Originally Posted by JeepaRoo

im not certain in this market that buying a house is a good financial decision other than it does give you a place to call your own and a sense of stability rather than going from apartment to apartment....

I do commend you for keeping priorities and thinking about such things as your kid, and soon to be wife.. however.. there is also another thought..

I bought my first house in 2004 (the one I own now).. I was excited, had it built from the ground up...

I sold a classic 1976 eldorado convertible, and also with some inheritance money put some money down and bought the new house....

the builder offered me a no money down option, however I put down somewhere between 18 and 19 percent just because I felt that was the right thing to do.

shortly after moving in I hit the magic 20% equity and my PMI was gone.. sitting at a 5.5% fixed 30 year rate I felt pretty good....

then the housing bust happened.....

I recently got a thing in the mail that I could re-fi my mortgage to a 3.75% fixed term 30 yr.. so I called....

an appraisor did an outside walk around half-wit appraisal.. and they asked questions about the house....

in the 6 years ive owned it, ive installed a complete state of the art hybrid HVAC zoned system, done landscaping, replaced carpet with solid oak floors, all the lighting is GREATLY upgraded.., security system, cameras, monitored fire protection, kept the yard nice.. yada yada...

what i got back from the bank was them telling me that after all those improvements, and the 18% down, and 6 years of payments.. that I am at NEGATIVE EQUITY!! because the values in my area have plummeted THAT MUCH!!!.. so they couldnt approve the loan unless I were to RE_MAKE!! a 20%+ down payment..... (that 3.5 rate is based on 20% equity).. doesnt matter that I make great money, credit is good, etc....

so to you I would say... screw what everyone tells you about home ownership, the future, etc because we really have no idea what is going to happen... and I would go down, take advantage of low finance rates, the fact you have a good job, and order you that brand new JK you want!.. or pick up a 2010 for an even better deal! and enjoy it.....

granted, I would not take any money out of a 401k or such to buy the JK.. but I also wouldnt save forever only to find something else happens....

and yes I like my house very much and have no intentions of walking away from it and making the situation worse for other homeowners.. however the next house i buy will probably not have me skrimping and saving for any bigger down payment than i have to.. to get the keys...

-Christopher

Originally Posted by tpm152

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles with your house, but it is now a buyers market now compared to a sellers market in '04 before the recession when you bought your house. He can buy a house right now at rock bottom prices and the value is only going to go UP from here. So now more than any other time buying a house if you are planning on staying there for more than a few years is a really wise investment.

Originally Posted by kaffeene

Well that's the question. I'll just share a few thoughts since they've been on my mind a lot, and to explain why I've been a member of this forum for over 3.5 years and STILL don't have a JK.

In February of 2007 my 95 YJ that I built up so beautifully was wrecked. I immediately joined this forum and began to part my Jeep despite having major wrist surgery and working with only one hand. The plan was to part what was left of my YJ and use that towards a decent down payment for a new JK plus a few months of saving. So by summer I finally had a bit over 30% to put down on a Rubicon Unlimited. It was then that I decided to start putting money away towards a house considering my circumstances at the time. So I basically rolled over my JK down payment into my new house fund. Wanted a JK but house is more important.

After almost 2 years of saving I found a house at a great time in the buyers market. So then all my money after moving in went to house projects. (Home Depot) I thought well I can put my first time home buyers credit towards a Jeep but then that was quickly reserved towards my wedding (which is not yet planned). Then of course my fiancee and I have a 3 year old too... but now she just graduated and should hopefully be making good money soon... after an extern-ship. Work seems to be picking up for me sooo.... My plan is to now start saving again for that down payment and hopefully get a JK sometime in spring or early summer... provided that the stars align, pigs fly and dirt turns to gold dust. Well we'll see. Maybe by that time the JK will get a better engine. Until then I'll just keep drooling over other peoples Wranglers, circling parts in catalogs and waiting patiently.