Future interest in brass era cars

[mrcvs]

Where do you see this going?

 

I mean, I think the best of the best stuff will go ever higher.  But that's never been the size of my wallet.

 

So, for the more average stuff.

 

This came up in another thread.  It has been more and more apparent that the old car hobby is more a real estate game than anything.  Having lost my storage space, I have an old car for sale, although not brass era.  I've been looking for the right property for this the better part of a decade, and have, so far, come up empty handed.  I am where I live because of my job and any properties with land and outbuildings are prohibitively expensive.

 

So, I stated that my NEXT old car will be brass, but this is years or decades away.  And this might not be a bad thing as less interest in brass cars over time means the longer I wait, the less it will cost me (or I can get more for the same money).

 

What do you think?

[trimacar]

The longer you wait, the fewer meets and shows and tours you attend, so it costs you time and friends.

 

Money is nothing.  Time is everything.

 

So, if you keep waiting and waiting for the market to crash, then you can lay on your deathbed and say "gee, sure wish I'd  done this or that", or, you can do this or that NOW and have the memories.

 

Nothing else matters in the end, or at the end.

[Matt Harwood]

18 minutes ago, trimacar said:

The longer you wait, the fewer meets and shows and tours you attend, so it costs you time and friends.

 

Money is nothing.  Time is everything.

 

So, if you keep waiting and waiting for the market to crash, then you can lay on your deathbed and say "gee, sure wish I'd  done this or that", or, you can do this or that NOW and have the memories.

 

Nothing else matters in the end, or at the end.

 

[mrcvs]

19 minutes ago, trimacar said:

The longer you wait, the fewer meets and shows and tours you attend, so it costs you time and friends.

 

Money is nothing.  Time is everything.

 

So, if you keep waiting and waiting for the market to crash, then you can lay on your deathbed and say "gee, sure wish I'd  done this or that", or, you can do this or that NOW and have the memories.

 

Nothing else matters in the end, or at the end.

I certainly agree with that.  But, I have no where to keep it.

 

It's going to be the better part of a decade, if not more, before I sort out the real estate issue.  It might have to wait until I retire.

[1937hd45]

On 9/8/2019 at 8:07 PM, mrcvs said:

I certainly agree with that.  But, I have no where to keep it.

 

It's going to be the better part of a decade, if not more, before I sort out the real estate issue.  It might have to wait until I retire.

 

 

Are you good with tools now, or will you have to learn to use them in the next 10-20 years? 

Edited September 11, 2019 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

How are you going to guarantee that your situation is different 10 years from now? One thing I've learned that if you keep thinking that tomorrow is going to be different, you will spend a lot of time waiting for a change that will never come. I spent most of my 20s and 30s with a good woman who kept promising that after this next hurdle was cleared, everything would change. If we just finish the kitchen... if we just finish the bathroom... if we just move into that other house... as soon as you get that promotion at work... as soon as we have enough savings... Pretty soon I was 40 years old and all the things I really wanted kept getting pushed aside for things I didn't care about because of the promise of a better tomorrow. The she left and I lost my job and my house and had nothing and had to start all over while living in my father's attic.

 

I'm done hoping tomorrow will be better. I'm doing better todays instead and I'm so much happier. I'm not stupid with my money, my family gets fed, our bills get paid, but if I want to buy a car and enjoy it, well, I do it. I bought a car last year and it burned my savings down to $0 yet the car ended up a total loss. Nevertheless, I'm OK with that. Tomorrow I might have cancer or lose a leg or go blind or go bankrupt. I look at so many old retired guys who "finally" have their chance to work on cars and drive on tours, and they're just too old and frail to do it and get too tired trying. So they don't. They waited their whole lives for it and now they can't do it. 

Well screw that.

 

Get busy living or get busy dying.

                              -Red

[mrcvs]

I should be retired within 10 years.  I can then sell my house and move somewhere where I can afford outbuildings and land.

 

I can GUARANTEE you that I WILL NOT be living in the area I live in once retired.  Although other areas are far worse, taxes are high as is the cost of real estate.

 

The Brass Era, for me, shall begin circa 2030.

[alsfarms]

Good luck with that!  How old will you be in 10 years?

[mrcvs]

59.  I live beneath my means and save the maximum towards retirement.  It means I have much less expendable income than most, but I will be retired earlier than most as well.

[Marty Roth]

On 9/11/2019 at 6:45 PM, mrcvs said:

59.  I live beneath my means and save the maximum towards retirement.  It means I have much less expendable income than most, but I will be retired earlier than most as well.

