When did you go house hunting?

So we've made the decision to go to KCOM (Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine). In Kirksville, MO. We live in PA. The white coat ceremony is the end of August. We plan on moving to MO the begining of August.
When did you start looking for homes and how did you go about it?

I think it depends on whether you are planning to rent or buy. We used online listings quite a bit to get an idea of what was available and for what price. The school might have some suggested resources too.

[migirl]

We made a trip to Michigan to look for a house in March (thankfully urology is early match!), even though we wouldn't be moving until the end of May. We contacted a realtor before we came out, and she had a ton of houses lined up for us to see while we were here. We decided on a house, and were able to negotiate and handle everything via phone and fax from where we were (in Washington, DC). We closed on the house in mid-April and moved in at the end of May (we assigned power-of-attorney to my dad who handled the closing for us). If it's available to you, doing some preliminary research on the internet (and/or contacting the school) is a good way to get familiar with the different areas/neighborhoods and costs. Good luck and congratulations on knowing where you're heading!

[DCJenn]

For the move from DC to Texas (for residency- started 7/1) my husband wisely planned two M4 rotations in San Antonio in Feb and March and found our apartment. I moved down on May 1 and started my new job while he headed back to DC for his last rotation and to out process before graduation. For the move from Texas to DC- it was an f-ing nightmare- I came up in February to look but found nothing, our house TX didn't sell so we ended up finding a renter (who then paid no rent....) and finally, in a desperate last ditch attempt, we found a rental townhouse. (we had let go of another option to rent, stupidly) after we all moved in to my parents house (three cats and a dog).

Lesson learned: go early and get as much done ahead of time as possible. Things are way to hectic at the end.

Jenn

[SuzySunshine]

If your area is highly dependent on resident/medical student turnover (like ours is) I suggest going before the March match if you're buying. Since neurosurgery is an early match we went late February but didn't close until June 1st. We bought a house from an outgoing resident so the timing was perfect.

Good luck!