Physician Loan for House in residency

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Inygma

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Hi all,

Anyone have any info on physician loans or anyone that has done one in residency? I am looking into it and it seems like a good deal 0% down, no mortgage insurance needed. It would allow my family to own and pay a cheaper monthly rate than rent and hopefully get my money back/make some profit if we decide to move after residency.

Anyway, just looking for advice/thoughts/experiences or any resources you all used. Even thoughts on renting/buying (assuming you want to stay in the location you did residency).

Edit: I should mention I'll be moving with my wife and 2 kids, so I won't be looking to rent out extra rooms which I know can be lucrative. This would be just for my family

Thanks!
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I just bought a house and we love it!

We intend to stay here for about 10-15 years, and will do 2 or 3 rounds of renovations in different areas during that time.

We don’t dream we will make a profit on it and once we got past that assumption we were much happier in the process. I’ve already seen that the ULTIMATE money pit is a house in 2 short months. Just how it goes. You never know how the housing market will go and as volatile as the market is - I can wait a while for a market to recover, you really won’t in 4 years.

Nearly everyone I know they bought a house in residency put some amount down (the usual 20% or so). That helped keep their mortgage rates down. But if I went and asked I’d guess about only Half were happy with their decision to buy. You’ll be super busy with residency and the last thing you’ll want to deal with yourself are things like toilet leaks, garage door problems or washer/dryer fires (I dealt with all during residency).
 
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I bought for residency. And move right after residency. I also thought we “may” stay, but obviously, didn’t work out. We end up putting close to 50k of works into the house due to the age of the house. And 4 years wasn’t long enough for the value of the house to increase. We end up lost money on the house.

Of course that’s just my experience.
1. It was in a nice neighborhood with decent school district.
2. It’s the suburban of a major metropolitan area.
Even with those the house didn’t increase enough. There were just too much incidentals and created unnecessary stress. We should have just rent. At the end, it would have cost less if we just rented.

Just my 2 cents
 
Double check that with zero down, your P+I plus taxes plus insurance is still actually cheaper than renting. The first few years of a mortgage are almost entirely interest, so you'll be making little headway in terms of gaining actual equity. Closing costs for buying and agent fees for selling are a lot of money, and you are unlikely to recoup those costs if you are planning to buy and sell in just 3-4 years of home ownership.
 
I'll jump in here too. I bought for residency/fellowship. I will end up making money on it, as did most of my colleagues who bought, but this varies based on location and timing obviously. If I were in the same shoes today I don't think I would make money in 4 years just because of the timing of the market when I jumped in. That being said, budget 1% in annual costs for fixes. So 300k home means you'll have to pay 3k/yr for fixes along the way. Trust me this is true and you just have to concede it will happen. Consider 6% sellers fees at the end of it. I am now facing the same decision again in a new city where we will be for 3 years at least and I would actually prefer to rent, however the rental market there is abysmal compared to what is for sale so my hand may be forced. This may be the case with you based on the size of your family, but do your research and see if you have a clear cut smart choice.

Whitecoatinvestor does have a lot of resources about Physician Mortgages. Read every article on the topic and you will make an informed decision. Check out the New York Times rent vs buy calculator and play around with all the numbers. It will flat out tell you based on what you are looking what the rental price equivalent would be.
 
btbam said:
Closing costs for buying and agent fees for selling are a lot of money, and you are unlikely to recoup those costs if you are planning to buy and sell in just 3-4 years of home ownership.
Click to expand...

So much of this is market dependent. After residency, I bought a small house in Georgia, mortgage payment was about $860/month. A comparable rental was at least $1500/month. I sold it four years later, when I got out of the Army, for roughly the same as I purchased it, and probably came out about even to slightly ahead, compared to renting. Similar story for my little condo in Maryland I bought for residency (summer '09). The rental market was just ridiculous when I looked it the end of med school. Now, where I'm currently living, I should have just rented.



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Thanks for the input all.

I don't know if this matters but the area I am looking at has family sized houses 3+ bedrooms that are <5 years old for 200k. The residents are making ~80k a year. Low tax state. Rent is closer to $1800-2k for the same house where mortgage is $1200.

Since land is plenty I am assuming that means it is harder to resell in the future.
 
Inygma said:
Thanks for the input all.

I don't know if this matters but the area I am looking at has family sized houses 3+ bedrooms that are <5 years old for 200k. The residents are making ~80k a year. Low tax state. Rent is closer to $1800-2k for the same house where mortgage is $1200.

