House vs. Apartment

[SoonerTexan]

So it looks like we'll be staying in Dallas while DF goes to med school. We'll make the decision for sure on Feb. 1st.

I'd love to hear any opinions on this--I really value the old timer's experience here--especially anyone who knows Dallas and UTSW! Haha, I know these prices seem cheap to some of you!

I'm starting to think about where the heck we are going to live. I will be working north of the city, and obviously he'll be spending a lot of time downtown at the medical school. It's a lot easier for me to commute north than him to get south, so I think we want to stay in the Dallas proper area. (though I refuse to go south of downtown--it gets bad quickly)

I'm not impressed with the area directly next to the med center--it seems like it's a few nice apartment complexes in the middle of the ghetto. I checked out 3-4 places and in that area it seems like we'd be paying $750-$1000 for a one-bedroom and $1000+ for a two bedroom.

We really really need a two bedroom. He needs a quiet place to study and store his ridiculously expensive bike. Plus, we have A LOT of crap. (which I will be sorting through soon, but it is still a lot) Really, we need storage. And there is a good chance we will start a family in 2-3 years, so the space will be needed then too.

When I told someone how much apartments are downtown, they said, "why don't you just buy?" It's an option, and to be honest, I think I'd be making enough that we could afford it, even with tuition, but I'm leery about buying a house when there is a HUGE chance that we will be moving in 4 years due to residency, and it just feels wrong right out of college. That being said, it is going to kill me to "throw away" $1000/month for four years....

What would you do? What are your thoughts on buying a house in this economy, and in our situation? I actually wouldn't mind a fixer-upper--I actually have a decent amount of experience in home improvement, and it would be great to make money on the house. Is this crazy?

Same questions for an apartment--Dallas people--any ideas where to look? Any chance of finding something good in Oak Lawn or Uptown? Recommend any specific complex?

Financially, I think we are in pretty good shape right now. No college debt for either of us, we both own cars with no payments (and they should last another 5-8 years), no other debt (except for med school), and my job is pretty good and amazingly well-compensated for my experience. That being said, we'll be cash-poor the first couple months until I actually start getting PAID, but could probably scrounge up $10000 for a down payment. Not sure about credit either--we don't have bad credit, but I don't think DF has any. I've been buying stuff on a credit card and paying it off faithfully every month for the last year in an attempt to build some credit, but I'm not sure how much that has helped.

I have a lot to learn in the next 4-5 months, and I figure this is as good of a place to start!

[Meenah]

Can you rent in the area you think you want to buy in for the first 6 months? This way you can make sure you buy in the best possible living area and also the best resale area.

[ladymoreta]

Congratulations on being so close to finalizing your decision! So exciting!!!

I think it's worth talking to a lender to see if you could get a loan on a house. The Dallas market hasn't tanked like other places, so even if you lose a little, you'll probably lose less than you would on rent. If the market is still slow around the start of his 4th year, you might try putting it on the market then and renting somewhere if it sells so you don't end up paying two housing expenses if he matches outside of Dallas.

For houses, he'll have a somewhat long commute (>45 minutes) if you want to stay in the $1000-1500 monthly payment range. Before the match, we started looking at houses in Irving, Carrolton, and Farmer's Branch. You might also look at Garland and parts of Plano, but I worked in Irving, so those were too far away for me. We had several friends who lived around White Rock Lake, and there are some darling older houses there that might be around that price. That would probably be a pretty nice commute for both of you.

I agree about the apartments and neighborhood around the medical school - but the convenience was so nice we rented one anyway. Even though ours was gated, I did not feel safe outside my actual unit. (The apartment doors were steel and reinforced, and we were on the 3rd floor, so once I got inside, I was fine. Hated the walk from the garage, though!) We live in Inwood on the Park. I generally liked it (loved the apartment we had!) with the exceptions of safety of the neighborhood, lack of security guard, and annoying management. It looks like their prices have come down, and our 12-month lease was a couple hundred dollars off of the prices listed on the website. Ours was the St. Charles layout, but if you're thinking about having a baby in medical school, I'd go with the Jackson Square layout so you'll have the extra room and a study.

