House prices are going down in most market so I will wait on the crib (save your money), meanwhile; the the vette.

 

bought mine at 23 back in 2001, I shoulda considered driving my WS6 TA around for a few more years and bought a house... but I know I will never buy anything again in my life that I enjoyed as much as having the C5 at that age. But no regrets

 

"Patients young Jedi". You know what you have to do. You did not get that Masters for being impatient.

The first day you bring the C5 home and have to leave it in the apt. parking lot is the day you start loosing sleep. Be kind to your Vette, give it a home first. You will be glad you did and you will sleep better.

 

I'm in the same situation (23, just graduated with a masters). My job has a 1.5 yr rotation program I'm not sure where I'll be working. I've been saving for a car since high school, so it was a no brainer for me. Between staying with my gf or at home, I figure I'll just wing it until I know where I'm going to be for a while. In about 1.5-2 yrs even with the car payment I'll be able to afford a down payment on something small.

 

To me it's not a practical question. The ‘correct’ answer is obvious because of the choices in the question. Everyone knows that houses gain value, and are good investments, and a financially smart decision - whereas cars are generally the opposite. So you’re asking people to give sound financial advice on this question: “Should I make a smart financial decision or a less smart one?” In that case the answer is obviously; make the smart decision.

However, that’s not what you want to hear… at least that’s not what I’d want to hear. Because, a car is so much more than just a poor financial decision… if that’s all I thought about cars then I wouldn’t own a Corvette… I’m 22 and bought my corvette as a graduation present to myself. I still live in an apartment w/ a covered parking area, and obviously don’t own a house. I’m living single in my own apartment doing what I want to do, enjoying life, and enjoying my car – all in all I’m very happy doing what I want to do and getting everything out of life I can while I’m still young. I may not have made the best ‘financial’ decision – but I feel I made the best personal decision… and I have NO regrets…

My 2 cents…

GL on whatever you choose!


Dan

 

You know what, I think it really depends on how secure you would feel about leaving your beauty outside where every other car parks. Me personally, I cannot imagine leaving my future Corvette outside, especially not in a public parking area. So if I were in your shoes, I would buy the house first and shortly after that I would buy the Corvette.

But then, that's the sensible thing to do. If you just want to have some fun while you're still young and don't care about getting a few door dings on your shiny 'Vette from Joe the F150 drivin' neighbor, I would go right for the Corvette.


edited: Sometimes I get so excited thinking about the Corvette that my spelling suffers.

 

I'm 24 and say definitely get a home first. My wife and I purchased our condo while we were engaged. We got married on March 4, 2006. I purchased my '02 Z06 on March 25, 2006.

Mike G.

 

Chuck

 

The smartest way to go is to buy the house, but you already know that. What I recommend is that if your not in a financial pinch buy the corvette and have some fun. I am 26 and just purchased mine 2 months ago. I live in an apartment, but i am building this year. It motivates you to make more money. I started working for a network marketing company part time called Fortune and is helping make an extra income, the car motivates me. You only live once and as long as you have long term goals and financially your alright go for it and set goals to get a house in a year and store the car in the winter at a buddy's or local storage area. You have worked hard to get your masters and if you don't treat yourself a little you will go insane. plus if you buy a 1998 with average miles the payments will not be that high. look for a good deal and don't settle for just any car!

Tim

 

I will tell you a good story that will help your decision. I bought my first (and current house) when I was 27-years old in 2001. I did not own/purchase a Vette back then, although I really wanted one. I had an old Lincoln with 140,000 miles on it.

My buddy, the same age, in the same year, purchased a brand new 2002 Mustang GT and continued to rent.

Now granted the housing market went up slightly since 2001 , but my buddy and his now old, high-mileage rusty mustang will never catch up with me in terms of net-worth or equity most likely for the rest of his life..........because of the house purchase decision i made and the new Mustang GT purchase decision he made.

I have my Vette now and have a ton of equity in my house. My buddy is scapping pennies to get a deposit for a way more expensive smaller house.

Ken

 

i got mine at 30...no regrets... but i already had a house...

 

Just do it! I am 25 right now bought mine when I was 24 at the same time bought the Hummer, 4 wheeler and a new house and got married a year later, Realestate has been very good to me! Instead of buying a newer vette I went with a 1997 and don't owe anything on it, be smart, you don't need go out and buy the newest possible one they all look the same from 97-04 (coupe) If a deal comes along go for it! Fortunatly I had no debt to begin with and still have very very little, only went to college for six months so had no school loans, guess I have just been blessed! Good luck
r6realtor

 

Well, I'll give the middle of the road advice: if you know you are going to stay in the same town for the next 5 years or so, get a house, no question. If you think your job may take to to a few new places over the next few years, get a clean 97-2000 C5 at a good price, take care of it and enjoy it -- in a few years it'll still be worth just a little less that you paid. The key thing is don't do anything that that you're not financially comfortable doing... promise yourself that if you buy a C5 that you're also going to save $250 or so a month toward an eventual downpayment on a house. If you can't afford a C5 and $250 a month, don't get the C5.

 

I have also bought mine young, at 23. However, at 24, i bought a house. I had a heated parking garage in my apt as well as my parents place to store my car. I also just grauated, got a real paying job in Mech. Engineering. The adult side of me says buy a town house or a home first, then go for the vette. You want a place to put it that is safe. The house is a great investment, a car is not...

So buy a house !!!!! best of luck!
Aj

 

The house is the smart move! In a few years that same house may be out of your reach as home values and mortgage rates climb. The Vette will always be about the same reach/price down the road.