Since land is plenty I am assuming that means it is harder to resell in the future.
Click to expand...

Yes, it matters. Sounds like a reasonable option to me. People sometimes try and make this a black and white absolute decision. As per all the examples on here, the smart move depends very much on the specific circumstances and timing of what you plan to do. And even after making an informed decision, there is some risk associated with either choice. Just ask anyone who bought right before the housing bubble burst about that.
 
CubsDynasty said:
I'll jump in here too. I bought for residency/fellowship. I will end up making money on it, as did most of my colleagues who bought, but this varies based on location and timing obviously. If I were in the same shoes today I don't think I would make money in 4 years just because of the timing of the market when I jumped in. That being said, budget 1% in annual costs for fixes. So 300k home means you'll have to pay 3k/yr for fixes along the way. Trust me this is true and you just have to concede it will happen. Consider 6% sellers fees at the end of it. I am now facing the same decision again in a new city where we will be for 3 years at least and I would actually prefer to rent, however the rental market there is abysmal compared to what is for sale so my hand may be forced. This may be the case with you based on the size of your family, but do your research and see if you have a clear cut smart choice.

Whitecoatinvestor does have a lot of resources about Physician Mortgages. Read every article on the topic and you will make an informed decision. Check out the New York Times rent vs buy calculator and play around with all the numbers. It will flat out tell you based on what you are looking what the rental price equivalent would be.
Click to expand...

For the area I am looking I'd have to get the same house for $1,300/mo to rent which is not close to an option.
 
Inygma said:
Thanks for the input all.

I don't know if this matters but the area I am looking at has family sized houses 3+ bedrooms that are <5 years old for 200k. The residents are making ~80k a year. Low tax state. Rent is closer to $1800-2k for the same house where mortgage is $1200.

Since land is plenty I am assuming that means it is harder to resell in the future.
Click to expand...

Where is this dreamland?
 
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I am not the oracle of Omaha. But we are going into a down cycle right now. There is a decent chance buying now is not the smart move financially. i.e. the house might drop in value in 4 years.

My parents have tons of properties and I managed some for them before med school. Having to deal with that on a regular basis on my own house during residency to save $200-300 per month is absolutely not worth it. You're better off finding a moonlight gig or just eat up the cost... it's all a drop in the bucket at this point.
 
Buy it and never sell it.

White Coat Investor says not to buy in residency because if you sell in 4 years, you likely will loose money. But he also has lots of words on real estate as investments - so these seem to contradict each other.

So again, buy it and never sell it.

(By the way, just read on White Coat Investor how he said that moonlighting under a business isn't cheaper and doesn't provide you protection. I have been telling me colleagues this for years and no one ever believes me. They somehow think a business gets better tax write offs...but now someone that other people trust is agreeing with me. Wow. Maybe I'll read more of what this website has to say.)
 
Also, something to consider....most people think they will move after residency, but I think the data is that a high percentage tend to stay around. That should be considered as well.

When I first met my financial advisor, he told me what I had heard many many times...that is..that buying a house is a horrible investment. He told me that many years ago. But when I asked him recently if he still felt that way, he said..."Nope." He then explained. He said that even though one could probably beat returns with other riskier investments, the thing about a home is that it is a FORCED investment and that fact alone means people should do it, because most people don't have the ability or discipline to save a big chunk monthly. That may not apply to you, but it is a good thing to think about .... a savings/investment account that you are basically forced to participate in. That has tremendous value. For the next 4 years, you will make ends meet with your 80K, but I doubt you will be saving much. Buying a home is a forced savings plan for you. That has value.
 
If renting a 200k house costs 2k (meets 1% rule), then buying could be reasonable especially if you can continue to rent it out after you graduate should you move elsewhere and since you are in the area because of residency, I'd imagine a steady of stream of residents who are potential renters. Run all the numbers as a real estate investment and see if makes sense.

Inygma said:
Thanks for the input all.

I don't know if this matters but the area I am looking at has family sized houses 3+ bedrooms that are <5 years old for 200k. The residents are making ~80k a year. Low tax state. Rent is closer to $1800-2k for the same house where mortgage is $1200.

Since land is plenty I am assuming that means it is harder to resell in the future.
Click to expand...
 
mmag said:
If renting a 200k house costs 2k (meets 1% rule), then buying could be reasonable especially if you can continue to rent it out after you graduate should you move elsewhere and since you are in the area because of residency, I'd imagine a steady of stream of residents who are potential renters. Run all the numbers as a real estate investment and see if makes sense.
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Unless it’s a brand a new house, I’d be very surprised if upkeep is only 2K. I’d budget 4-6K. I know the “rule” but 2 will go by in a snap.

