The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the average American family spends $614 a month on automobiles. This includes finance payments, gasoline, repairs, and insurance. Let's relate that $614 per month to home buying.
Based on a 6.500 percent, fully-amortizing mortgage payment, that same $614 yields an equivalent of $97,000 in additional home purchasing power.
With an interest only home loan, it balloons to $113,000.
In other words, if your lifestyle does not require the full-time use of an automobile, you may want to consider trading in your car in for a larger and/or upgraded home.
For the temporary use of a car after a trade-in or sale, of course, you can phone a local car rental agency, or ask a friend to borrow (and be sure to fill up the tank as a courtesy).
You can also try priceline.com's Name Your Own Price feature which makes cars available for a fraction of the "standard" rental cost -- sometimes as low as $10 per day.