Not sure what part of the country you live in (your profile is blank), but just as an example, let's say you're looking at a house for $300K. In four or five years that house will likely be $400K or more, and interest rates may be higher than they are now too. If rates were to go up only 1%, the payments on a $250K loan would increase by about $170/mo for the same loan. But you'd have to borrow more to buy the house at the higher price. And buying the house at a $100K higher price sets your taxes at about another $100/mo. If you’re in a part of the country like I am (San Francisco Bay Area), you can triple those numbers or MORE!

So bottom line is you could buy the Vette now and "impress the chicks". BTW - Just a little hint, from my experience quality women are NOT impressed by a Vette. To the contrary, most women feel that guys who own Vettes are egotistical jerks and/or (depending on the guy's age) guys in the midst of a mid-life crisis. And then down the road you'd have to scrape up an extra $10K or $20 to buy the same house AND pay more than $1,000/mo EXTRA to own the same house (borrow another $100K at a higher rate and pay higher property taxes = $1,000+ per month more).

OR . . . You could buy the house now (or soon) and in a few years probably afford a newer Vette.

So the reality of it is . . .

(1) Buy A Vette now and very likely not be able to buy a house for an exrta 10 years or more (if EVER!)

(2) Buy the house first and get the Vette in a few years and be in a better cash flow situation down the road to the tune of $1,000/mo or more.

Oh, and I GUARANTEE you that the owning a house at your age will impress a WHOLE LOT MORE women that the Vette ever will (IF that's of concern to you at all - Personally, I'd prefer a woman to be impressed with ME not the THINGS I own).

Another way to look at it is to buy a house, let the value appreciate (sometimes VERY quickly), and then take out an equity line to pay cash for the Vette. The payments (including the equity line payments) will still be less than if you waited and paid more for the house and/or paid higher interest rates. If you look at the big picture in that scenario, it's almost like getting the house AND a FREE Vette.

I'm in the mortgage business, so I see a lot of young (and old) people trying to get into the housing market before it gets out of their reach. The sad thing that I see a lot is people who waited far too long to do anything about it and then discover they're nowhere near being able to buy a house now, whereas 10 years earlier it was within their reach.

And I can tell you that as the years go by, it seems the middle class is disappearing in our culture (not a good thing!!!). More and more we're headed toward the "haves" and the "have-nots", with very few in between. And what I'm seeing is that NOT owning a home is one of the biggest factors in trapping people in the "have-not" side of life.

As a fellow Vette owner/enthusiast I'd love to see you in a Vette now. But as a fellow human being I'd rather see you head down the path that will make the biggest difference in your life . . . And see you in a Vette (and a house) a little down the road. Or get a house with a two-car garage and buy two Vettes!!!

One disclaimer - IF you live in a part of the country where housing prices have been, and will be, almost flat for decades (they DO exist), then you might as well go for the Vette now!

Just one other option to consider - Since you'll need a car to drive anyway, find an older cheaper C5 ('97 to '99). They're out there for under $15K. I recently bought a second one to make into a more dedicated track/street performance car. Picked up a '98 Coupe for $12K! That way maybe you can do both the Vette and the house, and then upgrade to a newer Vette later.

Best of wisdom in your decision!

Dave

 

Heh, I'm the old guy in this thread, but I was 26 when I bought mine a couple years back. As long as you have stable finances and dont impulse buy one(and get raped), you should be fine. The real money trouble comes when you get the mod bug....just ask my wife

Note, I built my first house at 19. So my credit and finances were in order...

 

96zeee....................i'll weigh in if you don't mind. congrats 1st on the grad degree-----great move my man!!!! now the opinion part of the equation: get the house; the vette will come but owning property will open far more doors financially for you than waiting till later. btw, where one is in life may color their thinking on this one. we're on our 4th or 5th house, i'm working on my 2nd grad degree, we put 2 kids thru school to their respective undergrad degrees, and we're on our 2nd vette (c5). most importantly, we have our health to enjoy all the above. good luck my man. enjoy the ride! bub

 

I disagree! Most markets are seeing a FLATTENING out of prices, not a REAL drop. Though almost all HIGH-END markets ($2M+) are seeing actual drops in prices. You have to filter the information you see in the news. When they say that the the average sales price in an area has dropped, that often means that low to mid-priced homes are flat (could even still be going up), but that higher priced homes just aren't selling. That of course ends up in the average price dropping. You often have to dig past the headlines to get to the real facts.

In my area I've heard Realtors say house prices are dropping, and then they go on to explain, "Last year we'd list a house for $1.2M and it would sell for $400k over asking price, at $1.6M (sad, but TRUE!), but now we list that same house for $1.8M and it sells for only $1.65M, $150K UNDER our listed price!" Now in MY book that property just went UP by $50K, but the Realtor is focused on what they told their client it would sell for. So sometimes you even have to take the word of those "in the trade" with a grain of salt!

But yes, in some areas all price levels are dropping slightly. It just bothers me to see broad statements of misinformation tossed out. It can lead people to make poor decisions.

Dave

 

I bought my house at 31 and ordered my C5 when I was 34. Gotta have a safe haven for the Vette... besides the bank is happier to give you a car loan if you own a house (with some equity) but not so happy to give you a house mortgage if you owe a ton on a car (Vette or not - cars are only investments for your ego, not the wallet).

 

Vettes should be gararged or a least parked off the street. If not, you're looking for trouble. Get the house first.