My 160K house I rented had ~ 5-6K of repairs required (mostly disposal, garage door, dryer fire) during a 2 year period. Probably another 1-2 at the very end to re-sod the entire yard due to a drought. I was happy I didn’t have to deal with that.
 
Don’t buy a house in residency.
1. You’ll never save enough in rent to make up for the realtor cost and mortgage fees.
2. Last I looked, you won’t be able to use a physician loan to buy a house you really want after residency if you use your one chance during residency. You’ll instead have to save up a down payment which could take years. At this point, waiting years probably means higher interest rates which would cost you a fortune long term.
 
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First of all, I think zero money down mortgages are a really bad idea. Forget the buy vs. rent as a resident argument for a moment. Do you even qualify for a “physician mortgage” as a resident? Your employment is still unstable as a resident, so I’m not sure you qualify, but I may be wrong. If you can’t put 20% down on a house then you can’t afford the house yet. When you consider the transaction costs, you are starting your homeownership underwater. Things happen and you could find yourself in a bad situation rather quickly. Did we already forget 2007-2008?

Buying a house is buying a money pit. There are all the known costs and then there are all the hidden costs. We all know the potential for plumbing problems or appliance issues. However, there is a certain psychology that comes with owning a house. When you rent, you don’t seem to care that your table was a $15 purchase off craigslist. Now that you own your house, your wife wants to get that farmhouse chic made-in-Malaysia-piece-of-crap table from Pottery Barn for $3000. Then you start thinking about all the projects that would make the house more to your liking. Buying a house is a gateway drug to unnecessary consumption. Renting is better in residency both financially and psychologically.

Take all the money you would otherwise spend making the house to your liking and put it in a high yield savings account for the next 4 years. Save for the 20% down payment then buy a house. Having some equity in the house on day 1 is a piece of mind that is worth the wait.
 
To give you an idea, a “physician loan” 0% down was roughly 0.75-1.5% higher overall interest rate on a 30 year mortgage than mine when I put down >20%. Probably worse for 15 year. That’s a substantial difference. I actually put a little more down to get my rate to a really good one which I am happy with, and I am fortunate to be able to do that... no chance I would have during training.

And since you don’t have a great employment history fresh out of school (at least I didn’t), your rates may be even higher. Unless your wife has a solid job and can be a co-signer. Lots to consider, just because it’s 0% down doesn’t mean that’s a great deal. Banks love it because docs are good bets overall as long as they don’t have a terrible credit history and they can make huge profits off interest.
 
GravelRider said:
First of all, I think zero money down mortgages are a really bad idea. Forget the buy vs. rent as a resident argument for a moment. Do you even qualify for a “physician mortgage” as a resident? Your employment is still unstable as a resident, so I’m not sure you qualify, but I may be wrong. If you can’t put 20% down on a house then you can’t afford the house yet. When you consider the transaction costs, you are starting your homeownership underwater. Things happen and you could find yourself in a bad situation rather quickly. Did we already forget 2007-2008?

Buying a house is buying a money pit. There are all the known costs and then there are all the hidden costs. We all know the potential for plumbing problems or appliance issues. However, there is a certain psychology that comes with owning a house. When you rent, you don’t seem to care that your table was a $15 purchase off craigslist. Now that you own your house, your wife wants to get that farmhouse chic made-in-Malaysia-piece-of-crap table from Pottery Barn for $3000. Then you start thinking about all the projects that would make the house more to your liking. Buying a house is a gateway drug to unnecessary consumption. Renting is better in residency both financially and psychologically.

Take all the money you would otherwise spend making the house to your liking and put it in a high yield savings account for the next 4 years. Save for the 20% down payment then buy a house. Having some equity in the house on day 1 is a piece of mind that is worth the wait.
Click to expand...

To answer your question, yes, one of the draws of the physician mortgage is that a signed contract (including one for residency) is enough. I can technically put 20% down but I wanted to have a windfall during my PGY-1 year where I can't moonlight so my income would be ~$58k. I am almost done with rotations and I will start reading WCI to get a better feel.

Thank you all for the responses, it was great to see how people did it through residency/after residency and getting advice!
 
Inygma said:
Thanks for the input all.

I don't know if this matters but the area I am looking at has family sized houses 3+ bedrooms that are <5 years old for 200k. The residents are making ~80k a year. Low tax state. Rent is closer to $1800-2k for the same house where mortgage is $1200.

