Hi everyone,

My name is Iggy_Type_R and I have been an alchoholic for 2 years now....... oops... wrong forum!

Nah seriously... I am a frequent member of the board in the Aussie section as I live in Australia. Unfortunately I am not an owner of an S2000, but as my nick suggests a major Honda fanatic with an ITR.

To cut a long story fairly short I am going to be starting work in Columbia, Maryland in March next year. So I just wanted to introduce myself and say Hi. I am planning on living in the US for a year or two before moving either back to Aus or to Europe.

Can anyone suggest good web site for accomodation (like renting a flat) and used cars? How much would a'99 S2000 cost? Does it hold resale value well? like if I buy it in March and sell it a year later would I loose a lot of money? What's the insurance like in the US on it? I am 22 years old ... so I guess it'd be expensive right?

Thanks in advance

 

Greetings fellow Aussie! I exchanged many PMs with you a while back about a cool video you posted of yourself in your ITR at the track

Columbia is about 60 miles from me, so I'm not at all familiar with the area, but I can give you some websites to look at, and hopefully once people realize what the hell a "flat" is they'll chime in with some help.

Check out Homestore.com for apartments (flats). I typed in Columbia, MD and got a bunch of stuff back, and it looks like a range of about $750-$1000 per month. BTW, nobody pays per week, or per fortnight here

Here is another good site to check out.

I don't think you'd loose a lot of money on an S2000 unless something happened...like a wreck other bad things. Hondas hold their value very well, and S2000's are even above the average Honda in my experience.

Here is a '00 S2000 for $23,000. There are TONS on the market right now but the pricing will be much different (to your benefit) in March, as it will be winter

To research the vehicle's prices, check out www.autotrader.com and www.carmax.com

I'm not too sure about insurance, but you may be able to go on www.geico.com or www.progressive.com for a free rate quote.

Congrats on coming over, and hopefully the exchange rate won't hit you too hard

I'll give you some more tips as the time gets closer so long as you bring me a squeeze tube of vege

 

Heya!! I remember chatting to ya before!

Hey didn't you say you had some web space? I have some even better videos! I;ve done a 2:01.5 around phillip island and I have that on video! Very cool and only 12meg

Thanks for the recommendations. I am actually thinking of getting a place about 20 mins from Columbia, so may be the prices are a bit lower. I heard Columbia is a really nice place to live if you have 3 kids and 2 dogs and all that hehe, that is nice , but I am 22 and no dogs and no kids that I know of How's Baltimore to live in?

I don't really care about the exchange rate either since I am gonna be starting a job right away, and since I am in IT ...

23k for an S2000 is awesome! I gotta find out insurance tho ... I can't afford one here as insurance is $6800 a year!!! (US$3500).

Cheers!

 

Damn it I can't get an insurance quote without a Social Security Number. Bugger bugger bugger.

Can anyone give an estimate? Living in Baltimore, garaged and 22 years old on a foreign driver's license?

 

Oh yeah I actually wanna live somewhere close to Baltimore, but on the Columbia side of it. So I don't have a very long commute. Can any1 suggest a nice suburb?

And I TOTALLY forgot that you have a REAL winter over there.. hehehe. For me March is the end of summer... *sigh*

 

I_T_R:

greetings! I My wife and I moved to Columbia last year, there are definitely nice places and "not so nice" places in that city, so if you decide on something there definitely check with me first. We rented for 8 mos at Kendall Ridge on Snowden River, overall a nice place, but expensive (~$1400 for a 2br/1bath). But about 1/4 mile down the street, however, you hear about shootings and robberies. Amazing how isolated these pockets are, though. We never had any trouble. We bought a house in Catonsville (between Columbia and Baltimore) this past April. Not many apartments to rent there (at least not in "nice" areas) but you may find a house to rent. The apartments in Catonsville are not in safe areas, but the houses in the southwest parts of Catonsville are in great neighborhoods. If you mountain bike, there's awesome riding in Catonsville too (Patapsco state park)- so bring your bike! Good luck looking, feel free to check back with me (use PM, as I don't check here every day)

 

The company I work for manages many properties in the Baltimore and D.C. area. You can go to our Website at www.southernmanagement.com. Good Luck.

 

Welcome to the area - There are plenty of beautiful areas to live in between Baltimore & Washington. If I had my druthers, I would indeed be looking in the Columbia area. There are also plenty of great small, comfortable towns along Route 32 near Ft. Meade. I would avoid Laurel as it is a bit too commerical for me and I like think more buccolic....

In any case, now that you're here, you have to buy an S!

 

Iggy, insurance will be a kicker, I'm 25, no tickets, and no accidents (at least up until a few months ago) and I pay 123/month. At 22, I would expect for you to be paying approximately 170-180 for a 2000 S2000. Just an approximation.

 

You can try www.apartments.com Select "1" for Baltimore area then Harford County. It looks like it's about 700+ for an apartment, but I couldn't tell you about the quality.
I live in Owings Mills, which isn't too far, but for a decent apartment here you're looking at around 800ish. I'm paying about 1000 for a 2br/2ba in a gated community. The management company owns a bunch of properties. www.homeproperties.com
You're going to be hit pretty hard with insurance on an s2k, especially being 22 and out of the country. I don't doubt that it will be about 3500/year or more.
Good Luck!