buying a house in residency

[rainbabies]

[Sheherezade]

I vote yes if the housing costs are reasonable. I have posted before that I think the equity we built during residency dug us out of debt after training was over. We didn't buy when we moved to Boston because we thought the market was too high and we'd be moving in three years. If we had, we would have made a boatload of cash. Oh well.....

I say go for it. Especially since it seems to be the norm for residents in the area.

Live in the house, do what improvements you can, and then sell. If worst comes to worst, you come out even. Its really unlikely that you won't make some sort of profit on real estate.

We've been homeowners since 1996. Sold the first one in 2002, the second when we moved here in 2005.

Made a profit on each one. Even the one with the abandoned ought to have been condemed house next to it and 3 drug corners within 6 blocks.

[Vanquisher]

I say buy! Even the single residents here own their own homes. Really. Yes, it can stink to have those repairs and taxes that you don't have when you rent, but I have a huge deduction this year from property taxes and interest paid on my house.

Also, We are building equity. Even our friend who went into emergency medicine in Augusta (3 years) bought his house. I don't think we will have any problem coming out even, or even making a few bucks.

Greenville is an hour and a half from me

[spotty_dog]

Re: buying a house in residency

We dont intend to stay in any of the areas he applied to residency, so Im wondering if it's worth it to buy, just to turn around and sell 4yrs later.

We're making this decision too. My realtor friend points out that the realtor's fees are paid by the seller. These and other closing costs are what make or break you to earn a profit or end up farther in the hole when you sell. She basically says you have to anticipate the price of the house increasing by 10% to cover those costs.

I think 4 years is about the borderline in most markets. There might also be some fancy schmancy number games you can play that will help you out. I've been reading up about fixed vs. adjustable rate mortgages, interest only, etc. It makes my head spin, but it does make me think that it's possible at least to break even in a short period of time.

Currently I'm kind of hoping we'll go someplace where DH can get a "entry level" job in the same city after residency, gaining experience and padding the resume before we move on to our permanent location. That way we can stay in the house for more like 5 years and have a better chance of turning a profit...

Look at it this way, if you rent, you just throw that money away, but if you buy, then you basically just put a chunk of that into a "savings" for when you sell. Even if you only break even, or even if you lose a few bucks (pretty unlikely), you are not any worse off, AND you can do what you want to your place.

In the 2.5 yrs we have been here, homes in our area have gone up $15-20,000. So, we think we did pretty good!

[SuzySunshine]

I agree, buy! Granted we're here seven years but we bought for the exact reason of otherwise you're throwing your money away on rent. ARM loans are great when you know how long you're going to be staying too, because you get a low interest rate with the thought process being that after the set time the rate will go up but by then you'll have sold the house. I think the shortest ARM is 5 years, our is perfect as its 7.

[Vishenka69]

I think it really depends on the area. We obviously didn't (very few residents in NY buy anything) but mostly because we either took advantage of student housing, got a housing subsidy or got a place in a rent-controlled building. Plus we haven't stayed in the same borough for more than 3 years.

See what the other residents in the program are doing. Are they having problems sell at the end of 4 years? Will you get a much better place if you buy, how do mortgage payments compare to rent? I might be over-thinking the whole thing but in NY buying is not a natural occurance and is probably bigger investment than getting married or having kids.

[SuzySunshine]

I do agree with vishenka we never would have considered buying if we had ended up in some places on my DH's list.

[rainbabies]

My realtor friend points out that the realtor's fees are paid by the seller

That may be the "norm" but the homes that we have bought the seller did in fact pay majority of the fees, but there are still things that you will have to pick up. When we sold, we negotiated the other direction and the buyer got to pay. So, never forget when you are buying anything, but especially a home, that all things are negotiable....even the banks "processing fees".

I agree that buying is a better situation than renting, if it can be done in your chosen area. It is very helpful at tax time, it is "yours", and there is the chance that you could make some $$ when you sell. It isn't not guaranteed that you will make anything, but if you go somewhere there is lots of turnover every year with new families, you should at least be able to unload your home fairly quickly.

Don't stress about it, look forward to seeing all the homes and what personal touches you can make to create a new home for you and yours!

[Cumberland]

About the fees- our house we just sold the buyer paid 100% of the closing costs, and the house we just bought we split the costs in half. So that does depend on the area and the deal that is struck.

Since I live in the area you are talking about ( kinda- an hour and a half away) , I would say buy, buy, buy! Every resident here owns a house, and a 4 yr residency is a long time.

[Ravenclaw]

We decided against buying but here are some links that might help you in your research:
http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e10buyrent/

http://new.homefair.com/homefair/usr/rentbuyform.html