Generations and generations of our older folks have always advised us against buying our first car before our first house. Now, for the serious petrol-head, that is as unacceptable as Lindsay Lohan without makeup.
We need the car, we don't just want one. We are prepared to live in our cars. If you don't agree to these Terms and Conditions, you just aren't a petrol-head and you don't have to read this anymore.
Right, Now to business.
The house; I'll be quoting as an example will be a conventional 3 room HDB flat located in the favourable Bishan/Ang Mo Kio area. The car the house is going against, is a Ferrari. Any one in fact. The F430, the California or the 599. But for simplicity sake, I'm going to use the F430.
Of course, the house looks like the obvious choice. But is it? Well lets find out.
For a HDB flat in Bishan or Ang Mo Kio that is going to set you back roughly S$450,000 just for a box in the sky. Then you still have legal fees to pay, not to mention your time spent running around on buses and trains (since you don't have a car) to find that dream home of yours.
Time is money my friends and with the 2 or 3, maybe even 6 months of looking around you could have invested in the stock market, started a business. Anything! But no, you were burning fuel in the buses, spending sleepless nights thinking whether a house facing North or South was better for your future leather couch. Then, you'd need another S$100,000 to do up the house decently so that you will actually want to stay there.
That is already S$550,000 gone into the house, not counting the time you spent, your transport costs and the sleepless nights. Things are looking bleak for our older folks' advice. However, what you do get at the end is a nice loft, a place to stay and more importantly, your girlfriend can marry you.
So what about the Ferrari?
Let me demonstrate the ease of the entire transaction. While you were running around in your bus or train, I simply switched on my computer, went to the particularly popular website called SgCarMart and typed in “Ferrari F430” under the Used section.
In about a second or two, 3 options popped up in front of me. I could get one for S$530,000 with only 13,000km mileage and not to mention I could haggle for less. Call up the seller and that's it! That is already S$20,000 less than the house. And don't forget, you now have a Ferrari. How many people can ever say that in their lives? I would prefer to sleep in the car rather than my own bed.
To keep this post balanced, let me elaborate on the negative end of buying a Ferrari. Well there aren't any.
advice, house vs ferrari, f430 and 7 more...
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