Post-match househunting

[NinerNiner999]

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In an effort to take the edge off of the pre-match anxiety that plagues all of us now, I thought I would start this thread to focus beyond March 18.

Who among you are planning to rent versus buy a home? How much home are you going to buy? Have you already looked and made down payments? Are you going to wing it when you match?

As for me, I've looked at homes in three cities and am ready to pull the trigger whenever I find out. Anyone know how long it should take before I could move in?

 

[Dr. Cowboy]

I plan on buying a home in whatever town. I own my home now and it just makes more sense to buy and roll the equity in my current home into a new one. IIRC it took about 6 weeks fom when we made my offer on my current home until we closed on the house (home inspection, title search, blah, blah, blah). Good Luck on house hunting.

 

[Andy Kahn]

I know that I will be throwing money away by renting instead of investing in a home, but I have enjoyed living in apartments for the last 5 years. I guess I am lazy and would rather not have to mow the yard or fix the leaks or call the repairman for problems. Also, I like the flexibility of being able to leave soon after your lease is up. I guess my parents had a hard time selling each time we moved (2 different homes) back when I grew up in a small West Texas town so I fear the difficulty of selling, but I guess it depends on your location. I definitely want to live as close to the hospital(s) as possible as long as it is safe and not have to fight too much traffic. I would like to live in a highrise apt (for the view!) or on 2nd floor or above for a regular apt (for safety, got robbed during 1st year of med school). Things may change when we have kids. I can live in a smaller place for now because all I need(want) is a bigger TV and couch, ESPN Full Court and College Gameday (and all the sports packages), foosball table, and wireless internet. I have been looking forward to moving to a new place for a long time now since my there is no EM program at my home school. Is it Match Day yet?!

 

[Seaglass]

I'm going to buy, planning on spending about $100k on a 3 bedroom once we're sure we know where we're going. Unfortunately I have to wait just a bit as I need the contract to get a mortgage. Question- has anyone applied for the mortgage and got it all set up to where you just need the contract to finish getting approved? If so I think I will look into that next week. We also want to live as close to the hospital as possible and as cheaply as possible.

C

 

[Purulent DC]

Does someone have direct experience with my situation:

No savings, $200k med. school debt, future income of ~$36k as a PGY1 wants to take out a mortage to buy a modest house/condo. instead of renting. I have heard of residents doing this but want to know where I could go about getting prequalified with these stats. I assume only certain lenders would be interested. Any info. appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[GCS:3]

I'll be renting. I don't want to deal with the little problems associated with being a homeowner, and I definitely don't want to get stuck not being able to sell a house when residency is over. I don't plan on sticking around, no matter where I end up on match day.

I will be buying a new car though. Just have to pick something... 😎

 

[Seaglass]

Purulent, see this thread..

C

 

[PimplePopperMD]

Originally posted by cg1155
I'm going to buy, planning on spending about $100k on a 3 bedroom once we're sure we know where we're going. Unfortunately I have to wait just a bit as I need the contract to get a mortgage. Question- has anyone applied for the mortgage and got it all set up to where you just need the contract to finish getting approved? If so I think I will look into that next week. We also want to live as close to the hospital as possible and as cheaply as possible.

C

best bet is to attempt to get "preapproval" prior to match; then when you do go househunting, you can show the owners that you have the funds set up. Generally, you can't write an offer without proof such as this, and you don't want that first house you see to slip through your fingers because you didn't work on preapproval beforehand!

 

[EMRaiden]

Call your local Bank of America and ask for the Premier Banking Representative. Once you have him/her explain your situation and see what they can do for you.

My wife and I have used BOA for 4 years now... they have an excellent Premier program... here in SC they give you a 100% loan (meaning no money down) and waive the Private Mortgage Insurance. They have been extremely responsive to even the strangest requests, and I highly reccomend them.

As far as rent v. buy... it's no contest. Why flush all that cash down the drain when you can buy (at 4.5 -5% interest) and when you move you get your money back. Plus the government subsidizes your house payment by giving you a tax deduction on the mortgage interest. Granted there is some risk that you will have problems selling, but there is a good chance that you'll make a profit. (When I was a 3rd year Med student we bought a house with $5000 down, when we sold we got a check for 25k.)

My 2 pesos...

 

[Seaglass]

I posted this on the Gen Res forum. My loan agent with BOA says he can make a 100%, no PMI physicians loan in ANY STATE. For more info see the other thread. This is good news for people who think they might be moving to a state that isn't eligable for the usual Wachovia, physician loans offers.

C

 

[*Wing of Zock*]

Foosball table and college gameday???

I'm moving in with Kahn!!

 

[Double]

If all ends up well I should be moving to Chicago. I don't think it's possible to buy a home/loft on a resident's salary...or is it?

 

[NinerNiner999]

Originally posted by cg1155
I posted this on the Gen Res forum. My loan agent with BOA says he can make a 100%, no PMI physicians loan in ANY STATE. For more info see the other thread. This is good news for people who think they might be moving to a state that isn't eligable for the usual Wachovia, physician loans offers.

C

Thanks for the tip - I took your advice and just got a great deal on preapproval!

 

[Virion]

Something tells me this is now a very important forum as we all start our house hunting.
V