Buy a GTR or a House?

Originally Posted by b1adesofcha0s

Hmm great advice and I find this especially helpful for myself. How long after getting a new job should you wait before buying a house (which will be my first major purchase)? How much would be a year's worth of emergency funds? My situation is a little different though. You and Steve already know this, but I'm gonna be finishing school in May and hopefully will land a nice engineering job right afterwards. House is definitely the first major purchase, no questions about it. I live with my parents and they have emergency funds saved up, plus their own incomes. I will probably be paying for the house by myself with both my parents incomes being saved up for emergency funds. Appreciate the advice

Also planning to buy a GT-R after a couple years on the job and after having settled into the house

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

I say wait until you have a years worth of essential living expenses saved. So enough to cover 12 months worth of rent, car payment, insurance, food expense, and other necessities.

6 months is the minimum recommended safety net, but in this environment 12 months gives you more of a buffer.

In your case, just focus on saving for a down payment since your parents have the other expenses covered.

Originally Posted by b1adesofcha0s

Yeah that's kind of what I was planning on. Should I pay off the car first or just use that money for the down payment of house? I was also thinking about transferring the car to my name after I get full time work and I can get a loan. This way I can start building up my credit since I will be the main person on the loan. I have a better credit score than both my parents right now, but am lacking in credit history.

Originally Posted by birdmanx1

Well it depends, are interests earned on your own investment > than the ones you are paying on your car? Do you have credit cards debt?

Pay off credit card debt first given the typical high interest then move down the ladder with the highest interest debts. At the end of the day things are easier when you ensure that your inflows are always higher than your outflows; credit card companies, banks are NOT your friends, keep that in mind and don't hesitate to tell them to get lost when they offer you lines of credit you don't need.

Originally Posted by b1adesofcha0s

No credit card debt now and never will be, I'm smart enough to keep it that way. Car payments are very low ($185/month) and interest isn't too bad either. Don't know what those will be like if I get it under my name though. Just want to know if I should have the car completely paid off by the time I apply for a home loan or if that money would be better spent towards the house's down payment. Only have $10k left on my car loan.

Originally Posted by ZCarMan

In this economic downturn we are in, only in a very few places such as D.C. do you see some homes actually appreciating and that is mostly in the city itself. With all the foreclosures on the market and those set to go into foreclosure, combined with the fact banks are not lending to anyone but to those with the best credit, for many it may not be a good time to purchase a home. If I were going to purchase anything in real estate it would be a duplex or condo to rent out. More and more are forced to rent today which for a lot of folks isn't a bad thing. My rule of thumb, "If it isn't bringing cash flow in, it's sending cash out". Couple of books worth looking at, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and "The Millionaire Next Door".