Buying a house while in dental school

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jlicious

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Has anyone heard anything about buying a house while in dental school? Or, if you have bought a house prior to entering dental school, how does your debt affect your FAFSA and loans and all that? Plus, if you buy a house before going to an out-of-state dental school, how does that affect your residency? Anyone? Thanks
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ill probably just stick to town houses I-F i buy one in dental school. most likely ill get a town house after graduation. ill probably get married summer of junior year. have kids right after i graduate. maybe around 6-7 kids....is that enough? hehe j/k when i can afford it....ill build my own house in some nice neighborhood. then when i can afford it...il start my own clinic some place good. then once i become successful with that...ill buy a house in huntington beach right next to the ocean....maybe not exactly move there but just to have a ouse there to go on vacation and stuff.
 
jlicious said:
Has anyone heard anything about buying a house while in dental school? Or, if you have bought a house prior to entering dental school, how does your debt affect your FAFSA and loans and all that? Plus, if you buy a house before going to an out-of-state dental school, how does that affect your residency? Anyone? Thanks
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buying a house while in d-school can be an EXCELLENT idea, but it really depends on the area. i am definitely purchasing a house/condo/townhome b/c the market where i am looking is a buyer's market right now, so i can get a good deal. plus, after speaking with several realators about the area i will probably make money due to good appreciation (historically) in several areas of town.

if you are considering purchasing property, i would do some reasearch on the area to find out what homes are going for and contact several realtors and speak with them.

buying a home is an terrific way to help you establish residency as an out-of-state student, which is another reason i am buying a home, but i would be purchasing a home even if that wasn't a factor. figure out how much you would pay in rent over the 4 yrs in the area and then see if you would come out about the same with a mortgage along with the yearly expenses associated with a home (ie. insurance, property tax, etc.). also, if you finance a house there will be additional costs at closing which you should factor into the equation (you may be able to get the seller to cover some or all of those costs).
 
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The best thing to do when considering buying a home at D school is to talk with your financial aid coordinator at the D school. Some schools have a set budget and won't justify any increases, while others will increase the housing amounts with proof of need.

Those of you with families, I strongly encourage you to see what your school offers as far as living expenses.

As far as renting VS. buying..... Rent is money wasted. Buying can be, but doesn't always have to be. Infact if you play your cards right, you can make some money also.

Worst Case Scenario is that you have to lower your price when it comes time to sell and if it comes out that you lose $20,000 or so. At least it wasn't as bad as wasting it all on rent*. Some people would rather pay the money so they don't have to mow lawns and shovel snow and replace water heaters etc. I think it is worth the risk, if you can hack it.

* Assume a $750 rent payment for a decent apartment in a decent area.
$750 * 12mo = $9000 * 4 yrs = $36,000 lost
Buy a home for $150,000. It won't sell, so you drop the price by $20,000. Net = $20,000 lost.

I guess I am rambling, someone is going to come blow holes in my master plan. Oh well.
 
dddsmack said:
* Assume a $750 rent payment for a decent apartment in a decent area.
$750 * 12mo = $9000 * 4 yrs = $36,000 lost
Buy a home for $150,000. It won't sell, so you drop the price by $20,000. Net = $20,000 lost.

I guess I am rambling, someone is going to come blow holes in my master plan. Oh well.
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Don't forget all the money that goes into interest. I'm not sure what rates are like nowadays but it you get over 6% (and you will) you will probably have to tack on another 40k to that. (blows imaginary smoke from pointed finger)
 
With a home loan the early payments are mainly interest. As an example my approx 150K loan has a P&I of $935. Last month $149 of that went to interest. So, I am still wasting money especially since I won't be able to use the interest as a deduction.
 
It is an excellent idea. If anyone wants to buy the BEST house near U Maryland's dental school, PM me...

Its a sweet house.

If I don't sell it by the summer, I'll have it up for rent again...
 