Since land is plenty I am assuming that means it is harder to resell in the future.
Click to expand...
This was basically my scenario. I have a wife and 3 kids.

When we looked at renting vs buying, to get the same size/location we were looking at 2K a month for rent. We bought a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2400sq ft for $200K in an awesome neighborhood not far from the hospital. 0% down. Mortgage + insurance + taxes = $1100 per month. The value is estimate to be up by $30K on Zillow so far.

I had planned to rent, but it just wasn't happening. Could I lose money? Definitely. I came in accepting that. I will not hold onto the house and try to rent it out or anything if it loses value. If it tanks, then I'll just take the loss and get out.

But I can tell you we've loved owning our home and making it our own. We've probably put around $5K of renovations into it without plans for much more. It's definitely been inconvenient and frustrating to have to use my free time to fix plumbing issues or whatever else pops up.

So, to give you some ideas, I emailed ALL of the lenders listed on the whitecoat investor who offered physician loans in my state. Went with the one that offered the best terms, it was Midland States Bank. 3.375% APR on a 7/1 ARM.

Good luck. Hope you figure out what works best.
 
abolt18 said:
This was basically my scenario. I have a wife and 3 kids.

When we looked at renting vs buying, to get the same size/location we were looking at 2K a month for rent. We bought a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2400sq ft for $200K in an awesome neighborhood not far from the hospital. 0% down. Mortgage + insurance + taxes = $1100 per month. The value is estimate to be up by $30K on Zillow so far.

I had planned to rent, but it just wasn't happening. Could I lose money? Definitely. I came in accepting that. I will not hold onto the house and try to rent it out or anything if it loses value. If it tanks, then I'll just take the loss and get out.

But I can tell you we've loved owning our home and making it our own. We've probably put around $5K of renovations into it without plans for much more. It's definitely been inconvenient and frustrating to have to use my free time to fix plumbing issues or whatever else pops up.

So, to give you some ideas, I emailed ALL of the lenders listed on the whitecoat investor who offered physician loans in my state. Went with the one that offered the best terms, it was Midland States Bank. 3.375% APR on a 7/1 ARM.

Good luck. Hope you figure out what works best.
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DId you put money down to get it that low? ~$1,100
 
Inygma said:
DId you put money down to get it that low? ~$1,100
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0%. I put nothing down. They just had the best rates with the least fees. Could have gotten 3.125 interest rate if I had done the 5/1ARM but figured 7/1 gave me a bit more flexibility.

Also shopped around a bunch for different homeowners insurance rates
 
Be careful of predatory lenders that will charge you a much higher interest and try to sell you on how its worth it because you will have no problem paying off on a physician's salary! Outside of medicine, everyone thinks we make millions!!
 
Just to add on to what I have already said above about the forced savings plan -

Many say don't buy because you will "loose" money - but I don't think that is the right answer. You may loose money vs renting on a dollar per dollar comparison.

But let's say you move in 4 years and want to buy a house where you get a job. Let's use that as a likely scenario.

If you buy, you will sell and get your down payment, plus four years of principle payments, plus any rise in housing over that time - to help you purchase another home.

If you rent, what will you have? Do you really think that with your resident salary, you are going to save $800/month (your principle payment) to buy a house? I HIGHLY doubt that. But if you think - yeah...that's who I am...a tremendous penny pincher and saver!....then maybe renting is for you. But if you are like the rest of us...seriously consider buying.
 
epidural man said:
If you buy, you will sell and get your down payment, plus four years of principle payments, plus any rise in housing over that time - to help you purchase another home.
Click to expand...

Because real estate only goes up, right?

I don't know why people downplay the risks of real estate so much. Even at its very best it's an illiquid asset with extraordinarily high transaction costs and ownership fees (taxes, maintenance, insurance).

Rentals can be vacant and bleed money.


In 2006, when I started residency, I bought a house for $305,000.

We left for 5 years and rented it out. During this time it was mostly cash flow neutral but valued at about $220-240,000.

We live in it now and it's valued around $260-280,000. We've owned it for 12.5 years and it is still worth about 10% less than what we paid for it.

On the bright side, it's a place to live and we like it. It can be hard to find a rental when you have cats and 140 pound rottweilers. It has never been a hardship for us to make payments. It was never vacant in the 5 years it was a rental. The only major repairs we've been hit with were a new roof two years ago and a new water heater last year. It'll be paid off in a few months. So yeah we're glad to have it but appreciation of real estate is absolutely not something to count on, and if we weren't living in it we wouldn't own it.
 
epidural man said:
Just to add on to what I have already said above about the forced savings plan -

Many say don't buy because you will "loose" money - but I don't think that is the right answer. You may loose money vs renting on a dollar per dollar comparison.