Outside of the medical school neighborhood... Uptown will average a little more expensive, but it would be a safer neighborhood. I don't know about Oak Lawn; definitely worth a try. Also, it's not a really long commute from around where you will work, so I'd check that area and try to drive his route during rush hour, just to see.

Good luck! With Dallas being so spread out, you have a lot of options, but it can be a little overwhelming. At least you've lived there, so you know the areas better than we did at that point.

[SoonerTexan]

We live in Inwood on the Park. I generally liked it (loved the apartment we had!) with the exceptions of safety of the neighborhood, lack of security guard,

I actually checked it out while DF was interviewing--definitely close and not shabby at all, but I get what you mean about feeling safe. I don't know how I would feel walking through those hallways at night. I actually found a few newer complexes a little further away that were in the same price range.

Drat, and I just looked down and realized two little diamonds just fell off my engagement ring. Guess I'm off to Zales tomorrow. Again.

[ladymoreta]

Nice! I would go with the newer complex probably. We were the first to live in our unit, and I think that's part of why we were so happy with it. Everything was brand new when we moved in.

I'm sorry about your ring. Hope they can fix it quickly!

[v-girl]

The commute from Plano isn't too bad (we're north of that). There's a DART station so he could take that to Union Station and switch to the TRE (Trinity Railway) and that has a stop at Parkland. Then he can walk or take the shuttle bus to campus.

If you opt for the suburbs, buy a house. Especially Plano or ALLEN. I know a few agents who could help you look. Don't buy a townhome. They're being built here and there but then I see them sitting with for sale signs forever. Houses are still doing okay here.

I don't know anything about the Dallas area, but as to the general house v. apt issue, a few thoughts:

We started out trying to buy a house before MS1 but weren't really sure where would be best for both our commutes. We needed the flexibility to be able to move closer to the hospital if necessary. We ended up renting, and I'm VERY happy things worked out that way.

In our area, real estate is not the safe investment it once was. If we had bought three years ago, we would likely be taking a loss if we tried sell now, especially given closing costs, etc.

We are stressed enough about match already. I am thankful we don't have to worry about selling a house during that time too.

We do not have time for upkeep. My dishwasher broke while DH was on a difficult rotation. He would not have been able to deal with it, and I don't care to learn anything about appliance maintenance. I love that a quick call to the landlord solves everything.

Feeling safe was my first priority. With DH gone on away rotations, or overnight call, it was really important to us to find a place where I felt secure. For me, that's on the 4th floor of a nice, coded-entry apartment building with lots of neighbors, but everyone has different preferences.

I've certainly had people tell me that we're "throwing away money" in rent, but for us it's worth it to pay a bit for the flexibility and ease of renting.

Good luck hunting for a place to live! Wherever you end up, your first home together will be very special.

[poky]

We are stressed enough about match already. I am thankful we don't have to worry about selling a house during that time too.

We do not have time for upkeep. My dishwasher broke while DH was on a difficult rotation. He would not have been able to deal with it, and I don't care to learn anything about appliance maintenance. I love that a quick call to the landlord solves everything.

These are key, to me, especially the maintenance issue. I would definitely rent at least for a while till you get the feel of the place and decide if you want to take on owning a house while he's busy with med school.

-Sandy

[medpedspouse]

I've certainly had people tell me that we're "throwing away money" in rent,

We heard this too and I would reply that I did not want to throw away any free time DH might have or I might have (since I was working and going to school full time) with house maintenance stuff.

I think that unless you, your DH or family members (that live close enough) are handy, renting provides you a better living situation. We bought our first house after training and boy was it a shock to dole out the $$ for all the repairs (and all were little)....but neither DH nor I are handy. Our first year out of training was pretty stressful money wise and looking back I am glad that we did not add the home maintenance/repair stress while training.

