Major Purchase Now?

[RobbieB]

Just curious what does your FA guy say?

I don't know, haven't talked to him yet. I do know I'm really glad I sold a hundred grand back in January.

 

[pb4uski]

Boy the car dealers are really in a tough position. I was thinking of buying a new car (Audi) literally the day the market dropped it's first 1000pts. I was negotiating pricing but eventually backed away and held off.

Well, both the sales person plus the general manager both reached out to me this week and basically said their business is falling apart and that they just want to move inventory and will accept pretty much any deal.

Their emails were desperate. Now it could have been sales people being sales people, but I read today that cars are going to do 1.4M sales less this year because of the crash. So perhaps they are desperate.

Well, I still need a new car so I may actually take advantage of this fire sale if they are really serious about just trying to get inventory off their lots. Still thinking it through

But if you are in the market for a car, I would guess all dealers are hurting badly and its a buyers market.

Timely post... as while we are not due for a new car our main vehicle is getting a little long-in-the-tooth for us at approaching 5 years old and 70k miles... before this meltdown I figured that I'd do something near year end.

I wonder how many recently leased cars will be repossessed and flood the used car market with slightly used cars.

In any event, in 3-9 months I suspect there will be some real good deals to be had.

 

[JoeWras]

It had to happen. This morning saw my first "crisis commercial" and it was from Buick.

Actually, I didn't pay too much attention. They weren't doing a hard sell. It was more like the junk mails we get. "We're here for you, Onstar will save the day" or something like that.

 

[aja8888]

It had to happen. This morning saw my first "crisis commercial" and it was from Buick.

Actually, I didn't pay too much attention. They weren't doing a hard sell. It was more like the junk mails we get. "We're here for you, Onstar will save the day" or something like that.

I'm waiting for the "buy one, get one free" deals!

 

[nativenewenglander]

We are moving ahead with our kitchen renovation. Our plan is to have a nice new kitchen all the materials are coming from local companies except appliances. It's an investment in our home, but also in the local economy which really needs it now. I've been buying gift cards from local restaurants to give them some cash and us dinners when things normalize again. Times like this make you reflect and for me I have been Very fortunate in life and business, although retired now, it seems prudent to help where you can.

 

[WyomingLife]

We are moving ahead with our kitchen renovation. Our plan is to have a nice new kitchen all the materials are coming from local companies except appliances. It's an investment in our home, but also in the local economy which really needs it now. I've been buying gift cards from local restaurants to give them some cash and us dinners when things normalize again. Times like this make you reflect and for me I have been Very fortunate in life and business, although retired now, it seems prudent to help where you can.

+1

We are doing the same: renovating the house behind us, which we will turn into an income property. It was a DIY endeavor, but last week we brought on some local labor. The contractors in town are in some amount of economic distress, so if we can help local businesses, we will.

 

[momoftwo]

We'll be going forward with our bath renovation.
Would make me too sad to bail now.

Not a major purchase but we WILL be replacing our just deceased dishwasher ASAP. We are lazy and pretty much dont know how to hand wash dishes so they are actually sanitized.
Will purchase locally.

 

[Tiger8693]

We offered on some land down South 3 weeks ago, which was accepted, and will follow through on the purchase. Build of the house on it however, might delay 3-6 months.

 

[jollystomper]

I'm waiting for the "buy one, get one free" deals!

Didn't this happen during the 2008-2009 depression? I vaguely recall some dealer offering to throw in a subcompact car as part of the deal if one bought a large SUV.

 

[Jerry1]

If I was within a year of thinking about a new car (not used), I’d be out shopping right now for sure. Good pricing and interest free financing . . . time to buy. Of course like anything, you need to know your prices and make sure you get what you want at the price reflecting the situation, but I’d do it. I’m well positioned with vehicles with a 2017 and a 2018 so even though this peaks my bargain hunter interest, this isn’t one I’m going to take advantage of.

 

[Katsmeow]

We are moving ahead with our kitchen renovation.

We'll be going forward with our bath renovation.
Would make me too sad to bail now.

