Hi folks,

Still settling in now that I am back in the UK so been doing a bit of unpacking and stuff since moving back. I hope everyone is OK as I haven't had much time to go on-line?

Whilst off-line I have been thinking about having a place of my own. I suppose I have been a little pissed about the shit you have to put up with when renting a house. Even without the rent being dead money, you have a constant pain in the arse with the inspections invading you privacy. The fact that we not allowed to even change electric suppliers without a written consent from our landlord has made me think about the unthinkable.

I been collecting Star wars since the early 90s so I have amassed a big collection. I am wondering if I should liquidate this in order to get a mortgage deposit saved?

I was wandering if any one else had or is thinking about the same?

I don't want to stop collecting and if I did sell up for a deposit, I would most cetainly try to get it all back again over the next 20 years again. But I am wondering how I will handle giving up some the pieces of my collection.

When I started there was no internet access available and the only way to get a complete set of star wars figures was to network with dealers overe the phone, check the toys for sale adverts in papers and hope they were still available. It took me 4 daily paper rounds and a good few years time to finish a loose set of figures. The MIB collection at my mams is a another proud display from my youth and goes all the way back to 1995 back then it used to take me months to save up and buy a mint boxed toy.

I can't see me giving up the Luke Jedi research and I only have 6 POTF coins to go for a complete set of 62, but I am wondering if I should thin out previous completed goals. The cast and crew would probally generate a lot of cash. But if I sell, then the link of having pieces from Gary Kurtz original collection will be gone forever.

I think it going to hurt me bad if I did sell, but the thought of having my own place, an opportunity for me and the misses to live seems nice to me.

I was wandering if anyone else out there has thought the same thing or has actually sold up. I would be really interested in your thoughts.

Hi Craig,

I personally would sell everything in my collection that could easily be replaced at a later date, ie MIB vehicles etc,to get a deposit together for your own house!

Like you said,renting is dead money & you have nothing to show for it at the end of the day!

I bought my house when i was 23 & at the time it was either learn to drive & buy a car or buy a house so i chose the latter as you can't live in a car!

I've never bothered learning how to drive & i'm 38 now & it doesn't bother me in the slightest as there's enough idiots on the road without me adding to that number!

My sister & her boyfriend have been renting houses for years & i keep telling them to save up & buy their own place but they don't listen & they've told me they have to ask for permission from the landlord for simple things like hanging pictures or putting shelves up etc, which you don't have to worry about with your own place!

Good luck with your decision mate & i hope you manage to get your own place one day!

I might be a little biased in my opinion since I'm a real estate agent, but I totally agree. Buying a house is one of the most important and positive things you can do. I'm not sure about economic policy in the UK, but here in the US, there are lots of benefits, such as tax deductions for mortgage interest. And you are absolutely right as far as throwing your money away through renting.

My wife and I scraped together enough together in 2003 to buy our first home, which was a manufactured home. Essentially it was a glorified mobile home. Everyone we knew, including family, told us that it was a horrible decision, and that we should just keep renting. It was the best decision we ever made. It was our foot in the door so to speak to eventually sell and upgrade. Now we live in a beautiful 3,800 square foot home, that absolutely wouldn't be possible had we not ever bought our first little mobile home.

There's a total sense of pride when you own your home as well. You can do what you want to it. And improvements you make usually end up benefitting you through increased home value.

My mom raised 5 kids on a secretaries salary, so she was never able to buy her own home. She now lives with my sister, who helps take care of her as she has many health issues that need to be monitored. Recently, to pay her back, my wife and I were able to help her and my sister buy their first home. It was one of the top moments in my life. They couldn't even hold back the emotion when we finally closed and I handed them the keys to their first home. There is no way to describe the sense of pride and accomplishment you get when owning your own home.

There are many, many people that will never be able to ever own their own home. So if you have a chance to do so, you have to take advantage of it.

There are numerous financial advantages to owning versus renting, but really the sense of pride is worth it alone. And interest rates are insanely low right now given the state of the global economy.

You should sell what you know you can eventually replace, and take the leap.

Also, if you have questions, please feel free to PM me. I can't answer specific questions relating to your area, but I can answer general real estate questions for you!

Tad

Hmm tough call.

Maybe sell duplicates (Keep your best figure of a type and sell the rest), or maybe just stop buying anything new and save for the deposit. It will take a while but its not supposed to be quick and easy. Id keep anything that you will kick youself later for selling down the track.

I couldn't see myself selling up and I haven't been collecting them for no where near as long as you! I did do the house thing before I started collecting though.

