Should I Buy A House Or Car First: Growth is not severable from decision-making. Thus, every step in life is all about taking decisions. And at every point of taking a decision, no matter how insignificant the situation may seem, such decisions always play a determining role in the person’s life thenceforth.
A decision as simple as simple as either buying a car or a house first falls in this category. Every decision must be guided by interests and the existing circumstances. First, for one to have been placed before two options of buying either a car or house first shows that the person has the means to achieve either of the options.
The person might as well be capable of buying both at once. But the question is, after the purchase, what next? Both cars and houses do cost a lot of money, although houses cost a lot than cars. Well, it depends. There are luxurious cars too which cost more than houses or fall within the price ranges of houses.
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In all cases, the decision must be taken with utmost regards to the person’s need and circumstance. Generally, cars are seen as liabilities whereas houses are considered assets. Being a liability, cars cost a lot to maintain.
In fact, one’s capacity to own a car is measured by his financial capacity to maintain it, because the question is, after purchasing a car, what next? If you do not have a steady income flow to enable you maintain your car, then buying the car may be a bad idea.
However, car is an utmost necessity. Having a means of mobility is utterly important. It saves you a lot of time, saves you embarrassments that are occasionally encountered in a public transport and offers you convenience.
Owning a car and driving it to your destinations protects you from being found under the direct heat of the sun always. That’s a lot of preservation for your skin cells. And if your circumstance is such that the need for car is imminent, maybe for your growth, job security and so on, then getting a car first is absolutely recommended.
Regards must be had to your financial capacity to maintain the car. You may need to opt in for cars that cost less to maintain if that is the case. Still on the consideration of needs, it is also possible for one to desire owing a car in order to use it for business.
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The need could be a kind of investment. People buy cars and rent it to drivers for transportation business, after which they pay the owner an agreed commission periodically.
This is a popular practice nowadays. The contract can also be on a hire or hire purchase; the latter being a form of investment for higher income to be received in smaller rolls. Where this is the case, then there is absolutely a good cause to buy the car first.
On the other hand, houses are equally necessities. The necessity would be extreme if the person has no shelter, or maybe has a shelter which does not have an adequate space for the household. This boils down to the consideration of needs as well.
Where shelter is ultimately needed, it won’t be wise for one to buy car first. Shelter is a basic need of life; cars are just secondary needs. Therefore, in all cases where the need for shelter and the need for car arise, getting a house must be considered first.
Generally, houses are less costly to maintain, unlike cars which require day-to-day maintenance and emergencies. Of course, houses cost money to maintain, but the basic maintenance does not. Most that is required for basic maintenance of a house is preservation.
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Houses do not require day-to-day repairs. More so, houses are assets. They rather appreciate in value than depreciate. Even a demolished building still has great monetary value because it is built on a land which is an asset itself.
On the other hand, all that cars do is to depreciate in value. The value of cars never appreciates, hence they are liabilities properly called. A lot is spent maintaining cars and yet, they cannot be sold at a price higher than they were purchased except in peculiar circumstances of economic depression and inflation.
Even in such cases, the value is ultimately not made better when the general statistics of the inflation is measured and compared to the era when it was bought. And worse is that many car brands do not have second-hand value. And also, cars easily go out of trend because more cars are massively produced every day.
Houses, however, are usually not quick to go out of trend. Even when it does, the value does not necessarily depreciate, hence it is an asset properly called.
More so, the structural designs of houses can still be altered to meet the modern trend. These are factors to weigh the balances before one should arrive at the decision as to whether to buy a house or a car first.
Houses are equally bought in the course of business. One who is into real estate business whether part time or fulltime is basically guided by the need to purchase a house and sell it at a profitable price.
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In such a case, investing on real estate gives him the hope of buying many other houses and cars from his profit in future.
The above points are summarized thus:
1. Before taking any decision in this regard, it is necessary to understand that houses and cars are assets and liabilities respectively. In essence, the import of properties being considered assets or liabilities is clear.
Whilst the former has value and is capable of generating cash flows, the latter attracts expenditures without yielding profits.
2. It is important to understand that even though houses cost much more than cars generally (that is depending on whether the cars are luxurious or normal), the cost of maintenance for cars is economically unfriendly than that of houses.
Whilst cars require every day maintenance and emergencies, the maintenance of a house is usually periodic.
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3. It is also important to weigh some considerations on the purpose of the house and car and their potential to generate income. In a case where either of them is to be used to generate income, it is recommended that the one which has the potential to generate income should be purchased first.
4. In all cases and at all times, the degree of the need for either a house or a car should be considered. And where both needs are overwhelming, then it would be wise to get a house (shelter) first. This fourth consideration is the ultimate.
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Conclusion
It is undoubted that the value of real estate is incomparable to a liability such as car, and this is because real estate is futuristic, sustainable and appreciates in value as time propels.
But this is not the ultimate consideration when one is indecisive as to whether to buy a house or car first. The ultimate consideration is rather holistic. Thus, every factor in the given circumstance should be wholly considered; the ultimate consideration being the need peculiar to that given circumstance.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.