But let's say you move in 4 years and want to buy a house where you get a job. Let's use that as a likely scenario.

If you buy, you will sell and get your down payment, plus four years of principle payments, plus any rise in housing over that time - to help you purchase another home.

If you rent, what will you have? Do you really think that with your resident salary, you are going to save $800/month (your principle payment) to buy a house? I HIGHLY doubt that. But if you think - yeah...that's who I am...a tremendous penny pincher and saver!....then maybe renting is for you. But if you are like the rest of us...seriously consider buying.
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He’s talking about putting no money down...$0 down payment. If he moves in 4 years he will have paid a whole lot of interest and not a lot of principal. Maybe he lucks out and falls into an all of a sudden hot market and has >4% appreciation (highly unlikely), he still has to contend with transaction costs.
 
I think a lot of this will depend on your local market. Some markets can have large swings, but some cities never have big ups or downs. Another factor is how familiar you are with the area. If you're moving completely into a new area it might be worthwhile to rent a little bit before buying into a neighborhood you actually end up liking with good schools for your kids.

We bought our house 5 years ago, 3/1 for a little over 110K. We love the house and the neighborhood. Planning on keeping it for 3 to 4 more years until we have to get a bigger one more in the suburbs. Our physician mortgage was from a local bank with no PMI and no money down, although we did put down a little bit of equity. We haven't really needed to put too much money into the house, but I think a new roof is coming down the line. We have been bouncing back and forth between the idea of renting this place out once we buy a bigger one or just selling it and not having the extra headache. The purpose of the house was never to make some money, but simply a reasonable place to live during residency with the added benefit of building some equity. One thing I would change would be to do an escrow instead of not having one, only because tax season can be a large increase in your "spending," and that can be hard on resident savings if you don't plan it out correctly.
 
Agree with CUBR about the escrow account. Part of our mortgage payment goes towards an escrow account the pays our taxes. I don't even think about it but its nice to not have to worry about a 4k tax bill every year.
 
nolagas said:
Don’t buy a house in residency.
1. You’ll never save enough in rent to make up for the realtor cost and mortgage fees.
2. Last I looked, you won’t be able to use a physician loan to buy a house you really want after residency if you use your one chance during residency. You’ll instead have to save up a down payment which could take years. At this point, waiting years probably means higher interest rates which would cost you a fortune long term.
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Incorrect. You can only have 1 physician loan at a time, but you can qualify for them up to 10 years after residency in some places. I've used 2 - one in residency and one as an attending.
 
So some people have concerns about the interest rate. Have people been successful refinancing a physician loan mortgage for a good interest rate soon after they finish residency, or is it difficult if you haven’t paid much principle?
 
VA Hopeful Dr said:
Incorrect. You can only have 1 physician loan at a time, but you can qualify for them up to 10 years after residency in some places. I've used 2 - one in residency and one as an attending.
Click to expand...
May be correct or incorrect depending on where you live. The one I got was only available for first home purchase. I’m not going to review the requirements for every physician loan available, but it’s worth looking into before deciding to buy a house, especially when not all loans are available in any given state.
 
abolt18 said:
This was basically my scenario. I have a wife and 3 kids.

When we looked at renting vs buying, to get the same size/location we were looking at 2K a month for rent. We bought a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2400sq ft for $200K in an awesome neighborhood not far from the hospital. 0% down. Mortgage + insurance + taxes = $1100 per month. The value is estimate to be up by $30K on Zillow so far.

I had planned to rent, but it just wasn't happening. Could I lose money? Definitely. I came in accepting that. I will not hold onto the house and try to rent it out or anything if it loses value. If it tanks, then I'll just take the loss and get out.

But I can tell you we've loved owning our home and making it our own. We've probably put around $5K of renovations into it without plans for much more. It's definitely been inconvenient and frustrating to have to use my free time to fix plumbing issues or whatever else pops up.

So, to give you some ideas, I emailed ALL of the lenders listed on the whitecoat investor who offered physician loans in my state. Went with the one that offered the best terms, it was Midland States Bank. 3.375% APR on a 7/1 ARM.