Cheers!

Thats really a hard question Craig. When I bought my house back in 2001, I unfortunately had sold MIB pieces of my vintage ACTION MAN/GI JOE (1964 stuff) collection and only kept the loose stuff. It was painfull at that time. It is also true that I never found back those real hard pieces I sold, since some of them were really scarce (only a few examples know worldwide)...though I could buy back some more common, sometimes even cheaper than for the price I sold them...
I honestly I don't regret it. The value of the houses here around have tripled in less than 10 years so the money was really well invested.
I kept also in my mind the house would not only be a benefit for me but for my wife and kids as well, whilst (generally speaking) a collection only satisfies his direct owner if you see what I mean.
Anyway, I think you should start going through your collection to select all the pieces you have less "affection" for (independently of the resell price) and start with those....you might be able to make a bunch of money and then gradually start selling the best pieces if really needed.

Hope you understand my poor english.

Others are more wordy than I am about this matter. DO IT!!! My wife and I are planning to buy our own home sometime in the next year. I'm not going to have to sell the collection to do it. But if I had to I wouldn't give it a second thought. It really is only just stuff.

You also don't have to sell everything. I'd say,depending on what is totally irreplaceable in you're collection, keep the top 5 items that you'd never be able to track down again.

Quote :

It really is only just stuff.

You have a point kisstour03! I fully agree: one day we will go as we came.

Quote :

Would you sell your Star Wars for A House???

In a word- Yes.

I can only second the all mighty and very vise "whiteshiney droid"

I did sell my Star wars to help buy our house, we are now looking at moveing but I wont be selling what I have collected again to help fund the next one I was always brought up that the house comes first and everything else is second so if we looked like looseing the house then yes I would sell again,

Not a doubt in my mind , yes. They're toys like Paul said.

Just to give you a financial spin, every $1 you do not mortgage saves you about $1.5 over the life of the mortgage. So if you sold you stuff , got $20,000 , and put it down on a house you'd not have to pay the $50,000 that money would turn into over the life of a 30yr mortgage. So the $20,000 saved you $30,000 in interest. Not a bad deal

Hi Craig,
I think I too would sell up for the sake of buying a house. That said, I've always rented which suits me as I've been able to move as often as I like (town, city, even country) without the legal bricks and mortar hassle.
The toys come second to most real things in life though. But I would still hold a couple of items back that had special meaning or were very hard to come by. Good luck in your decisions bud

Hi guys

Just reading through your all replies - an awesome response. Thanks for the offers of adives too - very much appreicated and hopefully I can ask a few questions when the time comes.

I definately need to have deep think about everything and decide from there what on how to take the next steps.

I think the first thing I can doing is stop buying. I have a few payment plans still outstanding which I have to honour, but once these are gone I can look to pump my star wars fund in to a high interest account whilst I am saving for the deposit.

I have to live where I am for a year anyways becuase of a legal contract I signed, so I have plenty of time to go through things and see what I can do.

Thanks dudes and enjoy the weekend!

Craigy

8 years ago I purchased my studio for my neon biz( neoneonart.com)
When it was time for the down payment I sold 10k of my collection My banker thought I was crazy when I went in with a bunch of pix and told him this was for the down strike , I had a stock portfolio i did not want to cash in in case it didn't work .. But realized i was serious when i had 10 k in 90 days...
Some things I have re found - others. like my rare 3 packs and my 21B Boba are memories.
As well as my nice 12 back collection. and a few posters..
It comes and goes and oyu cant take it with you ..
so sell- buy a house and keep on fishing.. you never know whats in the water.
market is a plus plus right now.. take advantage of it.
best
R.

Craig : I totally agree with you!!! .... First thing will be : STOP BUYING SW items!!!

You can keep your collection, but as you said before, First thing will be stop buying SW items!!! it´s amazing the amount of $$$ that can be spend in a month just buying SW vintage items ( specially like the ones you own!!) . I just had like 3 or 4 rough months and I stop buying SW vintage items, and I was amazed of the $$$$ I was spending on them!!

... I was almost ready to sell you my Lili Ledy MOC Luke Skywalker Jedi outfit!!!!!....

FWIW I've been liquidating my collection for the last few months and as much as it pains me I know the money is going somewhere that needs it which feels like the right thing to do, trust me it does hurt packing them all up and sending them off but sometimes you need to make these big decisions and just get on with it. My situation was also for a house and car that needed replacing. Good luck etc with what you decide.

Adam