Newly graduated pharmacists who have bought a house?

[FenderBender]

I'm getting tired of my apartment. I want to move out. However, I have only had my new job for about 6 months. Is it a good idea for me to buy a house? For all the pharmacists out there, how long did it take before you bought your first house? I am looking to buy a house around $100,000. I know you have to pay a huge down payment. How much money should I have in my bank account? I will be paying it by myself. With the down payment, interest, fees, and also furniture that I have to buy, I'm worried that I will barely have anything left in my account... any advice, please?? 😕

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I'm getting tired of my apartment. I want to move out. However, I have only had my new job for about 6 months. Is it a good idea for me to buy a house? For all the pharmacists out there, how long did it take before you bought your first house? I am looking to buy a house around $100,000. I know you have to pay a huge down payment. How much money should I have in my bank account? I will be paying it by myself. With the down payment, interest, fees, and also furniture that I have to buy, I'm worried that I will barely have anything left in my account... any advice, please?? 😕

My parents always tell me that you need at least 3 months of living expenses in your savings account before you should commit to a big ticket item like a mortgage especially in this economy. If just buying the thing will drain you dry, then you need to save longer.

 

[CUpharmD2013]

My parents always tell me that you need at least 3 months of living expenses in your savings account before you should commit to a big ticket item like a mortgage especially in this economy. If just buying the thing will drain you dry, then you need to save longer.

More like 6 months to a year when you're in an economy where's it very difficult to find a job. If possible, you should try to put down 20% on the house in order to avoid PMI (private mortgage insurance) and get a good interest rate. Also, when buying, in a buyer's market, you want to make sure that what you're buying is exactly what you want where you want. Barring any job relocation/layoff, you'll want to stay in the house for at least 10 years, the longer the better. It's going to be very difficult to sell without losing money in the short term if you find that you are unhappy. When you're deciding on a house, you want to look at the actual house but you also want to pay close attention to the neighborhood around the house. You can have the best house in the world, but bad neighbors can make life miserable. Also remember that owning a house means that you are responsible for EVERYTHING. When you rent, you don't have to worry about mowing the lawn, fixing the leaky pipe, repairing the hole in the wall, etc.

 

[charfdorn]

I'm getting tired of my apartment. I want to move out. However, I have only had my new job for about 6 months. Is it a good idea for me to buy a house? For all the pharmacists out there, how long did it take before you bought your first house? I am looking to buy a house around $100,000. I know you have to pay a huge down payment. How much money should I have in my bank account? I will be paying it by myself. With the down payment, interest, fees, and also furniture that I have to buy, I'm worried that I will barely have anything left in my account... any advice, please?? 😕

My wife and I bought our house way too soon. Thankfully, I started making more money right after we did. Because there's really no guarantee you're going to be able to sell your house for what you paid for it right now, I would recommend waiting until you have 20% for a down payment plus about a year's worth of all your living expenses. You will find yourself spending a lot more than you ever expected on furniture, little repairs, decoration, etc., etc., plus your utilities will probably all go up. It's not likely, but if you lose your job you need to have a good chunk of money to fall back on, too. Plus, make sure you're not going to move any time soon. The housing market is terrible; if you need to sell in the next 3 to 5 years I wouldn't expect to make any profit on the house.

 

[Jenny2009]

For all the pharmacists out there, how long did it take before you bought your first house? I am looking to buy a house around $100,000. I know you have to pay a huge down payment.

Even though you could probably afford to buy a house earlier, I suggest that you work at least a year before you make the purchase. Save at least 40 k and put 20% down comes which comes 20 k.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Check out the "should I buy a car" thread.

 

[CUpharmD2013]

Check out the "should I buy a car" thread.

Why would he check out that thread when he's considering buying a house? 😉

 

[stuckincvs]

where the hell can you buy a house for 100k? 😕

 

[owlegrad]

where the hell can you buy a house for 100k? 😕

Really?

 

[SHC1984]

where the hell can you buy a house for 100k? 😕

Not many places...they are usually very small and crappy and in bad areas...but houses for 100K do exist.


To the OP, don't buy a house until you have a good savings AND you are 110% sure that is where you want to live at. Personally I rather live in a nice apartment until I have enough savings to buy a NICE house then to buy a crappy house. If I can't afford a very nice home, then I will just live in a nice apartment until I have the savings to buy a nice home (in a area that I am SURE I want to be in).

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Where I'm from $100k can get you a respectable, middle class abode.

Something like this.

 

[type b pharmD]

Where I'm from $100k can get you a respectable, middle class abode.

Something like this.

nice!!! nice price!! quiet cul-de-sac and renovated??! yeah that is the one bright point for newly graduating pharmacists for the next while. houses are dirt cheap -- even if you only get a part time job you could afford a nice house such as above

 

[MountainPharmD]

I would not rush into buying a house. Do a google search on the myth of home ownership. IMHO unless you plan on being in the house for 10 plus years I would not buy a house. All the old reason for buying house really do not make sense. The housing bubble bursting has taught us all that.

 

[MountainPharmD]

where the hell can you buy a house for 100k? 😕

In rural America.

The Dallas/Ft.Worth area has some of the most resonably priced real estate in the United States. You could not touch a decent home for 100k. You could get a decent house in an okay neighborhood for close to 200k.

 

[drift]

Where I'm from $100k can get you a respectable, middle class abode.