Good luck. Hope you figure out what works best.
Click to expand...
Where can you find a 4br 2.5ba for 200K? Here it costs at least 1.5m

Monthly purchase cost 1100 vs rent 2000? A rental market paradise. I want to be landlord there.
 
narcotics999 said:
Where can you find a 4br 2.5ba for 200K? Here it costs at least 1.5m

Monthly purchase cost 1100 vs rent 2000? A rental market paradise. I want to be landlord there.
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Jeez. You need to move. That’s insane. For 1.5 mil in TX you get a house on some acreage and some horses.
Unless of course we talking about certain specific neighborhoods. Where you can still get a large house but no yard.
 
chocomorsel said:
Jeez. You need to move. That’s insane. For 1.5 mil in TX you get a house on some acreage and some horses.
Unless of course we talking about certain specific neighborhoods. Where you can still get a large house but no yard.
Click to expand...

How about the horses?
 
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Inygma said:
Hi all,

Anyone have any info on physician loans or anyone that has done one in residency? I am looking into it and it seems like a good deal 0% down, no mortgage insurance needed. It would allow my family to own and pay a cheaper monthly rate than rent and hopefully get my money back/make some profit if we decide to move after residency.

Anyway, just looking for advice/thoughts/experiences or any resources you all used. Even thoughts on renting/buying (assuming you want to stay in the location you did residency).

Edit: I should mention I'll be moving with my wife and 2 kids, so I won't be looking to rent out extra rooms which I know can be lucrative. This would be just for my family

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I bought in residency but if I had it to do over, I would have rented. Unless you’re filthy rich, most of the homes you’ll be looking at are starter homes in the 150-200K range. These are hard to sell down the road because they are usually part of cookie cutter homes by one or two builders in a new subdivision, etc.. When it comes time to sell...there are tons of other homes up for sale also that look just like yours. In the end, I got very lucky in that I was able to sell but I probably lost a little bit of money in the end and certainly didn’t save any over those 4 years. I had to throw in appliances, mower, weeder, tools, frig, washer, drier to sweeten the deal as the ultimate “move in ready!” for all the first time home buyers. It was a pain in the ass getting that thing sold.

I suppose if you wanted to make it a rental property down the road it might make more sense...but if you’re not sure I’d say renting is the way to go.
 
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Groove said:
I bought in residency but if I had it to do over, I would have rented. Unless you’re filthy rich, most of the homes you’ll be looking at are starter homes in the 150-200K range. These are hard to sell down the road because they are usually part of cookie cutter homes by one or two builders in a new subdivision, etc.. When it comes time to sell...there are tons of other homes up for sale also that look just like yours. In the end, I got very lucky in that I was able to sell but I probably lost a little bit of money in the end and certainly didn’t save any over those 4 years.

I suppose if you wanted to make it a rental property down the road it might make more sense...but if you’re not sure I’d say renting is the way to go.
Click to expand...


Agree about not buying in residency but starter homes are usually the easiest to sell. A “doctor house” is more difficult to unload in a down market.
 
Inygma said:
Hi all,

Anyone have any info on physician loans or anyone that has done one in residency? I am looking into it and it seems like a good deal 0% down, no mortgage insurance needed. It would allow my family to own and pay a cheaper monthly rate than rent and hopefully get my money back/make some profit if we decide to move after residency.

Anyway, just looking for advice/thoughts/experiences or any resources you all used. Even thoughts on renting/buying (assuming you want to stay in the location you did residency).

Edit: I should mention I'll be moving with my wife and 2 kids, so I won't be looking to rent out extra rooms which I know can be lucrative. This would be just for my family

Thanks!
Click to expand...
It is unlikely it will cheaper to own. Between property taxes, insurance, maintenance & repairs, a house costs about 3% of it's price yearly. Add that to the mortgage payment. And then add the fees to buy and sell it prorated over your projected ownership time.

Only way you could come ahead is if the house appreciates a lot. In the foreseeable future I only see houses depreciating.
 
Inygma said:
Thanks for the input all.

I don't know if this matters but the area I am looking at has family sized houses 3+ bedrooms that are <5 years old for 200k. The residents are making ~80k a year. Low tax state. Rent is closer to $1800-2k for the same house where mortgage is $1200.

Since land is plenty I am assuming that means it is harder to resell in the future.
Click to expand...

Rent the 1800 house and invest the money the repairs would have cost.

And smile.
 
Rent. I bought in residency, it worked out OK for me (slightly better than renting), but only in retrospect to I realize the risk adjusted returns were entirely not worth it. The potential upside vs. the potential downside just doesn’t make sense.
 
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