Homeownership & the app process

[wholeheartedly]

I'm curious what those of you who own a home are doing to handle the possibility that you might need to sell it if/when you get accepted. I mean there's always the possibility that you don't get accepted in which case you'd want to keep the house, but you also don't want to be paying for a mortgage for months when you're living somewhere else going to school. I won't be in this situation for a couple years yet, but I find myself wondering about it a lot especially since it's just me.

Thanks in advance

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[zebalong]

I'm curious what those of you who own a home are doing to handle the possibility that you might need to sell it if/when you get accepted. I mean there's always the possibility that you don't get accepted in which case you'd want to keep the house, but you also don't want to be paying for a mortgage for months when you're living somewhere else going to school. I won't be in this situation for a couple years yet, but I find myself wondering about it a lot especially since it's just me.

Thanks in advance

I had no med schools that I had a great chance to get in around my area (Stanford and UCSF) so I planned on selling no matter what. I'd say if you are above a border line applicant and are pretty sure you are going to med school "somewhere" then apply early and interview real early, as soon as you have your first acceptance (mine was Oct. 15th) put your house up on the market... then you have at least 7-9 months to sell it.

I sold my house, got a UCSF interview (almost crapped in my pants) then got waitlisted, in the end i never got in. But all the way up to Aug. i was wondering if i had sold my house on accident.

 

[eablackwell]

I'm having to rent the house out. Houses have depreciated over 50% in the past 3 yrs in my city. We bought our house for 20k under the appraisal and it is now worth over 60k less than what it appraised for 2 years ago. If I sold I'd make less than I owe. No choice really

 

[drimpossible]

We're in the same boat. Thankfully, I got into school ~15 minutes from our condo. We're waiting on a few higher tier programs though and are dreading the prospect of being absentee landlords while I'm in medical school. We would likely lose money if we had to rush a sale on our condo near NYC.

My friends are applying to residency programs now (they went to school close to their home) and it's the same game all over again. Renting makes a lot of sense until residency.

 

[Dianyla]

Same as previous posters - continue living here if I get into my local state school, or rent it out if I move somewhere else.

Either way, I'll be taking out more than the usual amount of loans.

 

[BLKPA2MD]

Keeping my finger cross hoping I get accepted @ state sch..either way, will sublet & sell prior to residency training.

 

[Scottish Chap]

I'm curious what those of you who own a home are doing to handle the possibility that you might need to sell it if/when you get accepted. I mean there's always the possibility that you don't get accepted in which case you'd want to keep the house, but you also don't want to be paying for a mortgage for months when you're living somewhere else going to school. I won't be in this situation for a couple years yet, but I find myself wondering about it a lot especially since it's just me.

Thanks in advance

You'll go through the same thing for residency, except with less time (match mid-March, start internship July 1 or earlier). It sucks. We sold our house on the last day before we relocated. I would not advise buying a house while in medical school because the match is a legally-binding contract, and far more unpredictable than medical school application.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Thanks for the feedback folks. I don't think I'll be buying a house during medical school. I guess my biggest concern is the local school is insanely competitive and I doubt I'll get in here and the next nearest school is an hour and a half drive away. My house might be kind of hard to sell, but I love it and would hate to sell it if I don't get in the first try.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Praying? Thinking of renting it if I have to, hoping to be able to sell spring of 2012, but we'll see... Otherwise, hopefully I can rent it...

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

I'm curious what those of you who own a home are doing to handle the possibility that you might need to sell it if/when you get accepted. I mean there's always the possibility that you don't get accepted in which case you'd want to keep the house, but you also don't want to be paying for a mortgage for months when you're living somewhere else going to school. I won't be in this situation for a couple years yet, but I find myself wondering about it a lot especially since it's just me.

Thanks in advance

I'm 99% sure I'll have to be looking at a short sale or a foreclosure come June. There is no way I can afford to rent my house for half of the mortgage while in medical school. This is one of the major negatives as I get ready to move to go to medical school, unfortunately I can't sit around and wait for the market to rebound to go to medical school. Additionally a foreclosure is only on your credit for seven years and medical school plus residency is a minimum 7 year commitment.

 

[primadonna22274]

I really hope you don't have to deal with this. Strange story--my house sold on the very same day I got the email saying I got in to med school. It had been on the market nearly 2 yr with lots of lookers but zero offers. Unfortunately we still sold at a loss after $14k in repairs out-of-pocket (ick!) but we are still free, which is a good feeling. I worried about getting student loans if my house had to short-sell but was grateful I didn't have to deal with that. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

I'm 99% sure I'll have to be looking at a short sale or a foreclosure come June. There is no way I can afford to rent my house for half of the mortgage while in medical school. This is one of the major negatives as I get ready to move to go to medical school, unfortunately I can't sit around and wait for the market to rebound to go to medical school. Additionally a foreclosure is only on your credit for seven years and medical school plus residency is a minimum 7 year commitment.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

I really hope you don't have to deal with this. Strange story--my house sold on the very same day I got the email saying I got in to med school. It had been on the market nearly 2 yr with lots of lookers but zero offers. Unfortunately we still sold at a loss after $14k in repairs out-of-pocket (ick!) but we are still free, which is a good feeling. I worried about getting student loans if my house had to short-sell but was grateful I didn't have to deal with that. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks for the well wishes. I don't think I'll have to touch Grad Plus Loans (the only ones in which your credit becomes an issue). Being realistic I'd be eating around 50k if my house sold.

 

[Dianyla]

I'm 99% sure I'll have to be looking at a short sale or a foreclosure come June. There is no way I can afford to rent my house for half of the mortgage while in medical school. This is one of the major negatives as I get ready to move to go to medical school, unfortunately I can't sit around and wait for the market to rebound to go to medical school. Additionally a foreclosure is only on your credit for seven years and medical school plus residency is a minimum 7 year commitment.

Have you considered getting private loans to cover the gap between rent income and mortgage payment? You could do this until the market comes back up and you can sell at a good price again. I know it seems weird to pay one loan with another, but lots of people do it.

There's no way I can rent my house for my current mortgage. Being enrolled in an MD program and having a property asset is a much better credit situation. Especially because the property can be used to secure loans, which makes you less risky to loan to.