Buying a Home

[DeadCactus]

Completely ignoring the financial side of things, what do you all think of owning a home during residency?

Basically it's the freedom of owning your home vs being responsible for maintenance and upkeep while busy with residency.

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[Law2Doc]

Completely ignoring the financial side of things, what do you all think of owning a home during residency?

Basically it's the freedom of owning your home vs being responsible for maintenance and upkeep while busy with residency.

If money isn't involved in the equation, go to a full service doorman luxury apartment with a gym, pool, maintenance staff, and people to accept packages, dry-cleaning, etc. No lawn to mow, no shoveling. You have someone in house to call when your AC breaks. Heck, there are apartments over hotels where you can even get room service and not even have to cook. So yeah, if you want to subtract finances from the decision and just have things taken care of and free you up to just learn, you can simplify your life a lot with one of these full service rentals. But you will be paying a ton and have nothing to show for it. If you are locked into an area for a while and can buy something undervalued, it might be better to at least accumulate some equity with your monthly payments.

 

[armybound]

There's nothing like the peace of not hearing your neighbors vacuum, take a dump, have sex, fight, etc.

Will be buying a house for sure.

 

[survivordo]

Completely ignoring the financial side of things, what do you all think of owning a home during residency?

Basically it's the freedom of owning your home vs being responsible for maintenance and upkeep while busy with residency.

DeadCactus,

Owning a home during residency might not be as disastrous to your finances as you think. In the area I am in it was actually cheaper for me to own a home then rent. I ended up with a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath townhouse in a nice neighborhood for less than what many of my colleagues are paying for a 2 bedroom apartment. Additionally, it has a finished basement that I am renting to traveling students which essentially pays my mortgage. I could not be happier with my decision! Things to remember:

• the rent vs buy calculation will vary with market
• look into physician's loans, many are 0% down and no PMI
• Also consider how long you will be there 3 years vs 5 years can be a big difference when considering closing costs etc
• Renting is certainly the "safer" option as you can pick up and leave anytime

Hope this helps,

Survivor DO

 

[LucidSplash]

Completely ignoring the financial side of things, what do you all think of owning a home during residency?

Basically it's the freedom of owning your home vs being responsible for maintenance and upkeep while busy with residency.

Completely ignoring the financial side of things, it depends on your personal situation and priorities, which will vary.

Personally, as a single person, I prefer to rent. It is much easier for me to call maintenance about issues than it would be for me to arrange (and pay for) repairs. Maintenance can let themselves in when I'm not home, otherwise I'd have to arrange to be at home when the plumber/contractor/repairman comes.

I have a cleaning service come once a month to do the heavy-lifting with the cleaning. I can afford this because I have a one-bedroom apartment and it costs $75. If I had a house it would be more expensive and likely I would not be able to afford it.

Things that are high-level irritants to some people (like noise) do not really bother me. I do live in a fairly quiet building, but there are frequent ambulances/fire trucks going by as I live on a main road and currently there is construction next door. I am not disturbed by these sounds and barely notice them most of the time so for me it is not an issue but everyone has their own threshold.

I don't have to worry about mowing/upkeep (either paying for it or doing it). But I also don't care about having a yard. I am content with my small balcony and my building's rooftop deck common space. There is a park/river walk across the street if I need grass.

Personal threshold for risk and aggravation. I bought a home in medical school and ended up having to sell it short and really regretted the hassle associated with home ownership when I had other things I wanted to devote my time to. For me, it wasn't worth it at that time (even though I really loved my house). As a surgery resident I don't consider renting as "having nothing to show" for my money because I am comfortable paying for the convenience associated with renting. I am paying for my peace of mind and for me that is more valuable than trying to come out a few thousand ahead by buying a home.

Others may have a different support structure/concerns/kids/etc that change their priorities. Exclusive of financial consideration (as the question was posed), only you can rank your own priorities and comfort level with various inconveniences of which the balance will vary in renting vs owning.

 

[mimelim]

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[cabinbuilder]

Being married with two kids, I bought a home where I did residency. The payments were close to what I would have paid for a 3 bedroom apt. I got a 0 down, physician's loan. I lived in that home for 3 full years.

The kicker to my situation is I bought a home in an area where homes NEVER sell. So this is something to definitely look into before you buy and whether you plan to work in the same area after residency.

The plus side for me is my brother-in-law lives in the house for me so it is taken care of. He can only afford 1/3 of the mortgage so I pay the other 2/3 which is not a hardship but in a sense is throwing that money away when I could be paying down other debts. We do get to take a loss on taxes on that house so it does helps us as well.

Definitely look at the house market and your long term practice goals before buying.

 

[DeadCactus]

Thanks for the input all. I've looked at the numbers for my top residency choices and basically renting vs owning is equivalent financially during the course of residency. Housing pulls ahead a bit if I do fellowship in the same place.

The main hold-up is I don't see myself staying in the area post-training. It would be nice to own some property while building some equity. Also, the prices are low enough where maintaining the mortgage after moving wouldn't be an issue so there's no risk of being forced to short sell though I'd have to deal with having money tied up and managing a property from afar. I think my biggest concerns are having to stay on top of maintenance while living there and then having the additional headache of selling a home when I move a few years down the road.

A condo seems like a nice middle ground. Maybe I'll make that the goal.

I bought a condo on the other side of the park overlooking the Texas Medical Center. For all practical purposes I live in a hotel. Valet, concierge, dry-cleaning pick up/drop off, gym, pool, to the door delivery of groceries, never mind that there is a grocery store on the first floor of one of the towers, oh there is a club, two bars and a shuttle service to and from the TMC. Oh, and Jeremy Lin lives in my building .

Heh, I know what building you're living in. That place looks awesome from the outside...

 

[45408]

I bought a house, because I like taking care of my yard, fixing things up around the house, and I have a wife and children. The vast majority of my fellow residents are renting, although several of them are renting houses.

Thanks for the input all. I've looked at the numbers for my top residency choices and basically renting vs owning is equivalent financially during the course of residency. Housing pulls ahead a bit if I do fellowship in the same place.

Crunch some numbers on how much you'll pay the realtor when you sell the house and see where you land.

If you are locked into an area for a while and can buy something undervalued, it might be better to at least accumulate some equity with your monthly payments.

I'm not going to be acquiring much equity over my residency, which is 5 years. My mortgage payment includes a whopping $160/month toward the principle. Everything else is interest, taxes, homeowner's insurance, and PMI.

 

[DeadCactus]

Used this thing to look at it:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html

 

[dpmd]

I bought a house because it was important to me to have a yard for pets, to be able to do projects like paint walls or put up shelves whenever I feel like it, and to do some gardening. The rent versus buy issue came out ok because I plan on keeping this house as a rental when I leave (something which I am already doing with the condo I purchased during med school), and because I bought when the housing prices were low but rentals were still regular priced. I also purchased a home that wasn't super old and that the inspection didn't show any major problems on, so I have had good luck on the maintenance front. Having a spouse helps since one of us should be available for a repairman if needed. I am also able to do a variety of home repairs myself, and have a handyman friend (very helpful). One thing I recommend is making sure you would be able to afford the mortgage for a while if you needed to move for fellowship or a job. That cuts down the financial risk for you and leaves you with more options (although would mean you have to look for a cheaper place).