buy the property now...sell the Maxima. Get a used pickup to help you do work on this and future properties.

and when you're 28 and have 10-12 properties, go out and buy a M5.

don't listen to the people that tell you to keep the Maxima. Its not in your best interest for the future....

I just bought a rental property myself, it went for $60,000 and rent's for $725 a month. I am 28. Had I started this 10 years ago I'd be one rich **** right now.

oh yeah, that $725 a month is paid (90%) by the Government via Section 8 housing.

one thing about me, I am fortunate enough to get to keep my 2k3 Maxima.

but 10 years ago I was driving a 1983 Mazda 626 5 door hatchback with 2.0 and a 5speed...

get a junker, invest, and be a miniature Donald Trump....

don't listen to anyone that tells you otherwise..

ask your dad, not these illigimate red headed stepchildren that are renting and paying $500 a month for a car...how smart is that?

-vq

 

Update to my post earlier. My bad, i thought you just mistakenly put "buy" in place of "rent".

I'm with everyone else here, if you need to drive a junker yet have a decent place to live and invest in - by all means do it. You won't regret it later on. Remember, you reap what you sow

p.s. I wasn't aware you could "buy" an apartment, unless you're thinking of buying the entire building and renting it out.

 

Defineatly invest in realestate as soon as possible. I also am young and considerably lucky IMO. I am 21 and my girlfriend and I both have good jobs. I have a 03 Max SE which I love but I made some mistakes and have rolled over entirely too much money into my car so Im paying 530 bucks a month on it, but thats besides the point. My girlfriend and I have been renting for a few years now and have decided to buy a house (a nice one at that). Buying property when your young is kind of unheard of and its a great decision. I think the sooner you start the better off you will be in the long run. Its too bad to have to give up such a nice car but it will defineatly be worth it in the long run. I say go for it!

 

What is buying an apartment? I'm not calling BS, but in most cases, "apartments" that are bought are called condominiums. Maybe you just got your terminology wrong? Or are you talking about buying an apartment BUILDING?????

I just moved to Chicago and spent a LOT of time apartment hunting. I found a beautiful 2-flat in the city that would typically had gone for $1400/month rent and I'm only paying $1050 (AND I HAVE A GARAGE!!!). I'm 24 and my landlord is only about 3-4 years older than I am and I KNOW I am paying his mortgage payments with my rent.

It is definitely a sound business plan you have there, kid. But I would be EXTREMELY careful of where you are shopping. The location/surroundings/neighborhood that your apartment(building)/condo is a very important factor in appreciation.

Also, keep in mind that mortgages for condos are a bit different than mortgages for houses. I'm not certain, but IIRC, you'll have to shell out a minimum of 5% [or more!] of the loan amount as a down payment for a condo. SFH's could be had for a 2.5% DP if you knew what you were doing.

Yet another point to consider, most of the nicer condos communities are extremely particuliar of the type of people they allow to move in. It's sad, but it's possible that you would be discriminated against because of your age. I'm sure the 45 year old lady living next door wouldn't be excited about having an 18 year old living next door. You know what I mean? While it's not always the case, I think most fogey's would think you're going to party a lot.

I hope you've had the same job for at least 2 years also. The bank or mortgage company is going to go deep into your job history and credit history. If you've had the same job for 2+ years and you get paid well, there should be no problems. And credit, hopefully you have more than just car payments and a few credit cards that show up when they run your SSN. This could be an issue. Lack of credit is the same as "bad" credit.

Anyway, it's a great time to be getting a mortgage that's for sure. Rates haven't been this low in 50 some odd years. I considered purchasing as well... but my girlfriend still doesn't know where she wants to go for grad school so... can't really settle down just yet.

Good luck.

 

Eh, I just read the post where you said your parents were going to be the legal owners. Disregard the above post.

 

to clarify, you can "buy" an apartment they're called Co-Ops and Condos. The differences are whehter you own park of the building or thea ctual space. Now for all you folks out there telling him to BUY BUY BUY... Real estate is hot hot hot. Well you sound like the internet crazed people back in 1999 saying buy buy buy.

1) Real estate can go down and as soon as interest rates go up it will either level off or go down, depending on your area.

2) There is a HUGE difference between buying an apartment and buying a house. Houses appreciate a lot over time. Apartments not nearly as much in most cases. a NYC apartment or a condo on the beach will appreciate like a house. A co-ops outside the city will not see gains that high.

3) Not sure whether you take into account the whole $$ equation. Maintainance in some places can break the bank. Co-ops around here cost between 400 and 800 a month for that.


These are all things to take into account. Also, with selling your car.... if you get a car that costs 11 or so and you have $$ to make up for your upside down loan, you're not going to see a big difference in your monthly payment(which from an accounting point of view doesn't matter) but in the ed you're not going to save more than say 4-5K? remember they're going to charge you tax on the new car, so now you're talkinga bout say 12?

