Consider a 2010 ptt (EDIT- or 911 if you don't need 4 seats) cpo. Less than 1/2 your target price, tons of fun, and a safety net for repairs. If your credit is good it can make sense to have a small down payment.

Or save 70k cash, alongside building a portfolio and paying off the student loans.

Might want to settle into your cash flow first.

 

SF is way way over priced. I personally wouldn't live there even if I got a great price considering all the wacky laws in SF.

I rather stick to Peninsula or move towards southbay within 280, for 1.75Mil I can get bigger better homes and larger parcel of land.

 

Some Great advice in this thread!!!! My advice.... INVEST!!! INVEST!!! INVEST!!!

I own a 2001 ML320 and 2005 BMW 645Ci and at the end of the day there will always be new cars with new bells and whistles. Just because careful and financially aware of your decisions.

I wish I could turn back the hands of time to when I was fresh out of college. With the knowledge I have now, I should've been building my real estate portfolio (multi-units.. buy and holds... etc.. etc). Also, heavier stock/option trading and investing in the stock market.

My opinion again... I think the key is to create as much passive income / positive income as you can!!! Thus, you can leverage corporate america in your favor as an option and not a necessity. I've met so many engineers that are brilliant but felt "trapped" because they acquired so much debt that did not yield a return.

@Gus_Smedstad, did you invest in the stock market and or real estate? Did you go through a broker? I apologize if I'm getting to personal. Many people tend to keep that information private.

I plan to purchase some investment property in Providence, RI and Balitmore hopefully in the next 4-8 months if everything goes according to plan.

 

I'm entirely invested in individual stocks. Well, and some bond funds right now, because valuations are sky-high and it's been difficult to find prospects recently. That'll change, of course.

I have a brokerage account, but I don't think that's what you're asking. If by "going through a broker" you're asking if I let a broker make decisions for me, the answer is no. My mother-in-law does that these days because she decided that stock research was too much work.

I did look at apartment rental properties a few years back, but couldn't find an investment where I'd be comfortable. They all seemed priced based on the assumption of future appreciation, and I don't feel confident in my ability to predict that for real estate in either direction.