Grand Piano Purchase : cash or finance?

[mound]

I'm wondering, do you folks who buy expensive grand pianos for your homes generally save the cash or finance such a thing? (like it were buying a car)

Is it wise to finance a grand piano (we're talking an adult with good credit and a well paying job) or should I start socking away cash for the next 5 years and buy one in full?  I'd much rather spend $20k on a grand piano that I'll have for the rest of my life than $20k on some car anyday, and I wouldn't think twice about financing a car (that is, it's not likely that I'd save and buy a car with cash.)

Anyway.. I'm just giving myself food for thought.. thinking in the next few years I'd might like to think about getting one.

-Paul

[jr11]

I think you've answered your own question. You have a good job, and you'd like a piano now, or you probably wouldn't post the question. Consider a quality piano holds it value, unlike a car which loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot. Why wouldn't you finance? Go for it! You'll be glad you did.

[mound]

True true.. I guess it's only yesterday I think, I saw an ad on TV for a local piano retailer, and they mentioned "financing available" and to that point it had never even occured to me to finance it.. (of course, I had at one point in my life racked up considerable credit card debt, largely on stuff I don't even have anymore! and so I'm more in the mindset of "cash or wait"....  but I do hold a steady career job.)

of course there's also the issue that I rent the house I live in..  but then again, Grand's aren't too difficult to move.

[G.Fiore]

 Mound, unless you can take out a home equity loan, start saving your cash. The problem with the financing available from some dealers is that the lender , if they themselves have any financial difficulty, can immediately call in your loan. Unless you can pay it off on the spot, your piano will get reposessed.

 This is not far fetched, especially if the loan came from a small finance company. There have been many occurances of this happening lately.

[mound]

I rent my house, so no home equity loans.

there are always low interest rate bank loans.

but I think you're right.. I'll probably appreciate it more if I save the cash for it.

I wonder what kind of short-term investment vehicles I can use (other than my mattress) to help the savings grow with little risk.

then again, I do have a credit card with a $30k limit and no balance, and they just sent me "checks" for a fixed 2.9% for the life of the loan. 

 

[wynnbear]

Consider a quality piano holds it value, unlike a car which loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot.

I think that this is too broad a statement.  With any piano there is a depreciation factor that comes into play for the beginning of its life.  Regardless of brand, if you buy a grand and try to sell it in five or ten years, you will not get all your money back.  Perhaps with a longer holding period, you could sell a top brand for what you paid for it.  This assumes new piano costs rise with inflation over the period.  Of course, you'd be selling in the future for currency that's worth less than it was when you purchased the piano (inflation, remember).

In addition to this, the shift in grand piano production to China is going to affect the market in ways we can't foresee yet.  Chinese pianos, as they move to higher quality production, could very well depress future prices for other pianos.

With all those caveats out of the way, I think you should get the piano you want now.  After all, the joy of owning and playing a fine piano can't really be quantified and inserted into any of this analysis. 

Just don't ever think of a piano as an investment.  Piano salemen may try to use this argument on you.  But a piano is not an investment.  It's a very long-lived asset that may have a very shallow depreciation curve.  But they all depreciate.

[RJones]

Depreciation is an unfortunately reality for all pianos and they suffer from one other expense that can significantly influence the total cost of ownership... Maintenance!!! Owning a piano is NOT an investment, but rather a lifestyle decision. Don't let an unscrupulous sales person convince you otherwise.

That said, as a lifestyle purchase, I can't think of anything that could pay back more in terms of personal reward. Think of the amount of money that people spend on absolutely rediculous lifestyle purchases (huge televisions with cable/satelite services offering hundreds of channels (what a waste of life!!), expensive cars/accessories, bling bling (my wife's favorite), overpriced designer clothing (logowear), cosmetics and products that promiss to make you younger, so-called fitness equipment sold on the shopping channel (actually anything sold on the shopping channels), etc.....)

If you want a piano, and feel that it will truely bring you joy, then cut the crap from your life (speaking in general) and save your money to buy one. Just remember that you'll need to continue to spend to keep that baby in shape so your joy doesn't diminish.

Was I just ranting? 

Rodney

[mound]

Nice posts!

Yes, of course it's not an "investment" -not in the increase of wealth sort of perspective.. not being money hungry, I tend to use the term "investment" more in the terms of "it's an investment in my personal fullfillment" -  for example, the cost of my martial arts training is an investment, in myself, not in my financial well being.

I would never consider "how much can I resll it for" as a factor in deciding to buy a piano.

Oh and I was also kidding, I'd never put it on a charge card

oh, and who woulda thought we'd ever hear "bling bling" on this forum!


