ok, i realize that i live in central bumfuck arkansas where 18k a year is big money but i can't believe that the rest of the country is swimming in money either. i just read through a copy of "old car trader" magazine and my eyes are still crossed. hundreds of pages of ads for cars with asking prices in the high multiple thou$ands. most of the cars in this mag have asking prices higher than what i paid for my first house !! i'm not talking chip foose or boyd coddington here, i'm referring to owner built rods and customs for 50K and up. is anybody paying these prices ???
you might check with 1lowgoldchainer and see what he's paying these days......sorry 1low I couldn't help myself p.s. I make about 21,000 a year and can't make ends meet
Short answer, yes Long answer, yes, if the car is well built and runs as good as it looks that is the going rate for high end cars now. Six years ago my dad sold his fiberglass 33 Vicky for 32K and it sold immediatly. For the ammount of response we got on the advert, we probably could have asked over 40 and still gotten it. Anymore a "nice" beater rod will bring 10K or better. Get out of Arkansas, you will understand. Your cost of living is much cheaper than here, 18K is sub poverty level around this town and in SoCal you wouldn't even exist. Its all relative. Here in Phoenix housing is going nutso. People from California are selling their modest three bedroom houses for 200-400 THOUSAND dollars and moving into 200 thousand multi-bedroom, four car garage luxury homes here. That and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some H2 or other bling'd out pimp ride SUV thingie. So its not a stretch to think someone would pay large for a nice hotrod!
Last I heard national average income was more than twice $18K. I paid $28K for my first house, and now days around here that wouldn't be enough for a down payment on anything but a bare lot. The Clintons left Arkansas. Maybe you should too!
I have found myself asking the same questions about all the deep, deep rides I see runnning around here in Houston. It's all credit man. Don't sweat it. Most of the people who can lay down $32k + for a car sing the "I owe" song at the top of their lungs on the way to work. Car payments, house payments, personal loans, credit cards...it's crazy what people get themselves into. Whether they're execs or workin' men, it's become the new warped American way. I don't care how ugly my truck is or how much work I still want to do to my bike, at least they are paid for and I actually OWN them. LOL
[ QUOTE ] People from California are selling their modest three bedroom houses for 200-400 THOUSAND dollars [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, but only if they live in the ghetto.
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] People from California are selling their modest three bedroom houses for 200-400 THOUSAND dollars [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, but only if they live in the ghetto. [/ QUOTE ] Aint, that the truth!! 500K is the base for a 1500 sq ft home in So, Cal.
If things are that cheap in Ark. why not buy up all the old tin you can get your hands on and sell on the internet for big money?
There are the rare hard working business owners, or sons of rich dudes, but yeah, I think this is mostly a testament to the scary amount of credit that we're all able to obtain. I see college kids on 30k dollar choppers as of late, and I KNOW that when they are attending school full time, they aren't working a job that would pay for something like that outright. It's all on payments, and all stretched out over as many years as possible. When people look at my worldly possessions, they probably think I'm living at the poverty level, and I know people a LOT poorer with nicer houses than me, but I guess I like to pay for things before I get them (not my house, but my cars at least) The best thing to do is be thankful you yourself havn't made the choice to dump a huge financial burden on yourself. With the amount of credit people get, and the use of credit cards (rather than watching actual cash money leave your hand) I think people are losing sight of the value of a dollar. So once they ahve been desensitized to spending crazy money, 30k doesn't look so bad for a hotrod.. I LOVE reading the HAMB because it seems like the good ol boy network I'd been looking for for years to keep my projects on the cheap... If you take a look at an old car blue book, you'll see that people are asking WAY over book value on most old cars, hoping to find a chump. My car in concours quality is still worth less than 10k dollars. and I have yet to lay eyes on a private party "concours quality" vehicle, but I've seen a lot of them priced over 25 grand I suppose it's supply and demand at work, and there's a LOT of borrowed money to be gotten from idiots. Citibank OWNS 75% of us.
