Financing a new Airstream

[scho7623]

Hi folks,

I'm about to purchase a new Airstream, and now I'm debating whether I should pay cash or finance this purchase. I'm leaning toward financing, but I'm not sure where to begin. Do I reach out to a bunch of lenders and ask if they lend money for buying an Airstream? Look for lower interest rate, etc? I'm a complete newbie, so any information about financing an Airstream would be appreciated.

Thank you all in advance, and happy holidays!

[ZeGermans]

Originally Posted by scho7623

Hi folks,

I'm about to purchase a new Airstream, and now I'm debating whether I should pay cash or finance this purchase. I'm leaning toward financing, but I'm not sure where to begin. Do I reach out to a bunch of lenders and ask if they lend money for buying an Airstream? Look for lower interest rate, etc? I'm a complete newbie, so any information about financing an Airstream would be appreciated.

Thank you all in advance, and happy holidays!

We financed at the time, yes we could have payed cash and yes it still pays for us to finance…
I shopped around a little, there are some lenders for RVs online but at the end the local credit Union the dealer was working together with was the cheapest…

[scho7623]

Originally Posted by ZeGermans

We financed at the time, yes we could have payed cash and yes it still pays for us to finance…
I shopped around a little, there are some lenders for RVs online but at the end the local credit Union the dealer was working together with was the cheapest…

Thanks for the info. What was the rate you ended up with? I'm not sure how much to expect now, especially the federal interest rate is crazy hight right now... I'm not even sure if it's any good financing during this crazy time.

[ZeGermans]

Originally Posted by scho7623

Thanks for the info. What was the rate you ended up with? I'm not sure how much to expect now, especially the federal interest rate is crazy hight right now... I'm not even sure if it's any good financing during this crazy time.

It’s a numbers game… the opportunity cost of tying cash into an asset, interest being tax deductible… but I think we have something between 3.75-4.25 but can’t remember exactly…

[civeng99]

6-8% I’d guess most places now depending on term.

[jeffmc306]

Talk to your dealer too. Ours had a bank that offered up to 25 year loans on RV’s at competitive rates (in 2019 dollars). We decided to go with a local Huntington Bank.

Like others have said, shop around!

[Saluda372]

Interest over the life of the loan discouraged us.

[scho7623]

Originally Posted by Saluda372

Interest over the life of the loan discouraged us.

Yeah, I'm actually rethinking about financing it, because of the same reason.. My high yield savings account gives me 3.30% interest, so I thought I'd keep the money and get the loan. But if the loan interest is 6~8%, then it's probably not worth it.

[Daquenzer]

When I bought mine the dealer went through USBank. The rates weren't all that bad at the time in 2017. Now I'm not sure. I ended up paying mine off after a few years. Had a good run in the market and when I was about ready to retire I didn't want any house, car, or other payments. Some think that's crazy. I guess I'm a bit old school. Don't like debt.

[Carl n Lynn]

Talk to your financial advisor and have them run the numbers for you. Not the best time to take $ out of investments.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

You will never be able to guess the rate you will get. Things are moving to fast right now. In our area a mortgage on a new home is up into the vicinity of 7%. It's a pretty good bet that a loan on a car or RV will be that high or higher. What the numbers are in your area and what they will be by the time the deal is ready to be done ... who knows.

Bob

[Silvr_Bullet]

Originally Posted by Daquenzer

When I bought mine the dealer went through USBank. The rates weren't all that bad at the time in 2017. Now I'm not sure. I ended up paying mine off after a few years. Had a good run in the market and when I was about ready to retire I didn't want any house, car, or other payments. Some think that's crazy. I guess I'm a bit old school. Don't like debt.

US Bank is what I used, turned out to be a short term, paid it off. People need to realize RV’s are not a nitch for all banks, US is for boats too.

[Mollysdad]

I'm retired.
Being debt free is king for me.
I pay cash or lower my expectations.

[100954]

In our area the rates are 7.5% right now. We have a 2023 Flying Cloud on order, due to arrive in April. I’m anxiously waiting to hear from our dealership regarding any factory price increase. I was told December is the month they would make such an announcement.

[dmcfarlane]

We are closing soon on a new International 25RBT. Airstream and the dealer (Woodland in Grand Rapids) offered 6%. The interest should be tax deductible, at least on your federal return.

[ZeGermans]

Originally Posted by dmcfarlane

We are closing soon on a new International 25RBT. Airstream and the dealer (Woodland in Grand Rapids) offered 6%. The interest should be tax deductible, at least on your federal return.

We bought at the same dealer, is it independent credit union or something? when we bought I shopped around and their lender was cheapest.
Yes its tax deductible if you itemize, which I know not everyone can anymore these days...

[InvertdEagle]

We just took delivery of a Classic 33. I ran the numbers and we ended up going with a bank (Bank of America) that our dealer was using and suggested. Note that we "locked in" a rate of 5.49% a little over two months ago. Their current rates are higher. The best options out there right now (for > $100K, 20 year term) loans are about 6.99% (Trident Funding). For loans < 100K, you'll pay about 1% more.

We could have put more down - or even paid cash - but in so doing would have had to sell stock funds (at a loss right now). So we went with a 20 yr. note @ 5.49% that we'll ultimately end up paying off early (as soon as the stock market recovers to 2021 levels).

Current rates somewhat depend on how much your borrowing and for how long. This table linked below @ Trident Funding has been amongst the most competitive and displays the loan rates and amounts by credit score.

https://www.tridentfunding.com/rv-lo...chaseratetable

You can use the table as something of a indicator of what the overall RV loan market is doing right now. In my case, BoA beat out my local credit unions as far as the rates go.

It's a numbers game. But right now the RV loan market is tanking, so lenders are eager to make loans...which is good for you as the buyer. One thing to note as you talk with lenders...some of them will "match" other banks loan rates (up to a point). You can use that leverage with them if you have a particular bank or credit union you'd prefer to work with but didn't have the absolute lowest rate. BoA did this for us...they were offering a higher loan rate than we got, until I mentioned that I'll just go somewhere else where the rate was cheaper. They "magically" matched the rate.

[civeng99]

Always ask for relationship deals. I’ve heard of up to 1% discounts on jumbo mortgages. Bring 500k in or $1.0m and you’re getting 25 or 50 points off a mortgage. Granted not an airstream but not s lot of folks know of this..

[Larry1492]

In 2019 I financed at 5%. I could have sold property or investments but all of those things have an average rate of return higher than 5% so it was cheaper to finance. Also for those who have enough tax deductions to itemize the interest is tax deductible. Our current rate of inflation has made my decision to finance even better.

[jimfa440]

Cash is king. I don't like debt. If you can't afford it, please downgrade your expectations, you'll be glad you did.