I had a dicussion at work with a couple of the guys. We started talking about people who have Nice expensive cars and no home or Renter. Also people that have these cars and no garage to put it in or worst having an AMG as your only automobile.

 

I doubt anyone will answer this who has one without the house, I always said buy the house before the car when you start making the $.

 

I bought an older house as an investment and lived in it for a while. It didn't have a garage, and there was no room for one, so I kept my Gallardo out in the driveway along with my other cars! My friends gave me all kinds of **** for it, but I made a killing when I sold the place!

 

Ok well to get things started, Yes I have a House and a 2 car garage. And Yes I agree buy the House FIRST!

 

So you have a House with a Garage now then!!!

 

Ok, I have a house and garage and a spare car to drive. Having said that, many of my neighbors park their cars either on the street or on the driveway. Every evening when I jog, I pass 3 S8's, a Grand Tourismo, Turbo Cayenne, 911 Turbo and a SL55. House and garage does not always stop you from parking on the street.

 

three S8s in Manhattan Beach? That's popularity for the four rings right there. I've seen the tool in his old 360 that cruises around Hermosa.

When I take the dog out it's amusing to see Range Rovers and the like squeezed into the non-valet ran parking lots of very cheap looking "luxury apartments." It appears image is everything in this town. Very sad.

 

Funny thing is that these S8's are all within 3 blocks of each other. Lamar Odem lives around the corner, and sometimes I see his S65 parked in the street. I think Luke Walton just bought a place not too far away. I always see an LS parked in the driveway. As you know, these streets are not wide.

 

Up until 3 months ago I lived in a 900 sq. ft. townhouse with my CLS63 and Range Rover parked in the driveway squeezed between the neighbors old Cadillac, and the other neighbors Dodge Intrepid.

It was my first place, and I was comfortable there...But now that the baby is coming, we decided a 5000 sq. ft. house would be better - so here we are.

 

I have talked to many car dealers and they had their fair share of people out there that need a MB for their image. They will do anything to get a MB. Lie about their income--then it's repo'd due to the loan/lease not going through or purchase a thrashed MB off a used car lot just to say they drive a MB.

One has to be smart. The car comes last after the family and the house. If you have the income to really support your desires, then you are smart enough to have priorities and be a responsible adult and not a stupid kid in the candy store.

Some guys don't care. They lease the AMGs and beat the hell out of it. Leave it outside and park it foolishly in parking lots subject to dings, etc. That's their choice. If you are leasing you can enjoy the benifit of a new toy every 24 or 39 mos. It does'nt mean you don't make the income to support this habbit. But having the house, several cars and the lifestyle really validates the income thing.

I'm not bragging, but my daily driver is a Jag, and I have two of them, my wife has her own car, and I have my prize 55. I'm content. BTW... I own my own home.

 

Did u win the lottery?

 

Don't think I will buy a house in the current economy, and definitely not in California ever. I'd rather buy a mansion in Texas or Florida and rent it out, then have less here in CA.

My goal for my first house is something along the lines of what cls63 just got. I can afford it now, but not going to take a negative hit when the market drops more. In the end, most people pay a lot for rent here in CA which could afford them a mortgage else where so its not that they can't afford a house, they just cant afford one in trashy CA. Hell, my small apt. costs me $2000/month. I could have 2 entire investment houses in Florida for that, that would be rented out and covering their own mortgages every month just off the rental income, so someone else is paying for my house.

It takes time to find good deals though and I barely have time to watch TV, so

 

The whole rental thing isn't happening anymore, trust me - I have 3 rental properties, and none of them turn a profit, and they are all in Florida...I see them as long term investments once the market picks up at some point maybe in 5-10 years. And Miami is very expensive - Any somewhat nice house in a nice area is close to or over a million.

 

No - I was doing pretty well before even in my townhouse, I just didn't feel the need to buy another place yet.

 

I agree...its better to be renting then to have just bought a house here in Southern Cali within the last few years only to watch any equity you had vanish...scary times in comparison to just a few years back when the housing industry seemed to be on fire. Still for a million dollars here you get a decent house...track house that is.

 

That being said, do recall when I was in medical school living on savings and just over $700/month, I had a 300ZX and rented a 650 sq foot garage apartment in the bad side of town just so I would have a garage to put it in. OK so I let the tail wag the dog a bit but I loved my Z.

I have a few more square feet and a better garage now but properties are cheap in NC and we bought in South Beach when it was "affordable". Our realtor thought I was crazy but when we bought our condo there. The first thing I wanted to look at was the covered parking and the assigned space for our unit. We take the G to our place in Pinehurst where there is no covered parking. It's indestructable.

 

Interesting comments! As Far is Renting its not for me! I rather pay myself in something Cheap and small before I paying someone elses mortgage. on top of that you want to be paint and fixing up someone elses house for them.

 

Off Topic

Who knows the difference between "then" and "than" ??

 

Nothing wrong with having one nice car as a DD I don't need another car so...I don't see the problem here?

 

The same folks who know the difference between there, their, and they're and those who know how to spell 'definitely'......

 

I said Only automobile.... Not DD.... Becuase mine doen't see rain or Snow!

 

Made $$ on a house in Dallas???? Man, you are one lucky guy. Good for you!
Q: how do you forecast housing prices in Dallas in 10 years.
A: same as today; add 5%. The actual price "escalation" of Dallas housing historically for the last 20 years is 2.2%/yr.

Buy, hey, nice cars, bro.

 

There's an "e" in one and an "a" in the other.

What do I win???

 

I have a feeling he made those $'s when the market was hot. Housing in Dallas is like the rest of the country. Expect anywhere from a 5% to 15% DECREASE in the next year. There are simply WAY too many repo's coming on the market and banks liquidating those to allow ANY room for increases in the near term. Have you not seen the most recent TV shows about how a LOT of realtors are "getting out of the business" because it's soo bad? something like 15% in Texas have "quit" the business. One lady turned her California brokerage agency into a flower shop (on 20/20 or one of those shows last night).

 

NICE ! Finally.... you win a free english lesson

http://www.rosettastone.com/



OK, now carry on everyone, done hijacking the thread, my spelling's not perfect, but I was just getting a bit annoyed that people can afford these high dollar cars, but have #$%& grammar and can't spell.... I guess I'm having one of those days.