Something like this.

one could probably own a 100k house in ~4 years paying 30k/yr even with the highest interest rates and 10% down. Over 4.5ish years, even a 5-7% rates would only be about 15k or so in interest which isnt that bad at all.

Plus, only $600 Tax a YEAR!! (aka $50/month)... Ahh I blow atleast 1200 a MONTH on my taxes (~14k) and I probably have just a little bigger house, which I paid 4 times as much for then such a 100k house...I needa move ASAP

 

[Momus]

Check this really good site updated everyday about housing news. http://www.patrick.net/housing/crash.html

 

[Ackj]

I saw on msn or something like it that Buffalo has among the lowest real estate prices in the nation. My parents have a 2 story plus basement, 3 bed 2 bath on 19 acres for $160k.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

I'm getting tired of my apartment. I want to move out. However, I have only had my new job for about 6 months. Is it a good idea for me to buy a house? For all the pharmacists out there, how long did it take before you bought your first house? I am looking to buy a house around $100,000. I know you have to pay a huge down payment. How much money should I have in my bank account? I will be paying it by myself. With the down payment, interest, fees, and also furniture that I have to buy, I'm worried that I will barely have anything left in my account... any advice, please?? 😕

Hope for the best, plan for the worst. What are you gonna do if you happen to lose your job? Will you be able to have someone else make payments while you find a new one? Just questions to think about.

 

[PharmDstudent]

Buy in an established area. Or a neighborhood that's on the upup.The small fixer-upper is probably a wise choice.
My little place has the potential to sell for $50K more than I bought it with $20K in remodeling work.
Or I could just leave it alone, live in it like it is, and pay off debt since the mortgage is so affordable. My SO and I just paid off 1 credit card and over 1/2 of the balance on 2 others... I hate worrying about debt every month, over and over again.

 

[Momus]

Paying off credit card balance is wise decision. You just guaranteed your self 15-20%/year return on your money (not paying interest).

I never have a credit card balance. Having a balance is a rip off. I can not see any investment that gives me a guaranteed 20%/year. I pay it off every damn month while having the card pay 1-2% cash back for every purchase I made. My credit score is 753. I bet if I get a mortgage, and pay the mortgage regularly for 2 year my credit score can easily shoot up to 800.

Recently, I just bought $500 worth off Shell gift cards in Albertsons, they have a promo that you get $20 grocery store coupon for every $100 you spend for gift card. This gives me $100 in free grocery and $25 (I used 5% reward credit card from Chase). Pretty awesome deal for nothing.

You can also view a home as a long term bond like liability. You place a huge bet that inflation will kick in. If inflation kicks in, your payment is still the same, home equity will go up, and you will pay the fixed mortgage with cheap inflated dollars as your salary will also increase accordingly to inflation. But if you get an ARM, a huge mortgage, and it's due to reset... well good luck to you...

 

[PharmDstudent]

Paying off credit card balance is wise decision. You just guaranteed your self 15-20%/year return on your money (not paying interest).

I never have a credit card balance. Having a balance is a rip off. I can not see any investment that gives me a guaranteed 20%/year. I pay it off every damn month while having the card pay 1-2% cash back for every purchase I made. My credit score is 753. I bet if I get a mortgage, and pay the mortgage regularly for 2 year my credit score can easily shoot up to 800.

Recently, I just bought $500 worth off Shell gift cards in Albertsons, they have a promo that you get $20 grocery store coupon for every $100 you spend for gift card. This gives me $100 in free grocery and $25 (I used 5% reward credit card from Chase). Pretty awesome deal for nothing.

You can also view a home as a long term bond like liability. You place a huge bet that inflation will kick in. If inflation kicks in, your payment is still the same, home equity will go up, and you will pay the fixed mortgage with cheap inflated dollars as your salary will also increase accordingly to inflation. But if you get an ARM, a huge mortgage, and it's due to reset... well good luck to you...

I really hate credit card debt!
The appliances had to come from somewhere, though. Lol. Hence the credit card debt.
It wasn't the full interest rate. More like 25% divided by 12 months times 2 months - so 4%.
I love playing with numbers like your gift card scenario. However, Albertson's was always a rip-off, so you could probably reduce the worth of your grocery cards by 25%.

 

[BrandonUK03]

I bought a house after graduation thinking it made sense... single, tax deductions, home would appreciate etc. I put down a small down payment ~5%. In retrospect, I should have realized/done the following:

1. Put down at least 20% at closing.
2. Considered home insurance and taxes on a home - mine are $850 and $2800 annually.
3. Consider costs of upkeep- fixing broken things in the house, doing landscaping, mowing lawn, etc.
4. Consider costs of furnishing. I had to furnish a 3 BR 2 BA home. Furniture is expensive! Tack on an easy 30-40K just to get you the basics.
5. Know the trending home values in your part of the country. Are you trending down, up or stable?
6. Google search for a calculator that helps you understand how much home you can afford.... I'd recommend being conservative here.
7. Don't forget all the closing costs associated with buying a home.

Benefits I've experienced from buying a home.

1. Improves credit score assuming you make your payments
2. Tax benefits. You can deduct a wide array of things such as property tax and mortgage interest relating to a home. This saves me roughly $6K per year in taxes versus if I rented.
3. A place to call yours. Fix it up as you please.
4. Hopefully we'll see appreciation moving forward.
5. You build equity versus renting assuming the market is stable.