May have to sell the car....need suggestions

[Bruce Wayne]

as a thought.... your mom is also going through bit of a tough time, maybe you could stay on till some dust settles, she'll probably need a bit of support from her number 1 son.

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wayne

as a thought.... your mom is also going through bit of a tough time, maybe you could stay on till some dust settles, she'll probably need a bit of support from her number 1 son.

+ 1 timing is everything in life, later you'll know that you did the right thing..

[Perfectlap]

dude...

RENT a place. If you can't afford your $300 car you definitely can't afford a much bigger liability like a house (insurance, maintenance, utilities, taxes, etc.)

I like the idea of a foreclosure I'm actually doing the same in Florida. I started out helping out a relative who got in over their head on investment properties but only because the house will rent for the mortgage payment and they put down a pretty big down pament so the balance is manageable. Still an equity loser for the next 10 years (at least) but for now there's no mileage in screwing the bank if the renter can pay the montly nut. All that got me looking at listings and I've been to central and south florida and it is not unheard to see cash buyers walking away with homes at 10% of their 2006-2007 selling prices. BUT you have to be a cash buyer and I really don't recommend buying into a falling real estate market with borrowed money. Warren Buffet made a similar statement about taking risks with other peoples money, the surest way to go broke. This real estate market still has 12 to 18 months of down side and it could be the steepest yet. Banks are sitting on homes that are even listed yet for fear of flooding the market with more inventory. And that doesn't include the millions of homes that are inevitable foreclosures where the buyer can pay but the underwater math will never work for them. The house would have to double in value just to break even over the next 20-30 years. Jingle mail. People will just take out another loan for a bigger cheaper house with a different bank and screw over bank #1.

To be quite honest with you unless you are buying homes to rent them out (income property) I don't see the advantages of owning your own place right now. You have your whole life to buy property but your cash has this thing called "time value".
it's a special advantage that most 25 year olds piss away and has a limited time frame. The global economy is taking off with raw material production in Brazil, Chile and China surging. Think oil, steel, copper, iron ore you name it. Small (that's all it takes) EARLY investments now could pay huge rewards down the line.
Like buying Microsoft in the 80's.

1-Pay off your car while putting some away to invest.
2-take a second job bartending
3-pay your mom rent (find a girlfriend who has her own place, it's called a recession).
4-make a goal to stash away 8K a year while making payments on your car (good for your credit).
5-rethink your situation in 18 months. The govt is out of the mortgage backed securities racket for now and the home buyer's tax credit is history. There are more layoffs and bank closings coming in 2010 and 2011. Housing is only going to get cheaper while your bank account swells. Houses can't go up in value or even hold their current prices if people's incomes are not rising. Nobody and I mean nobody is betting on people earning more any time soon.

[al83s]

+1 on keeping the car.
I work at the car dealership and see people "downsize" all the time. They sell us their originally expensive cars that were half-way paid off and buy chevy aveos for similar money just to get the payment down. But guess what, now you have to pay this lower payments for another 4-6 years.
better option for them would be to just refinance their existing cars, raising their payment period back to 4 years granted you did not get a crap-load of student loans that have killed your credit.
That way - your payments are more affordable and if you have some left-over money - you can make an extra payment every now and then.
Yes, the parts for your boxster are more expensive than parts for a Yaris, but at least you have had your car for awhile and already know whats wrong/goes wrong where you can get a new car that will crap out on you too.
Also, it may seem wrong to install a set of Cheap tires, Autozone brake pads or have a tape covering the crack on the plastic window but those are the things you can live with untill your financial situation improves.

There is nothing wrong with having to stay at your moms till the rough patch is over. Times are tough and everybody has to deal with it one way or another.
Just my $.02

[Jake D]

Thanks for the replys everyone.. I also agree with most of your comments on my payment isnt very much and I haven't had any problems paying it and I probably wouldn't be much more ahead if I were to sell it and buy a beater. So far the car hasn't caused me any problems other than a few tires and a CEL that comes on occasionally.

I guess until things change I should just start trying to save and pay down some debt and hopefully make a move by spring/summer whether that be to buy a place or sell the car/other things.

I knew when I was buying the car it wasn't the most practical or cost effective, but I'm young and dumb and had/have that you're only young once mentality.

Hopefully everything will start looking up here in the near future.

[Perfectlap]

^practical car no. But if your monthly payment is $300 and your insurance is low in that state I don't think its much of savings if for instance you'd bought an econo car that only had $150 monthly payment. This is MUCH MORE than twice the car.
You should concentrate on paying that car off soon if you are not penalized for paying off early. Car loans are bad news, many if not most get you for a fixed amount no matter how early you pay it off. When you look a that amount and what the car ends up being worth its truely insane. I can think of nothing worse in life than to be paying interest on a rapidly depreciating asset. And here in NJ the car insurance companies could care less if your car is worth half what you paid for it but the montly rate goes up! Between interest and insurance that is just eating away the return on all your other investments and costing huge amounts in future investments you lost out on. I'd encourage you to contact a financial planner. Those guys need the work right so they're not charging what they were two years ago. They'll lay out a great strategy for you to stick to. At least that way you have some direction. Being that you're a teacher and young I don't think it will be to complicated a plan.

[fatmike]

Here is some really good advise for you:



Buy a good book (or two) and get serious about money. It will change your life.


Start here (by Dave Ramsey): The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness



Let us know how your situation turns out.