I have thought A LOT about this. First, I think it is difficult to get a house if you have student loans and no income... so if you have a job now, it may be best to get a mortgage now rather than wait until school starts. It is a good way to establish instate residency and saves you TONS of $$ in rent. You will likely make back a lot of what you spend on a house/condo if not much more. I'm seriously looking at houses between DC and richmond now since we want to end up in No.VA...before I take out student loans and while I'm still making a good salary.
 
SugarNaCl said:
I have thought A LOT about this. First, I think it is difficult to get a house if you have student loans and no income... so if you have a job now, it may be best to get a mortgage now rather than wait until school starts. It is a good way to establish instate residency and saves you TONS of $$ in rent. You will likely make back a lot of what you spend on a house/condo if not much more. I'm seriously looking at houses between DC and richmond now since we want to end up in No.VA...before I take out student loans and while I'm still making a good salary.
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excuse me you are in the wrong thread...please revive the VCU thread THANX
 
I am confused, how is buying a house going to help establish residency?
 
kappa505 said:
I am confused, how is buying a house going to help establish residency?
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As an out of state resident who wants instate tuition (particulary as in my case if you are actually looking to stay in the state) you have to show the public school in the state you are attending that you wish to remain in that state to practice after you get out of school. If you buy a house, change your drivers license and registration and cut all financial ties to your parents, you show you are independent and intend to stay in the state where you attended school. The point is to disprove the assumption that you are only living in a state for school purposes and will return to your home state after graduation.
 
It depends on the school on the residency issue. Most schools have a policy to accept your application with its residency status listed. I do know that UNLV makes an exception if you, or your spouse, get a government job right away.

Otherwise, you have to wait about a year anyway becuase your aadsas app says you are applying from out of state and that is what they go by in most cases.

As far as the buying a house deal. Call your financial aid person and ask if you can typically get approved wiht the housing allowance they allot. Mine said I should have no problems. 🙂

Oh, and even if you only make payments of interest, you can still break even after four years. Which, again, is way better than wasting damn near $40,000. Do you guys really see yourself losing more than what you would spend on rent?
 
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You always hear of people coming on SDN, and others, and saying that they know peers at their school struggling to break even on selling their house.

My question then becomes, So of you come out a bit below "even" you are still way ahead of those who rented. Right?
 
That is what I thought about residency, and UNLV told me the same thing about the drivers license and the registration being the only things needed to establish residency after a year.
 
Or they didnt research the market before they bought. BPO's average days on market to sell at certain price, ect.
 
dddsmack said:
You always hear of people coming on SDN, and others, and saying that they know peers at their school struggling to break even on selling their house.

My question then becomes, So of you come out a bit below "even" you are still way ahead of those who rented. Right?
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yeah, that is my understanding as well. i have spoken with an accountant, financial advisor, and several realtors and THEY ALL SAID BUY!!!! also, they pointed out the same thing you just mentioned where, even if you take a hit when you go to sell it should be nothing like what you throw away in rent.

but again, it really depends on the area and on your individual circumstances.
 
As long as you can afford it. Some schools only allot so much for you to live on, which directly effects your ability to qualify for a mortgage in that area. That is one major thing you should look at when checking out schools. Do they offer a budget increase in justified situations?
 
True, they will require proof and documentation from your dental schools FA dept. to verify the income.

As a lender, it is pretty safe to lend to a dental student with that verifiable income.
 
I'm gonna have to go with you on this one. Rent is definitely a waste of money. The worst that could happen is that you will end up spending on a purchase what you would on rent anyway. I have been wanting to purchase a house/condo/townhouse in dental school but I assumed they wouldn't like income from financial aid alone... since my wife and I will not have jobs.
 