We completed a 6 month renovation of our home in January. So I have just gone through that experience and that causes me a few comments:

1. How will you protect yourself from workers perhaps being contagious? How will you protect workers from you perhaps being contagious? Virus can be passed by asymptomatic people. Lots of people aren't allowing anyone in their house at all, let alone workers who will be there on multiple occasions. Are you really going to allow workers in your house working close to one another and touching your home surfaces, etc.?

2. What happens if you get Covid while the work is going on? Work will have to stop at a minimum for the time you are quarantined. And, that assumes the workers would be willing to come back after you recovered (which may not be a good assumption).

3. What if your local or state government shuts down non-essential business? This is the type of work that could end up being shut down. It is very, very, very difficult to go through remodeling. I can't even imagine what it would have been like to, say, have my master bathroom gutted with a huge hole in the ceiling and the floor and then had the work stop abruptly for what might be months. If you want to take that risk...just make sure you understand that risk exists.

 

[Ready]

We completed a 6 month renovation of our home in January. So I have just gone through that experience and that causes me a few comments:

1. How will you protect yourself from workers perhaps being contagious? How will you protect workers from you perhaps being contagious? Virus can be passed by asymptomatic people. Lots of people aren't allowing anyone in their house at all, let alone workers who will be there on multiple occasions. Are you really going to allow workers in your house working close to one another and touching your home surfaces, etc.?

2. What happens if you get Covid while the work is going on? Work will have to stop at a minimum for the time you are quarantined. And, that assumes the workers would be willing to come back after you recovered (which may not be a good assumption).

3. What if your local or state government shuts down non-essential business? This is the type of work that could end up being shut down. It is very, very, very difficult to go through remodeling. I can't even imagine what it would have been like to, say, have my master bathroom gutted with a huge hole in the ceiling and the floor and then had the work stop abruptly for what might be months. If you want to take that risk...just make sure you understand that risk exists.

Excellent points! I wouldn’t even remotely think about doing a remodel in the middle of all this craziness. There are too many risks from the unknowns of where this is heading and how long it might last.

 

[Just_Steve]

I would hold off long enough to see if I live through the outbreak, seeing as I'm only 60 miles from the US epicenter.

 

[Brian]

I’m currently encouraging my son to move up his timeline from renting an apartment to buying a house in the Minneapolis area. His original timeline was in a couple of years. It’s now within 3 months when his apartment lease is up. I’ve offered up to $50K to help with the down payment.


The only real concern for me is the stability of his employment. He graduated about 2 years ago with a degree in biomedical engineering. He’s at his second firm which he likes very much. Minneapolis is a hub for biomedical engineering firms. So, I’m reasonably confident he’ll stay in the general area. But he could want to change employers which could affect where he wants to live in the Minneapolis area. He moved when he changed jobs. Both times his apartment was less than 15-minute commute.



His current job allowed 1 day a week of telecommuting. It’s currently full time telecommuting due to the current situation. I’m anticipating that firms will be more readily open to greater use of telecommuting after having to learn to adapt to the current situation.

 

[Aerides]

2. What happens if you get Covid while the work is going on? Work will have to stop at a minimum for the time you are quarantined. ...

3. What if your local or state government shuts down non-essential business? ...

These are huge. Everyone now needs a Covid plan. If you get sick, where will you go and where will your spouse/partner/kids be? For us that means the sick person is on "lock down" in the master bed with bath, the other gets the rest of the house and is in charge of food for both.

And do expect that permit offices and inspections are shut down. If not now, tomorrow, or the week after, or the day before you get to that point in the job. You do not want to be stuck with only one bathroom and THEN someone gets sick. Or the Kitchen is dug up and you can't cook.

 

[aja8888]

Didn't this happen during the 2008-2009 depression? I vaguely recall some dealer offering to throw in a subcompact car as part of the deal if one bought a large SUV.

Yes, that happened. I also remember a dealer offering "two for one" Dodge pickups when gas prices went through the roof.

 

[COcheesehead]

We talked with our builder. He went down the list of things in their control and then he got to the building department. He said if they have to shut down, that’s the biggest problem. No inspections. He said there are independent inspectors, but they they will be loaded down.
If the shutdown happens, it will then create a backlog. So those are the risks. A project stop at various points with no clear idea of timelines.

 

[Ready]

Just think about how you will feel if you get the virus and are in the middle of a remodel project. You need to self isolate, which means you can’t be anywhere near the workers. And will the workers even want to finish the project if they find out an infected person is living in the house? And if you have to go to the hospital, then what happens to the project?