-Paul

[alice oliver]

this is really a matter of how comfortable you feel with debt.  if yoiu have had debt problems in the past and you got yourself out of them, i would be very leery.

i'm personally very conservative when it comes to debt.  i would never buy a car using a loan.  i always pay cash outright.  if i don't have the cash, i keep driving what i've got.

home equity is really the only smart way to go in my opinion (i bought my piano by doing a cash out refi of my house, and the drop in the interest rate nearly paid for the piano).  if you don't have that option to you, i would save my money.  then you are earning interest on the money instead of paying it.

and if you really do have a good job, it shouldn't take you long to save enough.

[Shellb]

I could never think of my piano as an "investment".  Nor do I give a rip about it depreciating.  My piano is that big black honking monster taking up my living room that fills my home with the most astonishing sound and makes me play better than I would have ever thought possible.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with money and I'll never part with it. 

It was supposed to be my new kitchen.  I refinanced my house last year, cashed out and planned to put every dollar toward a brand new sparkly kitchen.  But I did the most impractical, irresponsible thing I've ever done in my life and instead of a kitchen bought my piano.  Best thing I ever did for myself (besides get divorced).

[dinosaurtales]

I am sure I did the opposite of what everybody else would do... I pay cash for all my cars, but financed the piano!  Fact was, if I didn't I'd never rationalize the cost in cash.  This way,it's just another bill, and I get to play on a fabulous piano!

I'd do it again in an instant, regardless of what the husband says.

[Nina_too]

It's funny... I was having this exact conversation with  my teacher today.  After about 10 minutes we were both ready to jump in our cars and buy huge fabulous pianos!

We were laughing because here we were, two admitted piano junkies, discussing whether it made sense to spend major buckazoids on a piano... and concluded, "why, YES!  As a matter of fact, it would be criminal not to!"     

Doh!  What did we expect?

[bizgirl]

My teacher and I were discussing college expenses a couple weeks ago.  She said the only thing you should go into debt for is a good education.  I said "what about a piano?"  I'm afraid she could not argue with that!  However, I do not want to go into debt for college and I don't think I would do it for a piano either (if it was just for my personal use).  Maybe I'm just stingy, but if you can save for a few years and pay cash, I would do that.  It's a wants vs. needs thing.  Finance the things you need; pay cash for the things you want.  Now, if you are a teacher this piano may be a need.  I wouldn't be against financing it in that case and you can write it off as a business expense as well.

[donjuan]

credit is evil - youd best watch it..
You should always try to buy pianos with money you really dont need.  I had a friend who had to sell his grand so his family could buy groceries for the week. 

[jr11]

credit is evil - youd best watch it..
You should always try to buy pianos with money you really dont need.  I had a friend who had to sell his grand so his family could buy groceries for the week. 

Nothing wrong with credit, but it must be used responsibly. When taking out, say, a 36 month loan, ask yourself if you can see into your future 3 years. If you're married and have a stable job and a house, no problem. If you're less certain, and the payments will be sizeable, think carefully about your budget. If you move from one place to another frequently, consider that cost and trauma to move your instrument... what if your new place has no room for that 7ft grand?

Renting is a good option. There is a shop in my area that will rent you a piano over 24 months for 2.5% the piano's value per month, on any piano. At the end of the term, they will apply 50% of the rent you paid to buy the piano out, if you wish.

I know too many people who try to save, but never get there. Make a well-planned commitment, and have your piano now. Think of it as saving up in reverse.

[Michele Felice]

An alternative to buying a new piano at $20K which might be a financial stretch, requiring a loan, is to spend, say $10K and find an excellent used piano, thus saving yourself the depreciation. Pianos also need regular amounts of money (say $500 per year) for tuning, regulation and other maintenance. A $10K piano with regular maintenance will undoubtedly perform better than a $20K piano which is poorly maintained. And why not buy a $5K piano; there are excellent uprights available at this price, slightly used, which gives you something to enjoy while you are saving up for something which might cost a lot more (but I wonder whether a good $25K piano brings five times as much enjoyment as a $5K piano). I know several professional musicians whose pianos are far less than the best, who use and enjoy their instruments every day. Having a very good piano that is easily affordable is, I think, the most rewarding goal. Making music is a reasonable goal; merely owning the best instrument is not.

[Scaglietti]

I really don't believe in debt.  Pay in cash or you really can't afford it (besides house and education).

[janice]

That said, as a lifestyle purchase, I can't think of anything that could pay back more in terms of personal reward. Think of the amount of money that people spend on absolutely rediculous lifestyle purchases (huge televisions with cable/satelite services offering hundreds of channels (what a waste of life!!), expensive cars/accessories, bling bling (my wife's favorite), overpriced designer clothing (logowear), cosmetics and products that promiss to make you younger, so-called fitness equipment sold on the shopping channel (actually anything sold on the shopping channels), etc.....)

Was I just ranting? 

YES!!! I completely agree!!  I would (seriously) be content living in a cave (as long as I had my Kawai grand and my internet connection)!!  No, you weren't ranting.  I AGREE with EVERYTHING you said!!