My wife and I have been looking into purchasing a home while we're in school and it's not as easy as I initially thought. Our only source of income will likely be student loans.
We called our bank to get an idea of what we can expect if we want to buy a house. They told me that it was essentially impossible for us to get a home loan from them because "what happens if I drop out of school and I can no longer get the loans". I guess since I've been working towards becoming a dentist my whole life, I might just drop out as soon as things get tough😕 . I told him that there were many students in my same situation and they've bought houses and obviously got a loan from someone, so I guess I'll have to find a different institution. The banker didn't like that so he checked with his boss and came back and told me that he could check some things if we had a home picked out, but until then he couldn't help me.
 
jim85213 said:
I'm gonna have to go with you on this one. Rent is definitely a waste of money. The worst that could happen is that you will end up spending on a purchase what you would on rent anyway. I have been wanting to purchase a house/condo/townhouse in dental school but I assumed they wouldn't like income from financial aid alone... since my wife and I will not have jobs.
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I have a plan for this. It's what I'm trying to do. I have a job now, in NY. I'm applying for a loan to buy a house before I apply for student loans while I still have an income. I am NOT expressing that I will be heading to dental school.
 
SugarNaCl said:
I have a plan for this. It's what I'm trying to do. I have a job now, in NY. I'm applying for a loan to buy a house before I apply for student loans while I still have an income. I am NOT expressing that I will be heading to dental school.
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That's smart. My problem is that I will have better income when I pull living expense loans than my employment income now.
 
You can get a mortgage and include all closing costs in the loan. And yes, closing costs are gone forever. Oh and you can get a loan with zero down.

Believe me guys, if you can document ~$2000/mo budget (even if it is from student loans) you will be able to find someone to lend you the money. You just can't get hosed by a bad interest rate or high closing costs.
 
Try lendingtree.com you will get several people wanting your business. Many will offer no documentation loans as long as you have good credit.
 
When I started this thread, I was hoping to hear from someone who had bought a house already, maybe a 1st or 2nd year Dental student... My fiance and I have jobs now which bring in enough to get qualified for a loan. I'm planning on getting approved for a loan while still working this spring, find the house I want, buy it; my fiance will keep working the whole time and I'll just make the transition from working to receiving financial aid. We'll be married when I start dental school. Then I'll pay my mortgage payments with my financial aid. And since I'll be married, the mortgage interest will be deducted from my joint yearly income I'll have to file with my wife each year! So I get the tax break (income), I keep the equity I gain over the four years (mortgage payments), plus whatever appreciation happens on the property. And I'm really just financing my mortgage using my student loan money, which I'll pay back later at what? 7%? Probably cheaper money than I'll get on a mortgage. NO WAY am I renting.
 
jlicious said:
When I started this thread, I was hoping to hear from someone who had bought a house already, maybe a 1st or 2nd year Dental student... My fiance and I have jobs now which bring in enough to get qualified for a loan. I'm planning on getting approved for a loan while still working this spring, find the house I want, buy it; my fiance will keep working the whole time and I'll just make the transition from working to receiving financial aid. We'll be married when I start dental school. Then I'll pay my mortgage payments with my financial aid. And since I'll be married, the mortgage interest will be deducted from my joint yearly income I'll have to file with my wife each year! So I get the tax break (income), I keep the equity I gain over the four years (mortgage payments), plus whatever appreciation happens on the property. And I'm really just financing my mortgage using my student loan money, which I'll pay back later at what? 7%? Probably cheaper money than I'll get on a mortgage. NO WAY am I renting.
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Wait...financial=income???? CRAP???
 
Buying a home should be a great investment if:
-you can sell it for what its worth (in the ball park)
-you don't spend a load on major repairs


I don't see why it is better to waste $35000-$40000.
 
americanpierg said:
Wait...financial=income???? CRAP???
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I didn't say I could count my financial aid as taxable income, I said my wife and I (she will be working) will file jointly for our tax return each year, and our mortgage interest will be able to be deducted from our total income, as a family. I'm no accountant, but I believe this is how it works.

The point is to hopefully save some money on income taxes
 
jlicious said:
I didn't say I could count my financial aid as taxable income, I said my wife and I (she will be working) will file jointly for our tax return each year, and our mortgage interest will be able to be deducted from our total income, as a family. I'm no accountant, but I believe this is how it works.

The point is to hopefully save some money on income taxes
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If you only have one income then your deduction for the interest paid won't be as important.
With my wife's income and 2 kids our tax liability is so low that the standard deduction wipes away our tax liability this means all the interest I am paying on my house does me no good at tax time.
 
