took a few years to make money. 5% appreciation was the norm. I think if your not planning on owning a home for at least 3 years then its better to rent. If you find a home in need of repair in a very good area and can put the time and expense in you can do very well. By that, make a little money after getting a return of your investment.

Im an enthusiast held in check my sensibilities and the desire diversify my lifestyle. Good food, Good Sleep, good marriage, good house, good travel. Having a "really incredible car" would take away from something. So if my Halo's are not as bright, my car a little too high, my subwoofer is not a deep and my motor lacks a turbo then I can live with it. And remember none of this matters if you don't look after your health!

My goals is to spend as little time in the car and more time doing other things!

[georgelb]

E-40 taught me this in 11th grade with "Sometimes it's cool to floss, But don't buy an eighty-five thousand dollar car before you buy a house"

[SavvyByNature]

Bargamon method is a pretty wise one. Being a few years out of college, I ended up buying a brand new G37S coupe. All the while renting. When I attempted to buy a house, the car loan messed up my ratios, making it a tad bit more difficult to get a home loan (although I had the income to pay for both).

Fortunately, the car got totaled, and once the loan came up as 'paid off' on my credit, I purchased a house using the same 2x income formula. Then when I purchased the car, I got an even better rate due to having a tangible asset such as a house on my credit.

So definitely get a house first, then buy a car a few weeks later :-D. With the way the market is, you can get a great price on a home.

Originally Posted by Bargamon

I am blown away by the kind of money people spend on their cars in the name of being "an enthusiast"!

Some can outright afford this luxury but I see all to many times the short term gradificaton wins over long term financial stabilty.

I too was once a younger man who wanted the "hot car". I always had nice cars but was always reluctant to really pay up for the expensive amenities. Compromise is not a bad thing.

Home ownership can be fiscally tough but there are some guide lines and one I always followed:

20% down.

Home value is 2x your annual gross salary.

That may be tough to digest for many. It does not sound realistic in todays world but maybe it speaks to how prices may be too high for the amount of folk that want a home.

I followed this matrix for the last 3 homes and now I am in a 60% equity with 10 years left on my 15 year mortgage in a home I plan on retiring into. Even if not, I won't buy a more expensive home so in effect what ever I live in is "Paid". A 15 year loan in the last 7 years of it really accrues high equity.

With two kids in college my car buying is on hold. My 07' coupe only has 56k on it and the '10 A4 Avant only 26k miles. THe coupe is paid for.

I have the means to buy much more car than I currently have but given my goal to pay off the house and not take on any debt for college (we invested for majority of this).

It all started way back with modest savings and restraints with cars. The compromise was usually "No mods" and not get the super deluxe model. I have saved over 15k in not buying cars with GPS in them! My reward is a house with a view in an old section of the city close to everything that holds its value and appreciates given its logistics. I also don't drive nearly as much as I used to before I moved 5 years ago. I can walk to things I used to have to drive 15 miles each way! My homes have apprecited beyond my 2x matix. Be patient, it will happen.

I don't think in this environment you can loose "100 grand" on a house if your prudent. Prices have adjusted down enough (if not then we all in trouble and one should not be buying 50k cars!) In normal times you lost money in the first year and usually took a few years to make money. 5% appreciation was the norm. I think if your not planning on owning a home for at least 3 years then its better to rent. If you find a home in need of repair in a very good area and can put the time and expense in you can do very well. By that, make a little money after getting a return of your investment.

Im an enthusiast held in check my sensibilities and the desire diversify my lifestyle. Good food, Good Sleep, good marriage, good house, good travel. Having a "really incredible car" would take away from something. So if my Halo's are not as bright, my car a little too high, my subwoofer is not a deep and my motor lacks a turbo then I can live with it. And remember none of this matters if you don't look after your health!

My goals is to spend as little time in the car and more time doing other things!

[mrbillytalent]

Originally Posted by georgelb

E-40 taught me this in 11th grade with "Sometimes it's cool to floss, But don't buy an eighty-five thousand dollar car before you buy a house"

Words to live by.

[AndreyT]

Originally Posted by GChase

Someone once told me buying a car straight out of college is the worst possible financial decision that you can make in life.

It depends on where you live, i.e. on how the price of the house compares to the price of the car. In good places to live in California, for example, these things simply don't compete with each other. The house prices are so high that buying a car (at a 3-series price level) simply does not affect your ability to buy a house at all.

If you live in a place where the housing prices are comparable with car prices (i.e. car price makes a difference it terms of mortgage downpayment etc.) then it is a completely different story.

[Nalod]

The question of credit rating is a totally different one than building of equity.

I take it that most of you have really good credit. Owning a home and having a healthy down payment on it gives you lots of options.

I have used my line of credit to finance cars in the past and deduct the interest.

My methoed is just to start a habit of building equity and when short term instant gradification objects appear one can control it with constraints.

If available savings:

4% to 4o1k
4% to Roth Ira or 401k
2-4% after tax savings

Now you can spend the rest!

Mortgage
Living expense
Car

If your a studant don't pile on Debt. Especially on a car.

Not much left for the car but get your money making money and the rest gets easier and easier!

[Mkah]

Stupid thread is stupid.

[VNeBLOB42]

"You'd rather look good and lose than look bad and win"
White Men can't Jump


I'd rather get what I can afford, at least have my mortgage be higher than my car payment, realistically speaking.