General Question

Poser's avatar

Should I buy a house or a boat?

Asked by Poser (7808points) March 31st, 2008

I’ve always dreamed of living on a sailboat. I’m coming up on a point in my life where renting an apartment is no longer an appealing option for me, financially or otherwise. So I’m left with a dilemma. Do I follow my dream (as this may feasibly be the last time in my life I can do it—at least until retirement), or take the responsible path and buy a house?

Consider the following: a house/condo in the area in which I would be buying will more than likely appreciate in value. Whether it does or not, once I have to move, it wouldn’t be too difficult to rent out as a form of passive income. A sailboat will almost certainly depreciate, but the monthly payments/slip fees will be half (or less) than that of a mortgage.

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24 Answers

Perchik's avatar

Hehe I’d go withe the boat, but I’ve also had a similar dream for a long time.

nocountry2's avatar

Follow your dream – it may lead to your dream life, who knows?

And props for your topics :0

lovelyy's avatar

I think if you’re married go for the house, If not why rush, go for your dream get the boat.

DeezerQueue's avatar

Have you ever lived on a boat before? I would recommend renting one perhaps for a month or longer to see if it’s a lifestyle that suits you.

I think there’s a lot of extra maintenance involved just to live, such as water and sanitation issues.

simone54's avatar

A houseboat.

glial's avatar

There is a saying I have heard more than once.

The second happiest day of your life is the day you buy a sailboat.

cornman's avatar

And the happiest day….......?

ishotthesheriff's avatar

follow the road less traveled.

cliche. . .

8lightminutesaway's avatar

Go with the boat. Its risky, but whats life worth if you don’t take risks? whats life worth if you do what everyone else does?

scamp's avatar

I say buy the boat. You can always use the money you save by not having a rent or mortage payment to buy a house later if it doesn’t pan out for you.

fireant4040's avatar

Get the boat like everyone else is saying, but they’re idiots. A house is going to go up in value and its a buyers market right now. You’ll be alot better off financially know youve got thousands in equity after only a few years of owning your home. Then you buy the boat.

scamp's avatar

Idiots? @fireant4040 That’s not the best way to start in a new site.

glial's avatar

the happiest is the day you sell it. :-)

ishotthesheriff's avatar

don’t think about things in a profit kind of way like fireant.
who says you’ll be around in a few years when you’ll supposedly have the money to buy a boat.
you only live once.
“if you’ve got something to give, people wanna help you live”

go for it man.

Poser's avatar

Well I was leaning more toward the house. But you’ve all inspired me. Besides, when have I ever done the responsible thing?

Oh, wait. Ya’ll don’t know me. The answer I was looking for was never.

Thanks for all the input!

Captain_Tetanus's avatar

The answer lies with the sort of person you are. If you prefer adventure and happiness over safety and security then the boat is for you. If not, go with the house.

I’d go with the sailboat, I’d love to live on a sailboat or a houseboat (or even better an awesome catamaran like the one in Waterworld, semi-crappy movie but an awesome boat).

What sort of job do you have? Will you have any problems finding another job near water if you were to be laid off?

Obviously if you’re married or in any kind of relationship you plan to stay in the decision is pretty much up to that person. Boats certainly aren’t for everyone.

I lived in the US Virgin Islands for a while in my teens and I really wanted to lived on a boat. I’d see the people getting into their dinghies and coming to shore. What a cool way to go to the store! The ability to sail away, to take your home along, to never have to return, to be able to use the wind to get where you’re going. Awesome.

Poser's avatar

@poop_master—(Weird handle, btw—I just have to say. It reminds me of The Poopsmith, But I digress) Those are all the things that drew me to sailing. Once I was in a bar in St. Martin, and met a couple who just sailed around the world. They would stop for a while when they found somewhere they liked, get jobs to save up some cash and then move on. It sounded like heaven to me.

As for my job, I’m in the Navy, so staying near water shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

gooch's avatar

Go for the the house its a better investment. The boat is a money pit.

Perchik's avatar

I hope that I have the ability to ask this question some time in my life. Just knowing that I could live in a sailboat would be awesome. I still vote for the boat.

scamp's avatar

Poser, I wish you all the best whatever you decide to go with. And either way, I hope you get your boat one day!

fireant4040's avatar

@scamp. I’m sorry…I’m not a fluther nerd.

scamp's avatar

@fireant4040 I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I don’t think it’s“nerdy” to have common respect for the members here. It was rude calling people idiots, and it doesn’t take a nerd to realize that.

waterbaby's avatar

I think you should ABSOLUTELY live on a sailboat for awhile before buying. I have spent months on a sailboat and you need to know exactly what you are getting into. If you are comfortable with a very minimalist lifestyle, you should be just fine. But it’s the little things like possibly having to show your guests how to work the “head” before they go to the bathroom, not fully being able to stand up in half of your living space, dealing with very little storage, and as someone else mentioned, paying to maintain the boat. I love sailing and the boating lifestyle, but I probably wouldn’t choose to live on a boat for an extended amount of time unless I was living in the South Pacific somewhere, (dream away…) but it wouldn’t be permanent.
Final Analysis: Try it out, see what you think. Sailing itself is always worth your time and money. If you need to live on a sailboat to afford a boat and decide that you can handle the lifestyle, go for it!!

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