Got my Title!!

TheBry · Mar 1, 2005

Woo hoo! I need my fellow BMW pals to be happy with me!! I'm sure many of you have felt this before -- and if you haven't... you've GOT to try it!

I got a bonus from work so I decided to bite the bullet and pay off my car (three years early!).

I just got the title in the mail this morning from the DMV. This is the fastest I've ever paid off a car -- almost one year to the day I took delivery! Very cool to see my name and my name ALONE as the title holder -- no bank on the face of the card!

I'm getting sick of throwing away thousands of dollars a month renting my condo, so I'm considering buying a house (or condo) of my own. My car payment was $715 a month, that money will now be used to top off what could be a hefty monthly mortgage. Doing happy dance right now! ;-)

deutsch100 · Mar 1, 2005

Congrats. It is a great feeling if you are planning on keeping the car. I had a title 2x. One on a new SAAB and the other on a 300D MBZ (her name was Greta

Enjoy your solo named title, drive careful and good luck with the house/condo purchase. Being here in L.A, I can symphatize with you on prices. A 1 bedroom house in Santa Monica with a 1 car carport and no backyard is about $1.2 million, and condos are starting at about $650,000.

Again, congrats on the Title.

bmwrocks · Mar 2, 2005

deutsch100: It seems like you change cars every three months!!!!!! You now have a 2005 M3???? I am soooooooo jealous. That car is the bomb! This is news to me so....Congrats!

Big Daddy · Mar 2, 2005

You can save a lot of money by paying off a debt. The only debt I plan on having in the future is my house payment, although I have a few friends who have paid that off as well. Congrats to you, enjoy!

aNoodle · Mar 2, 2005

Many advisors recommend not paying off the house because the tax benefits...better to invest the extra cash because after the tax effect you end up better...assuming you have income to offset with the credit.

I was so happy to get my title in the mail in 2000. If you double up on payments, the balance drops off quickly! Since my insurance is really low now too, I can just about afford the never-ending maintenance!

dm_longhorn · Mar 2, 2005

Very nice! Your company hiring?

deutsch100 · Mar 2, 2005

bmwrocks said:

Thanks!! Yeah, this year has been really crazy/insane with car changing. Without a doubt there will be NO changing this one for years. I have never driven a car that I feel so connected with. I am in love (that is so horrible to say about a material object, but I checked the Bible, and it is ok for men to love their cars. Jesus said so [:)]

Big Daddy · Mar 2, 2005

However if all your other debts are paid off (as I mentioned) and you have lived in your house any period of time the tax benefit can be minimal to zero. Don't keep a mortgage when you have no other debt just for a tax write off.

Tom · Mar 2, 2005

Congrats Bryan, boy it sure feels great to get that greenish/pink piece of paper in the mail doesn't it?

codex57 · Mar 2, 2005

Congrats! I feel your pain too in that money saved from not having to pay for a car now goes towards a mortgage payment. I briefly looked in the Santa Monica area, but I think we got pushed out pricewise to Playa Del Ray. It'd be kinda like you looking in SF, but getting pushed out to Daly City or South SF.

///M SPEED · Mar 2, 2005

Most all mortgage companies frown on car payments. It is a good thing you paid it off before going in and buying a house. Without a car payment you can qualify for a higher amount the bank will lend you and it makes it easier for them to lend the money to you.

Congrats on the early payoff. I wish I could do the same…

TheBry · Mar 2, 2005

codex57 said:

Right on the money, Codex57 -- that's precisely what I was doing -- looking outside San Francisco. I feel your pain.

Now that the car is paid off, I may have a chance to actually own something in the City (which is definitely where I want to be). It's scary as hell too. I'm looking in the $700,000 - $750,000 range, and that'll just put me in a two bedroom SFD or Condo in a so-so part of town. With any luck I'll have a garage too. Isn't the market insane?! I'm looking at what could potentially be a $3500 monthly house payment ($1500 more than my current monthly rent) -- and that's AFTER putting down $140,000. The real estate market in California is whacked.

The trick is trying to actually FIND a place. San Francisco has a low 4% vacancy rate, so housing inventory is slim... and what is available is crap. Anyway, at least the car payoff gives me the flexibility to increase what I'm willing to pay (monthly) for housing.

codex57 · Mar 2, 2005

TheBry said:

Good luck. We have close friends who recently (December?) closed on a house in the Sunset. Over $800K. For a fixer upper. Can't move in til about late March or April cuz it needs so much work. They were looking all over the City too. My fiance's brother had a budget of $750K. He kept getting outbidded in teh so-so areas, but I think he was concentrating in the Sunset too. After a while, you're like, "So, how bad is Hunter's Point exactly?"

CaveDweller · Mar 2, 2005

[80?] [80?] [80?] Oh My God!!! [80?] [80?] [80?]

My sister in law just bought a house last year in Sacramento. $360,000 for a 1200 sq. ft. house. I thought that was a lot, but $700k? That is insane! I have to say, though, that if I won the lottery, I'd buy a vacation house in the bay area. I love it there!

I'll just be happy with my little slice of heaven here in Fort Worth. [:D]

Happy home hunting. [thumb]

...and congrats on paying off the car. [thumb]

codex57 · Mar 2, 2005

CaveDweller said:

I was in Dallas in May of last year. On the way from the airport into the city, I was talkign to this gentleman on the shuttle who had just sold his house in LA (not a good part of town from what I remember), and with the money he got from that house, he bought 2 houses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Bigger houses too. And furniture. Since the two houses were paid off, he was gonna rent one and use the rental income to live off of.

In law school (I went to school near Sacramento), I remember reading that housing prices were going up in that whole region cuz so many people were moving out of the Bay Area into the Sacramento/San Joaquin area and then commuting back into the Bay Area! [80?]

CaveDweller · Mar 2, 2005

codex57 said:

The one I'm having built is 3400 sq. feet and $250k. Try finding that deal in LA or SF. My in-laws, who live an hour east of Sacramento, have owned 5 acres for about 30 years. It isn't quite payed off due to a refinance, but close to it. They will easily get 10 to 15 times what they originally paid for it when they finally decide to sell since it is essentially within commuting distance of sac.

Crazy stuff.

Average Jae · Mar 2, 2005

housing prices are crazy in the cities, and mad low down south. friend of mine just moved down to atl, ang got a 4 bedroom for under 300k. in michigan, you'd have to pay at least double to get that kinda house.

anyway, congrats on paying off the car Bryan, and hope you land a place that you like, w/ a garage to boot! and living in the city's the way to go. if Detroit was actually a cool city, i'd want to move downtown too! maybe in a decade or so? geesh..

bmwrocks · Mar 3, 2005

You can buy a 3500 sqft tract home in Orlando area for $350-$450. But if you want to stepup to a really nice custom home in the best areas, it will cost you $1-5 million. But for that price you get the nicest custom Florida style home you have ever laid eyes on.

Don't get me wrong, Orlando is way way po-dunk compared to Santa Monica or Beverly Hills class.

salvo · Mar 3, 2005

TheBry said:

How high can it go? What is the highest you will pay for a 2 bdrm condo? I was out last weekend and could not believe the crap selling for 600K! Not to mention half TIC! Crazy. Condos are usually the first to fall when things go south. [bigcry]

Congrats on paying off the car!!

Bmw 325i 7803 · Mar 3, 2005

deutsch100 said:

This means your Z8,X5 4.8, and new M3 are all leases or have car payments remaining??? That's gotta cost a bundle. Oh and why didn't you get the competition package? Congrats on the new M3 [thumb]

Thebry: congrats on the title [thumb]

Got my Title!!

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