[ladymoreta]

We heard this too and I would reply that I did not want to throw away any free time DH might have or I might have (since I was working and going to school full time) with house maintenance stuff.

That's a really good point. That was one of the highest priorities for us when we bought our house. We wanted one that needed no repairs upon move-in, and we buy the warranty every year. We call them for everything and just pay the service fee. DH's time is so limited, we do not want to spend it doing repairs.

Good point about the DART train from Plano. I'd forgotten about that. We have a friend who uses it every day and loves the convenience. And that would give your DF extra study time in the mornings and evenings on the commute.

[DCJenn]

Well, as the not-so-happy homeowner of two houses because one didn't sell, I would say if you can stand the thought of renting, just rent. It's easier, it's less stressful and let me tell you, if the house doesn't sell, you'll be in a world of hurt. With the mortgage market the way it is today, if you already have a house, getting another mortgage to buy a second house will be very difficult.

and being an absentee landlord SUCKS.

and we're running about a 24 THOUSAND dollar a year loss between what we're paying out and what we're bringing in w/ rent. That's half my salary going to cover the DC house losses. It's more than painful every month.

and Jenn Patel will back me up on this one! Unless you have some majorly compelling reason to buy a house, don't do it.

Jenn

[niener]

I bought a small townhouse straight out of college and will have lived in it 6 years by the time we move for residency. Some days I love the fact that I own my home and some days I hate it. I don't mind when things break having to either fix them myself or arrange to have them fixed (in fact I prefer it over having to wait for the landlord), but it certainly does happen no matter how good of shape the house is in. What worries me now is being able to sell the house once we move, which was not an issue when we bought it 4.5 years ago. So the current real estate market would be the only thing that would make me wary at this point. But on the other hand, you can probably buy fairly low now and if the market makes a comeback in the next 4 years you'll have made quite an investment.

I should also say that our mortgage payments + insurance + property taxes is less than what we would have payed in rent for an apartment smaller than our house and in the same neighborhood, so that factored into our decision as well.

[SoonerTexan]

All good points! I like the idea of renting for 6 months to see where we are at. I may look a little bit, but I don't think the month I have between graduation and the wedding is really enough to look hard for a house.

Hmm...as far as repairs go, that doesn't bother me so much. Hehe, I much more "handy" than DF. My parents build a 4000 square foot house in Mississippi when I was in middle school (as in, they did the painting in and out, cleared the brush from the land around the house, did the electric wiring, and all sorts of other stuff that was ridiculous) and of course my siblings and I "got to" (were forced) help. So I know my way around painting, caulking bathrooms, etc. decently enough that it doesn't scare me too much.

I hadn't thought that much about feeling safe--we don't have a dog, so that would be important to me.

[oceanchild]

We rented in med school, but that was DC, where affording a studio condo would have been near impossible for us.

We bought here (we will likely be here for 6 years), and it worked out fine, but I agree with those who suggest renting for a few months. Having to move again is a pain, but in a new place, you might not end up wanting to live where you think you will want to live. Getting to know the place is helpful.

[scrub-jay]

Another thought for you -

Since you haven't lived together before (if I am wrong in this...sorry!) I would second the idea of renting -- DH and I figured out many of our co-habitation needs were different than we had originally expected! For example - we have a home office where we both have desks -- but for some reason I never work in there, I just take my laptop into the living room or kitchen where there is more space and light. He says he focuses better with me around so inevitably he follows me out.

We never expected that...but in our move, we got a place with an office again, but also a big, bright dining and living room. Living together is amazing, but I do recommend figuring out what you both need to live together happily. (Other couples I know need to be apart to focus on studying/work/etc). That way, you'll be able to set your priorities in what to look for when buying! Just my two cents.



P.S. We currently rent because he is on campus in classes for the first 2 years or so...then his rotations take him away from campus mostly - so we plan on moving then to be more centralized to all of the hospitals he rotates through.