Dilemma House or Car?

[Jamie84]

I have also been looking around and have noticed alot of property on the market has changed from offers over to fixed price.

[r055]

Start of the recession is definitely here...

[RDH]

Start of the recession is definitely here...

Yup - next there'll be widescale redundancies everywhere!

[BiggestNizzy]

Buy a house sell the liz, once settled you can always buy another one.

[r055]

Buy a house sell the liz, once settled you can always buy another one that will sit on the driveway in bits like mine

[r055]

Start of the recession is definitely here...

Yup - next there'll be widescale redundancies everywhere!

its the future... and ive seen it

[BiggestNizzy]

Buy a house sell the liz, once settled you can always buy another one that will sit on the driveway in bits like mine

Don't be silly if you dump it in somebody elses driveway (parents for example) then it won't effect your house price.

[woody]

I had an offer accepted on a flat and two days later seen the perfect elise for me (at that time), but decided to go ahead with the flat anyway. A year or so later, I just had to scratch the itch and bought an elise anyway. And six months later bought a house at nearly couble the price Get a house, keep the car and then decided (pretty much as RHD said )

[robin]

These are for you chap! Not under the thumb, although i do remember having this discussion with you at Donny! If she wants a big wedding then it will probably be the only day in her life that she gets everything her own way - I am happy to let her have that day!

<childish>
Whatever ...
</childish>

Enjoy your day!

Cheers,
Robin

[Lazydonkey]

I'm kinda on the fence / leaning towards the sensible peeps.

I bought my first flat aged 18, when at uni and as such the car "dream" had to be put on hold til i was 30. Up until that point it had been practical hatches and compromise-ville.

Having to wait so long while those that lived at home kicked about in amazing cars hurt like hell but has made me appreciate the car a whole lot more - also as ali says i now have more money to enjoy the car. Houses and (more importantly) the furnature within houses is so incredibly expensive that i feel really sorry for anyone who has yet to get on the ladder as I cant imagine what it woudl be like to start from scratch (esp. in this climate)

So, in essence my advice would be
1. Buy a house over a car every time
2. If you are looking to move keep hold of the car if you can, cos once you sell it and realise how much "nice" house stuff costs you're unlikely to be buying one again soon !

[Lazydonkey]

Also - while i'm in wise man mode...........

In recent years they've been giving away credit to anyone and everyone. This has now changed. So if you are living beyond you means (as i did for years and years) now would be a good time to stop. After some recent bad luck with a choice of employer and subsequent expensive lawyers i've been forced to take out a small loan with the bank i've been with for 18 years.

I earn not bad money, i own my own home, im in my 30's.

Fcuk me they have just put me through the wringer - wanted to see contract of employment, the whole lot. And this is AFTER i passed the online authorisation process. It seems they are now even rejecting what their expert systems are telling them is ok.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

[campbell]

Conventional wisdom definitely says get the appreciating asset in place first, the car comes secondary.

But not all things are as straightforward.

Do you own a place now? If you are renting, then I reckon property ladder is certainly a smart move, better investing in your future than someone else's.

But if you are an owner, what is it about the current place that is such a problem today?

In the developing property climate (depending on your location of course) this may not quite be the right time to buy. If you have flexibility over timing, do your homework and consider taking a risk. That risk may be holding out until prices stabilise or even fall. Or of course it may be buying into that dream house you've seen, for which the Elise needs to be the deposit.

Important not to get emotionally attached to a car, albeit you may worry about finding another Elise in the spec / condition / history you want. Chances are, again if you have the time to take your time, you will find one when the time is right. And Elises are DEFINITELY only going to get cheaper (on the 2nd hand market at least)...

I guess if you are currently financing the Elise, and can clear this if selling it in favour of the house, then your hard-earned will then fund interest on a far better investment (and at a far better rate too).

The grown-up question to ask yourself is an economic one..."what utility do I get from my intended house versus my Elise"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility

But emotion really does come into it, so what more can we say?!

[dezzy]

Ali . . . no worries . . . That is really good advice, but I guess I'm just planning on using finance to own cars until I'm very rich!

JJ, yep, I still think the same way as last year! Good to see I'm consistent!

Gorrie - I'm not saying that I'm completely "live for today / could die tomorrow / fly by the seat of your pants". I'm just saying that you never know what's round the corner and so should try to enjoy every day while you can. If owning a house and making those investments gives you that enjoyment, then fair enough. But for me, owning that silly plastic car gives me so much more in life than any home owning or investments ever could.

I bought the Elise (and then the Exige) thinking that I'd probably have to get rid of them to get a flat. I've stayed with the folks a bit longer than planned, but it's paid off and I'm now at the stage that I can afford the flat and the Exige. I've actually just finalised a mortgage today and I'm about to conclude missives on a flat! Yay! (phew! considering the current mortgage market!). I have ensured, as you suggest, that I have cover in place in case of unforeseen circumstances. I have a very good pension (so I do plan for the future - I'm not all "live for the moment") and that pension has life insurance included, so I will not leave anyone with my mortgage as a problem. I've got all the other kind of cover you need for various circumstances and I've got a wee contingency fund in place. So, I've still got all those things "they" say you should have and I'm just buying my first place, but have managed to have some amazing fun in the process of getting there.

It's all just personal opinion and I'm not trying to preach, but I've had an absolutely fantastic time the past couple of years (not just through owning a Lotus, but by having some spare cash for holidays/social life/etc). I do not regret it one bit and have enjoyed it so much more than I would have if I'd just bought a flat and been strapped for cash all this time; regardless of how much money that flat might have made me. Just my opinion, but I wouldn't have changed it for anything!

D

[Edin430]

Take out new loan, over longer timescale and reduce monthly payments = have both

[graeme]

House.

Sorry to say it, because it's not the answer you want to hear right now, but it's worth it. The satisfaction from knowing that you are not funding somebody else's Elise by paying them ££££ rent every month is great. Mind you, when you realise that your mortgage payment is mostly interest so now you're just funding somebody else's Bentley, and actually you only own one more brick of your 120 year old tumble-down hovel than you did last month, that can take the edge off a bit...

Get an appreciating asset, not a depreciating one, and sit back knowing that it's going up in value by thousands every year, which one day you could cash in and buy whatever you like. (Of course, spouse-pressure will mean you'll just waste it on a bigger house, but at least you have the option to divorce and buy an Exige for cash!)



Also, there's much to be said for buying a house that needs 'refreshed'. Upgrading your house puts money in your pocket. Upgrading your car is money down the drain.

Oh, and no matter how much you think you can live without one, you need a garage. It's amazing how many little Elise jobs you have to pay somebody else to do when you don't have a garage. (£££££!!!)

Captain Sensible