 

Take what you got from the sale of your Model-A,

Invest it in something very safe, such as your credit union,

then while the rest of us are touring with our old cars and our family and many fine friends we've made through this great hobby,

you can tell us how much enjoyment your CDs bring you .

 

Most of us are not of extreme wealth,

but many of us view the hobby as a way to share with family,

and visit far-flung areas of the country,

and to share ourpassion for the hobby with the public

while doing so on a generally modest but controlled budget.

 

We, my wife and I, didn't wait for retirement.

We saw what happened to others, and sometimes "tomorrow" never comes.

We started off with basic, but desireable cars we really liked.

We toured locally, and then nationally when our children were very young,

and continued as they were able to become the tour driver ,

as was also the case for our now-college-senior grandson.

 Now we're dealing with my soon to wear out 4th pacemaker,

and my bride of 50 years' liver cancer.

No regrets - 

No "wish we would'a, could'a, should'a"

Life is what you make it.

Half-empty - or - half full?

I know which I prefer.

 

PS:

Our collection has become the best part of our retirement plan,

 bring much more pleasure,

are more fun to drive than an IRA,

and didn't lose significant value in 2001 and 2008

 

 

[mrcvs]

I would...but I'm stuck!

 

Real estate issues first, antique cars later.

 

Not the answer I want to give, but I already put the cart before the horse and it created a great deal of angst.

[1912Staver]

 And remember it's not just your health. My wife is only 55 and already having serious arthritis and knee , hip , shoulder problems. 25 years as a Nurse plus bad genetics are really changing her { our } life. She was very onboard to our semi rural location when we bought it . We bought a very so - so house on a nice piece of land as it was the property we were both attracted to , her for animals, me for my automotive hobby.  At the time we assumed as our careers progressed we would eventually build a decent house and a useful shop. Then came 25 years of wages steadily falling short of matching inflation. What should have been a decent combined income over time became little more than just enough . Definitely no possibility of building a new house.

 Now she is very limited in how much outdoors is possible. Lots of rain all winter so the yard is slippery with mud much of the year. A serious hazard to someone with mobility and joint problems.  So she is more or less limited to a pretty lousy house and her attitude toward rural living has made a 180 degree change.

 Retirement has drastically reduced my hobby money , I still need a proper shop instead of the collection of leaky storage sheds that I now am limited to. And the cost of building anything is sky high , just like everything in British Columbia.  A friend had a very nice 3 car shop with a upstairs { very Spartan} suite for his Son  built recently , $85,000.00. I if I really scrimp can probably set aside $700.00 / month. That's all my money for a lot of months.

 But were we to sell the only thing she would be interested in would be a condo, essentially  the end of my hobby. In this part of the world a nicer condo is roughly the same value as our acre with a crappy house. Or for that mater a " average " house on a good sized city lot with a shop..  Nearly anyone thinking of buying our place would consider the house a tear down. Then $600,00.00  - $700,000.00 to build a new house. That's just how much things cost around here. The upgrades to our septic and well necessary for a new house would be around $60,00.00 right off the top. Eventually I am going to have to do the well anyway , $20,000.00 ballpark but the septic is legal for the existing house. Just to do a sideways , apples to apples property sale after legal costs, relator commission , and property purchase tax on the new place is approximately $80,000.00 right off the top of the selling price of the existing property.  So even if you bought and sold two property's for exactly the same price you now would have a additional $80,000.00 mortgage. And no , mortgage interest is not a tax deduction in Canada, it comes straight out of your pocket.

  25 % of the people in this area have no money troubles at all, the rest are slowly losing the war of stagnant wages and rising prices.  A definite no win for us. 

A nice house on an acre with a decent car hobby shop is our place plus at least an additional $750,000.00. Not going to happen in this lifetime.

 We also still have aging parents locally and all that comes along with that. My Father passed away last Christmas however the other three are still probably going to be around for some time to come. 

 

Matt, I agree 100% with everything you are saying. But you have the real estate / shop space Dragon slain. Cars are / can be easy and relatively cheap. As little as $10,000.00 can get you behind the wheel of a hobby car. I just bought the overall lifetime goal of my hobby interest as a light project for $7,500.00 USD. Probably another $7,500 and its done, no it does not need paint , chrome or interior work. 

  It's the land / shop part of the basics that depending on where you live is sometimes a problem several times as expensive to solve as the cost of the car itself. No one size fits all solution to overall hobby costs. They vary enormously around North America.

 

Greg

Edited September 22, 2019 by 1912Staver (see edit history)