Big Daddy 31 said the magic word...CREDIT! I know rodders who own more than one "high dollar" rod, purchased against their line of credit. The truly rich guys may plop down $15,000+ in cash for a built up ride, but most of them being sold on e-gay and through classifieds are most likely financed, one way or another. (They can be purchased with cash drawn against your credit limit, or through a loan from the bank or credit union. In this day and age, there's always SOMEONE with an angle to lend you money for things...the interest you pay on these purchases makes somebody ELSE able to afford THEIR toys!) It's all outta MY league, but I know a few people who play that way, so I've learned a bit about it. I'm way too low brow (and low dough!) to travel in such circles...I've always been "cash & carry"!
You guys are all on the right page, man. Here in Motown, it's a close second to LA. A 1000 sq. ft. pad with a single-stall garage goes for 250K in some areas, and almost all the cars in Oakland county are brand new. Funny thing is, you look in the house, and theres-gasp-no furniture. Wonder what's in the fridge, y'know? You gotta stay away from the plastic and the TV-fed lifestyles. I just got outta that trap. Took me a year, but no more credit cards, and man, it feels great. Now I start scroungin for junkyard tin. Ha ha.
I'll tell you what, if you can avoid bad debt, I think you got life in the USA licked... SO many (seemingly intelligent) people get caught in the trap. True, I just signed away 30 years of my life on a house, but I'm talking the 'dont' need it' type of purchases. And what I'm coming to see on the HAMB is that the more you spend on your ride, the harder you get ribbed anyway! Less is more on here I could rant on for days about REAL life when it comes to credit, but I'll save it for another book.. Traditional rodders are a rare breed? People with credit scores over 800 are a rarer breed...
Being in the real estate market for the past 7 years, I have seen it just explode. I bought a home in Riverside, Ca in 2002 and sold it winter of 2003 and made a 140k profit. It was a 1100 sqft home 3 bed, 2 bath 50's ranch. Things are going up everywhere. I just bought my current home 4 bed, 3 bath over 2200sqft in Round Rock for 161k and now I can get 180k in less than 4 months. With rates going up, home prices are going to fall, but not by much. 18k a year doesnt seem to cover anything at all these days......here is the current house I got for 161k
yeah the average house here is somethin like 316 grand. Personally i think I'd rather have a small house w/ a garage thats nicer than the house.
Ya, it's unbelievable what you can get for the money here in Austin compared to SoCal. (well, parts of it anyway) Same deal, my brother-in-law bought a house up there towards round-rock 2650sq ft. large 4-bedroom, 3 car garage, 169K. My other brother-in-law bought a decent older 3-2-2 in Burbank in 94/5. He could probably clear 400K easily on it now. He paid ~235 for it, and I remember thinking, "Man that house wouldn't be worth 90K in Austin."
Don't let it get to you. Stay focused. You can have a HotRod and not spend mega dollars, it's all in what your willing to do and learn to make it happen. As for housing prices, it's gone "ape-shit" everywhere. I have 3 sons, which 2 are in the time-of-there-lives where they would like to have there "own" places. With the income available here in Florida ( and most everywhere else) it will be almost impossible for them to aquire a home with in the next 10-15 years. That is why you see apartment complexes going up all over the place. Advice: Don't buy it unless you can pay for it. Credit: Get it, and keep it Excellant. AHotRod
with the one exception of going crazy with a sears card at christmas 30 years ago i have thankfully been able to live my life without resorting to credit. (ok, i financed half a harley in '73 but i REALLY wanted it.) being a mechanic all my life i've almost always bought my rides on the cheap and fixed them up. this has allowed me to own dozens of bikes, sportscars and customs over the years that pretty much paid for themselves when i sold them. (looking back i really wish i'd kept a few) i guess i've always been a cheap sob but it still blows me away to see what some people will spend on a toy. maybe i just need to build some toys to sell
Yep forget Big Airline government bail outs...just wait till the country's credit busting consumer whoring finally comes due.
