Is It Really Worth It to Have a House and Car if I'm OTR for the Foreseeable Future?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by DARKNIGHTRUCKER, May 17, 2021.

  1. Linte_Loco

    Linte_Loco Road Train Member

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    That’s the point. Nobody knows when. But one certainly can be ready to strike. I did last spring. Now the rent on my FL home pays for my AL home. I was gonna buy a new truck cash, but I went with the safe investment for now
     
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  3. Moose1958

    Moose1958 Road Train Member

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    This question is akin to asking what Cell phone carrier you prefer. Or what brand of beer do you like. Every one of us has different outlooks on things that while might not be right for another is perfect for you! So the question was is it worth it? Well, that simply depends. It's like most everything else in life, there is NO one size fits all answers on everything.
     
  4. Phenomenal

    Phenomenal Light Load Member

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    I have nothing to add other than I am in the same boat.

    I'm OTR now 2 years and don't have car. I go home about every three months so I just rent with Enterprise. Before Covid they would pick up/drop off at my terminal. Now I have to walk about 15 minutes to their rental location. Makes no sense to me to own. IMHO. Uber and Lyft are everywhere... I only had one issue in rural Iowa where I couldn't get a ride when I needed a car during a reset.

    I've been able to save alot of $$$.

    If I didn't have a townhouse for the kids (and me even though I'm never there) I'd be banking that monthly rental cost too!

    Pretty soon they will be independent I can drop that monthly rent.
     
  5. Cdubb

    Cdubb Light Load Member

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    I’m not sure what the housing market is out where you are is but buying now is a double edged sword. Interest rates are very low for now but the housing market around here is very inflated price wise, 60k houses are 100k houses right now and people will overpay 20% to secure the home. The house I was looking at was like this and my loan officer even said how insane things are right now. If I was OTR I wouldn’t buy right now, keep an eye on Zillow and such in the area you want to settle in but I wouldn’t want to buy unless a real steal came up. But it comes down to your goals in this business, if you can find steady local work or want to become an O/O eventually then that’s changes things for sure.

    Now I had a guy I was in CDL school with that had a schedule like yours that bought a house once he was solo with his first company. He did double and triple house payments to pay it off quick and gave himself an allowance of like $20 a day for himself and everything else went to bills and his house. He paid that house off in like a year and a half and now is a mail carrier for USPS and doesn’t plan to drive a semi again. It’s not a bad idea but I would be very cautious of buying right now.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2021
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  6. buddyd157

    buddyd157 Road Train Member

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    i have friends AND family all across this nation. and i NEVER stopped at any of thier homes for a second, let alone "up to a few days".
    that's not only rude, it's intrusive.

    i had a sleeper truck, in my earlier years. i had a credit card. i'd stay at some roadside no-tell-motel. one nearby a diner of some sort.

    you say now that you are single and "have no plans" to have a wife or kids......dash those plans, someday, when you least expect it...BAM......you got a wife and kids.

    having a "home base" is for you benefit for your mail, tax purposes, and if an owned home, appreciation of value.

    even an apartment, gives you a place to "crash at", cuz you will sicken and tire of the road.

    i used to hear that all the time when i taught truck driving at 2 CDL schools near me..

    "oh i ain't got no wife, no kids, no nothing, i can stay out forever".....

    and then, those were the ones "visiting me" at the schools, asking me if i knew of any great local jobs, cuz they could not stand being on the road for so long..........and i never helped them finding local work....any great local jobs? i'd take them first.

    take that, for what it's worth.........
     
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  7. WorldAtlas

    WorldAtlas Bobtail Member

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    DarkKnight, like you said if you have a family, you need the house and car. If you're single, I would say no. I sold my car and dropped the lease on my apartment and sold my furniture. Saved a fortune. You can rent a car the very little bit you might need one and as others have said get a nice hotel. I would recommend considering a mailbox at a UPS store. One issue you will find is people you do business with won't like you not having an address. So the mailbox can resolve that. I do not lie about it if asked, but I do not offer that it is a mailbox either. A lot of the addresses look like apartment numbers. If family or friends will let you use theirs that could work, but I never wanted to dump my mail on family and add to their burden and also didn't trust them not to mix it up and lose it lol. At any rate, the savings you will put back in your pocket without a car and house will really fatten the bank account over time and open up a lot of options down the road. Just my two cents :)
     
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  8. Lennythedriver

    Lennythedriver Road Train Member

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    This is the way I view it. You got “Gypsies” in your blood in order to be a true long term OTR driver. It’s a lifestyle. Setup the rest of your life to be easy and free if you can, my advice, get a tiny home or RV on a piece of paid for land someplace you like. Live cheap and simple. Invest, with your extra money.

    there’s no real true reason to maintain a house with all its bills and maintenance and everything else we are only going to be home maybe 3 to 5 days out of the month.

    I run two weeks on two weeks off now. My plan to to setup a stealth van to live out of when I’m off and live anywhere, for almost free.
     
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  9. Laatl8

    Laatl8 Bobtail Member

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    Feb 10, 2021
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    not sure how old you are but I’m 28. Worked part time sales while I was in college from 2014-2020 (I dropped out for a little while). My credit went from 480 to 720 then back to 600 then finally up to 680 when I bought in 2020. Had about 4000 saved up.

    1. Some places offer down payment assistance for first time home buyers

    2. You only need 3.5% down & I bought a nice house in a ####ty neighborhood in Atlanta so I didn’t over pay.

    Ask yourself how long it’ll take you to save 3.5% of the price of the house you want. Fixing your credit is easier than it appears. Lower expenses elsewhere, use that difference to pay down debts & just wait a little bit.

    good luck
     
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  10. Atlanta trucker

    Atlanta trucker Road Train Member

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    VTSAX contains over 50% of my NIA - net invistable assets. Roughly 40% is invested in Vangaurd total growth fund and Vangaurd small cap growth fund with Vangaurd federal money market fund acting as the sweep account / short term storage. I keep roughly 1 years worth of gross income in several savings accounts and checking accounts.

    If you can save $500.00 per week , week in and week out and invest the majority of it in index mutual funds it will turn in to a nice sum of money after 20 years. Do it for 40 years and its tee time at your favorite country club in your favorite gated private community.
     
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  11. Atlanta trucker

    Atlanta trucker Road Train Member

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    Live like no one else so , someday you can live like no one else.
     
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