Ex_EE said:
If you only have one income then your deduction for the interest paid won't be as important.
With my wife's income and 2 kids our tax liability is so low that the standard deduction wipes away our tax liability this means all the interest I am paying on my house does me no good at tax time.
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aha... thank you for your input. I was waiting to hear from someone who had been there.
 
One more thing. I learned that if you have a good credit score you can qualify for a loan by documenting your assets and stating your income (no documentation at all). You will have a slightly higher interest rate this way. Also, you can state income and assests and have a no doc loan, another bump in the interest rate. We did the document assests and state income. At the time I had 0 income because I was working on prereqs w/o loans. My wife was a teacher and the mortgage lady actually filled in a higher stated income than she actually makes to allow us to qualify. Just letting y'all know your options.
 
hi,
wheres a good place to start learning what everyones talking about (taxes,loans,closing cost)......i kinda have to buy a condo too but i have no idea what all these terms and rules mean?
 
dddsmack said:
* Assume a $750 rent payment for a decent apartment in a decent area.
$750 * 12mo = $9000 * 4 yrs = $36,000 lost
Buy a home for $150,000. It won't sell, so you drop the price by $20,000. Net = $20,000 lost.

I guess I am rambling, someone is going to come blow holes in my master plan. Oh well.
Click to expand...

Don't forget about paying $5000 tax/year 😀 😀 😀 😀
 
jim85213 said:
That's true. Property taxes are starting to get out of control.
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Hard lesson for me few years back. I was in tear after getting the first batch of tax bills for my new 140k house in Houston. It was nearly $7500 for property tax, school tax, MUD tax .... So did many of my friends .... 😀 😀
 
HOTTY said:
Buying a home should be a great investment if:
-you can sell it for what its worth (in the ball park)
-you don't spend a load on major repairs


I don't see why it is better to waste $35000-$40000.
Click to expand...


Here are plenty of reasons:
1) You are moving to an area with a depressed economy, homes take a long time to sell.
2) You come home from a long day at school and have hours of studying ahead, only to find out that there is a pest infestation/malfunctioning toilet/broken heater/etc. and the last thing you want to do is arrange for house repairs with exams & lab work hanging over your head (if you are single and don't have a stay-at-home spouse who can arrange for these things).
3) When you graduate & leave, you want to be on the next flight home because you are not staying the area. You don't want to deal with real estate agents and other house related stuff because you have better things to do with your time than hedge your bets on hoping for a real estate windfall if your house sells.
4) You are more interested in investing your money in things that don't require so much time & effort on your part hoping for a financial gain at the end of 4 years.

Most of my classmates rented in dental school, including the married ones, mainly becaue of reasons #1 & 3. Buying a house isn't for everyone. I really don't view the money I am paid in rent during dental school and now my residency as a "waste." To me it is the price for peace of mind to
1) never have to arrange for repairs
2) be able to live walking distance to where I study & work
3) not have to go through the process & paperwork of buying & then selling a place because I don't plan to stay here
4) let me show up the day before residency and leave town the day after graduation with no ties left to the area
5) not have to hassle with paying taxes & mowing the law and other things that go along with being a homeowner

I am a single female and I saw what my fellow single co-resident had to go through when she had a nasty harmful spider problem in her house. No thank you. If I had been a renter in that house, I would have packed my stuff and been outta there the next week. As a homeowner, she was stuck and had to spend countless months of time & stress trying to resolve the problem.

Good luck to those of you looking to buy. I suppose it is easier if you can share the responsibility with a spouse because dental school is no walk in the park, you're going to want to try and make your life as convenient as possible when the exams & practicals start piling up.
 
thank you!!!
i should also have tried buying a home for dummies
 
if you have 977billion dollars you can buy yourself a country
 
is it possible for me:
1) have no job right now....last time i had one was 2 years ago...parttime....at a restuarant
2) go to dental school?
3) get married in my junior year
.....will all of these work out or will i lose to much money?
 
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