New Car vs. New Condo

[pcmodem]

Yo,
Took the sage advice of an Anandtech forum regular and instead of buying a new car, bought a condo instead.

After Greenspan cut the interest rates by 0.5% today, had to pull the trigger. Rates are incredible.

Looks like I'll be getting around a 5.75% I.R / 6.0% APR or better on a 30 year fixed with no points.

No new Audi A4 1.8T Quattro for a while, but it's okay. Put $5K+ of maintenance and restoration into my Miata this year, so it'll easily last another few years -- it looks only a few years old. No dents, new roof, new brakes, new clutch, new thermostats, new gaskets, new hoses, new timing belt, new O rings, new seals, new rear struts. Tuned up too, of course.


Peace,
PCM

 

[DrumminBoy]

Wheres the condo at?

 

[XMan]

Good call, a house is probably a much better investment.

But a condo? I'd rather have a fence and a yard, myself.

 

[PsychoAndy]

Good job.

-PAB

 

[d33pt]

like he wouldn't have chosen a house over a condo if he could've afforded it...

 

[olds]

It's certainly a better tax deduction than a car.

 

[Evadman]

much better choice, and congradulations!

 

[kt]

Good decision. Buying a car is the worst investment there is. The moment you drive out of the dealership, the value of your car drop by at least 10%. Bought my house 6 months ago, and just had it appraised last week for a refinance and it already went up 15%. Today's interest cut didn't do much to cut down on the long term fixed rate loans though. Only short term loans benefited from it.

 

[Maverick]

I went with the car over the condo...mainly cuz housing prices in Denver are RIDICULOUS. Over here the only people that could really take advantage of the low interest rates are the people who refinanced.

Congrats to ya though...way to make a responsible decision

 

[amdskip]

Congrats!

 

[Ornery]

• Bump for wise decision!

 

[StageLeft]

Glad you did the right thing

 

[Parrotheader]

You fool! What were thinking!? You could be driving around a nice new Audi and showing the world how cool you are, but instead you decided that having a nice, affordable place to live would somehow be a better decision? I just don't understand people like you.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

How old are you? I'm 19 and in a similar position. I've saved a nice chunk of change and am considering putting a down payment on a house/condo.

 

[macwinlin]

Hopefully I will get some work soon to continue on with my plans including owning my own place. Well in any case, congratulations! A very good and wise choice.

 

[LAUST]

Very smart move

 

[Mister T]

property values are articficially inflated due the historically low mortgage rates...

don't overpay people

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: pcmodem
Yo,
Took the sage advice of an Anandtech forum regular and instead of buying a new car, bought a condo instead.

After Greenspan cut the interest rates by 0.5% today, had to pull the trigger. Rates are incredible.

Looks like I'll be getting around a 5.75% I.R / 6.0% APR or better on a 30 year fixed with no points.

No new Audi A4 1.8T Quattro for a while, but it's okay. Put $5K+ of maintenance and restoration into my Miata this year, so it'll easily last another few years -- it looks only a few years old. No dents, new roof, new brakes, new clutch, new thermostats, new gaskets, new hoses, new timing belt, new O rings, new seals, new rear struts. Tuned up too, of course.


Peace,
PCM

The way that I understood it was the the rate cut hasn't trickled down into the mortgage level yet. Actually, the rates last evening were still a bit higher than the rate I locked into a little over a month ago. However, good luck with your condo purchase. I'd buy a house over a car any day.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: Mister T
property values are articficially inflated due the historically low mortgage rates...

don't overpay people

This response could be either right or wrong depending on how you look at it. Yes, values are up. The values that homes have climbed in 2002 will not be fully available until sometime in early 2003. But, it's expected that the gains during 2002 will be double-digits once again. Finally, one article that I read (take it for what it's worth) said that "no bubble would burst." Sure, values are up quite a bit. However, we went through a period during the 90s where values remained flat or only inched up 1% to 4% a year. The feeling is that prices will stabilize, but will not drop. Then, price growth should return to the 1% - 4% rates once again.

 

[Ornery]

• Bump for a really smart move!

 

[everman]

Very good move, as property almost "always" goes up in value, while the car will be worth much less in just a year.

 

[jayglick]

You only need to know 1 thing... depreciation.