Well, I have historically thrown money at cars. They are my biggest vice. Years ago, I set aside a generous “car fund.” From that I would incur all my purchase and service obligatios for a car (not gas, car washes etc). My rule was that once I deplete it to zero, I have to be more modest in my purchases. I have never looked at a car as any sort of investment, but a big waste of money. I don’t gamble or have some other vice that is impractical. So for me it is cars. I never expect to make $$ on a car.
But as FLU sugests, sometimes there is an arbitrage opportunity there and I have been able to add to that car fund. 90% of cars I have sold I sold at a loss, of course. But others, I have actually made money on. And they range from a few beaters I bought while in grad school for $500 or so and then sold for just under $1,000 to my Ferrarri, Aston and E39 M5 which I owned for 4 months and then sold for $34k above MSRP, which was what I paid. I was patient enough to wait on the wait list for 3.5 yrs to get one. But at the time, every Silicon Valley .com millionaire had to have one, and I was happy to oblige and part with it for a nice profit. That will probably never happen again, but over the years, my car fund has not dropped as much as I thought it would.
As for realtors, give them a break. They have to make money. I get frustated with them like everybody else. They are not all snakes. Many are hard working family people who are our neighbors. I find as a buyer, that the selling agent is on my side more than the buyer agent, or so it seems to me sometimes anyway. The selling agent must churn inventory and so is (or should be) less concerned with getting the highest price relatively speaking than selling ASAP, particularly in this market. The buyer agent needs to get the best price for the best commission because once she is with you, she is with you until you buy.
I have been in the market long enough and toured enough homes to know that agents lie, and they lie a lot. But they are hungry, and in the end, it is your $$ and it is up to you to do your homework. I have had a stock broker for decades. He is the best. But I have never made a buy decision based on his advice. It has always been an investment on a company I researched and knew a lot about. Even my money managers have to have my investment philosophy.
Agents have to tell you the market is bottoming out and that there is a lot of buyer activity, their own lives depend on it. They would also be fuling the fire to unsettle prices if they speak in armagedon toung. They have to try to stabalize the market with rhetoric, it is their duty to.