In Missouri the income and Real Esate are nowhere near the figures mentioned.My kid just bought a new two stry brick home with 4 acres and two car garage at a tourist site here and it was 210K. A farmer I know here in Elmer just had a NICE large[new] home with stone fireplace and 5 bedrooms/ cedar siding and cedar shingled roof/two story built for 185K.... back to cars......you can scrounge- trade and get the parts[and help from friends] and still build a neat car for a lot less money than they bring.
Sedan dad said it earlier in this thread..take advantage of the differing money values in different parts of the country and buy up all the early Arkansas tin you can find...sell it on Ebay or truck it to either coast. Make money!
i agree buy all you can and resell them. if you don't someone else will. somebody will get a "loan" or put it on there "platinum visa" woo hoo! oh yea credit poor the "new "american way". my junks payed for and was when i bought it. how do these people afford it and why live that way? beats the hell out of me.
The biggest change seems to be on states bordering Ca.We bought a lot in AZ and in 3 yrs it has quadrupled (4X). Lots of folks are hitting retirement and they will pay almost any price .The "great" rates that the banks are offering also fit into the equasion, would you keep $100,000 in the bank at 1.5%, or invest into something tangable that you know will go up, case in point LAND, Im not advocating land per se it could be a nice ride etc, the point is most people have come to the conclusion that its "live for today" enjoy it while you can because tomorrow it'll cost twice as much. Saw a mice Willys at a local show the other day, man paid 50K said he wanted it, its supply and demand, also most people don't have the skills or the time/talent so take out a home equity loan , deduct the intrest and join the party
It's unbelievable what some of these guy's think their ride is worth. Saw a Hercules '33 Woody going down I-75 on a TRAILER with a $95,500 price tag in the window. Pretty car, but DAMN!!
We seem to discuss this a lot around my garage. My wife says you only live once ,She believes that setting on the steps of the rest home in a wheel chair waiting for Bingo with a lot of money in the bank makes no sense. She doesn't want me to borrow a bunch either. She says you don't want to be saying ,"I could have had this or that , I could have went here or there." I'm very lucky ,everything is paid for and I have some $ in my race car -street rod account.Should I just buy a car and start useing it tomorrow or should I spend the winter building and save half of the $. As far as the big houses go ,I have been told that a lot of them do not have much furniture in them ,as they blew their wad on the structure and can't even afford to buy flowers to plant. My neighbors set on the deck and drink beer every night and weekend,then have the guts to tell me I must be rich because of the landscaping and garden that I have,DUH, that stuff is little money and a lot of work . It's all priorities ,what do you want out of life.
hehe, you guys are gonna have a bumpersticker on your 90 foot mobile home that says "This is my kid's inheritance" I love to have toys and have fun, but the stress of wondering how many days it is before Mr. Bank comes to take my toys away is worse than the fun I'd be having I think we've got 8 vehicles parked here at home, so I like toys.. but just cheap ones. It's been said that I can create diamonds from coal with my ass alone, and that when I fart, it's like a dog whistle... It's all those years of my mother dragging me to garage sales, auctions, and Goodwill [ QUOTE ] Little money, lot of work [/ QUOTE ] This is my mantra And yes, people ask me where I get all my money for my toys, and I tell them I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't need fancy clothes, food, or an Xbox even.. Most people have more $$$ tied up in one daily driver than I do my whole fleet.
From someone who's Dad died at 32, I was 5, I learned to enjoy today, cause there might not be a tomorrow. If the moneys in the bank and I want it, I buy it. Don't have the $$ to buy somebodys built car, and doubt I'd want to, but I do buy the parts or tools I want, and my wife is cool with it. Of course I take care of house and family first, but whats left we use for us. I can always sell one of the cars when the kids start college I guess...
The Jalopy Journal