Sell car for 16.5?
Pay 12
Savings $4.5

is it money? yeah, but its a hassle to do the transaction, you get a worse car in teh deal and they payout is small

Now if you actually get a POS car I mean a real POS car (I drove an 87 Chevette I should know) buy something for $1k and buy a house? that can save you some dough for your property.

you have your whole life ahead of you, you're a bit young to be doing this and it sounds like your really don't have the $$ to do damage control if it blows up in your face.

 

people buying real estate do kinda sound like the internet people saying "buy buy buy" back in the late 90's...

BUT, with those internet companies, they had no assets. When you buy a condo, you are buying the asset, and if you rent it out, someone else is buying it for you....

There may be a real estate "bubble" like you suggest, but they will only bring the interest rates back up VERY slowly, and not until after the economy gets going again. That will keep the housing market in most areas from having any problems, at worst 10% of the country may experience no increase in value over 1 to 3 years, and maybe 5% will lose value, but the rest will keep increasing in value.

Just like always, the 3 key ingredients in a real estate purchase are Location, Location, and Location.

there are some risks, and finding great buys is harder because everyone and their brother is investing in real estate right now, but I still say its a good investment. Rates won't be this low forever. (4 years tops)

thanks for reading my long post

-vq

 

Just be sure and get that college degree. It will be the best thing you ever do for yourself. I am 25 years old, have been renting for 1.5 years but am currently searching for a house. In your mid to late 20s you will feel the vice grips of life clamp down on your neck. Be ready. Have at least 5k dollars cash saved up by age 26 in a savings account. Have at least 4k in your checking. Be fully vested in a nice retirement fund and have an independent aggressive growth mutual fund totally seperate from your company's 401k or whatever. Keep your credit as clean as possible. Trust me on this one.

Go on and buy that apt and rent it out. Interest rates are at a 40 year low. They could go up at a moments notice. If you go into rental property be sure to accumulate more than just 1 or 2 properties in the first 6 months. The more rental property you have, the better, b/c if one tenant moves out, then you can fall back on the income you are getting from your other tenants until another tenant moves in on your vacant property. Watch your back b/c tenants WILL try to screw you over any way they can. And as for good POS cars to drive cheaply, either a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic is the way to go. Stay away from old Hyundai's and Kia's!


Jesse

 

Than you! I love this forum, i will never go anywhere else. Even if I buy i POS car i will be here, writting my out of toppic threads.

I will stay with my max for the summer - to have some fun, then i will sell it. I will buy Toyota corola and an appartment

Who knows? May be in 10 years i will be a millioner

P.S. And again, thank you .org, sometimes i think that i can post my personal problems here and i will get a good advice. Like sexual problems or something. What do you think, should i post some of them?

 

get a civic, as much as i hate honda, in your situation it would work out for the best, they are cheap and they also hold their value

 

Umm what part of chicago are you talking about? 90k for a one bedroom, not even close. Perhaps it's just because im on the north burbs and north city side. I havent seen a decent to nice 1 bed for under 190.

 

Do a lot of research on the track record of housing values in that area before you buy. There are a lot of people in previously "hot" real estate areas that are sitting on property that is now deflated (Silicon Valley, Austin, San Francisco, etc.). Real estate CAN be a good investment (defining investment as "you end up with more money at the end", vs. the common "you end up owning it so it's a 'good investment'"), but isn't so by default.

Good luck!

 

Take all this advice with a grain of salt. There is alot of sensible information in this thread, but there is alot more to understand on this topic.

Generally, you are better off in the long-term buying vs renting as you pay down principal and (hopefully) the market value of your asset rises. However, there are scenarios where this rule does not hold true, particularly if you expect to hold the asset for a short period of time. If you employ alot of leverage (borrow alot-low downpayment), you will pay mostly interest over the first few years and if the value of the real estate falls over that period, you may be repaying principal more slowly than the property is declining in value. Again, if you intend to own the property over the long term, you can ride out these fluctuations in market values.

Real estate has been hot over the last few years, completely driven by incredibly low interest rates (which have also helped to drive the economy). While I agree that it does not appear that rates will rise rapidly anytime soon, I don't see any other factors that will stimulate large real estate gains in the near term. You cannot assume that 10% annual gains on real estate will be sustained (the average has been 5.7% over the last 25 yrs). In the short term, we could even see dips in real estate prices.

Admittedly, with rates as low as they are, long-term home ownership looks pretty good. Strive to become an owner of real estate but don't let others tell you than renting is retarded - there are circumstances where it makes sense. Eventually you want to buy a house as an investment, but also as a place to live. If we treated home ownership purely as an investment, then you are better off in the long-term renting and putting the money that would go to paying off principal into the equity markets (which provide a better return over time).

Do your homework. Good luck with your decision.

 

Palatine, Shaumburg, By the Harper College. 90-100K Check on the internet.