And what happens if the workers get sick? What if they keep coming to work because they don’t have symptoms yet and they infect everyone in your household? Why would anyone want to take this on right now?

 

[38Chevy454]

I agree that wait until end of this month, or even better next month, and car dealers and the mfrs will be offering some very good incentive or pricing deals to move cars. Not just for inventory, but for cash flow as well.
The comment about a bunch of repo'd cars in 3-6 months also sounds like a good probability, if you are in the market for used.

 

[Fermion]

The business I manage had a tenant try to pour his own concrete pad for a new grain bin. The result was the most hilarious botched concrete job you've ever seen - too bad I don't have a photo. We forced him to hire a pro to rip out his work and do the job right. You're right - you don't want an amateur doing major concrete work.

This is why we are building our house ourselves but hiring out the foundation.

 

[sengsational]

What about buying a vehicle in the next few months? Good deals ahead?

Just one anecdote: we got a new car a few weeks back and put the old one on cars.com. I priced it aggressively (same car would be $5K on the used car lot, and I priced at $3.5K), but not a single email or call. It's a common car, though; you can find 5 just like it in the vicinity. Ours would be the least expensive, and still zero interest.



The insurance and taxes are only $375 a year, so we're just going to keep it as a backup. Can be used as a gas can, hehe!

 

[Sunset]

I’m currently encouraging my son to move up his timeline from renting an apartment to buying a house in the Minneapolis area. His original timeline was in a couple of years. It’s now within 3 months when his apartment lease is up. I’ve offered up to $50K to help with the down payment.


The only real concern for me is the stability of his employment. He graduated about 2 years ago with a degree in biomedical engineering. He’s at his second firm which he likes very much. Minneapolis is a hub for biomedical engineering firms. So, I’m reasonably confident he’ll stay in the general area. But he could want to change employers which could affect where he wants to live in the Minneapolis area. He moved when he changed jobs. Both times his apartment was less than 15-minute commute.

His current job allowed 1 day a week of telecommuting. It’s currently full time telecommuting due to the current situation. I’m anticipating that firms will be more readily open to greater use of telecommuting after having to learn to adapt to the current situation.

The big risk I see is he graduated 2 yrs ago. What happens when he is offered a 50% raise to move to California for a job ?

I suppose the best thing you could do is talk about his work with him, where he see's the future going, are there better opportunities elsewhere that he is becoming more qualified for due to experience.

 

[Cayman]

How would I evaluate whether to proceed?

Global event hailed by many as "once in a century"

= I'd wait until things shake out a bit.
For many of the reasons others have cited here, and more.

 

[BarbWire]

Friends in NJ are in the middle of a relatively modest kitchen remodel in a 100 y/o house . Electrical is almost done, all the drawer rebuilding and cabinet painting is done. Next: new countertops, new sink hardware, new appliances, new floor.

On Friday the old countertops were pulled off and the sink was disconnected/removed so that the new granite countertops could be templated and a bit of plumbing and damaged wood under the sink replaced. That was to be today's task.

But on Saturday the all the contractors shut down due to the NJ "lockdown" mandate -- and so my friends are left with no kitchen running water and no countertops for the indefinite future.

Oh, and the granite countertops are on hold because the fabricator can't get dust masks....

So yes, these hiccups are happening.

 

[Sunset]

Friends in NJ are in the middle of a relatively modest kitchen remodel in a 100 y/o house . Electrical is almost done, all the drawer rebuilding and cabinet painting is done. Next: new countertops, new sink hardware, new appliances, new floor.

On Friday the old countertops were pulled off and the sink was disconnected/removed so that the new granite countertops could be templated and a bit of plumbing and damaged wood under the sink replaced. That was to be today's task.

But on Saturday the all the contractors shut down due to the NJ "lockdown" mandate -- and so my friends are left with no kitchen running water and no countertops for the indefinite future.

Oh, and the granite countertops are on hold because the fabricator can't get dust masks....

So yes, these hiccups are happening.

Oh, that is really bad... what a horrible way to spend the lockdown.
I'd be on the phone and get the guy to put back a sink that can be used for the next 2 weeks.