buying a house

[peggyfromwastate]

Hi- I was hoping someone out there would have some advice on buying a house while in med school. My husband plans on going to USUHS (still waiting for the "unconditional" status), and we were planning on buying instead of renting. We know that the DC area is expensive... In general, do you all find it more of a hassle to own a house than it's worth? We have 3 kids (6 yr old girl and 1 yr old boy/girl twins), so we'd end up needing to rent a house (or 3 br townhouse thing) anyway. Our preference is to buy a single family home.

Thanks for any input! Also, if anyone has advice on the VA home loans program, that would be helpful.

Peggy

[DCJenn]

Peggy-

For some perspective on house prices, go to http://www.realtor.com. Some of the areas close to USUHS are Kensington, Rockville, Wheaton, Bethesda (all Maryland). Some more distant communities are Gaithersburg, Silver Spring, Takoma Park (again, Maryland). Housing it outrageous in some of the sreas very close to USUHS. Housing prices are steep in the DC area. I just refinanced my condo in DC and it appraised for $83,500- it's 515 square feet.

For a three bedroom, I would expect to pay anywhere from 250,000 to 450,000 depending on the area and the amenities. Many times, houes are selling the day they are listed for more than the asking price. This is slowing down a little, but it can be crazy there! The closer to DC you get, the wilder the market is. Of course, there are other options, such as buying in West Virginia or Frederick, Maryland and commuting by train. The problem is that with their schedules, it can be dicey.

I grew up in Gaithersburg and have lived all over MD, DC, VA. I can email you the names of some realtors that I know from home, if you're interested. Also, the VA thing is great but there are so many other loan optionsout there these days, that you should really sit down with a lender and figure out the best package for you.

Hope this helps-

Jenn

Peggy,
We rented during our time at USUHS. We found a great inexpensive 4 bedroom older home in Rockville that we were able to stay in the entire 4 years. We didn't want the hassle of selling and it was nice to be able to call the landlord when there was a problem. In fact we just now purchase our first home. While we were at USUHS there was a fair mix of those who rented and those who purchased, but the majority of our friends rented. Regardless of what you decide to do check out the housing office (it used to be in the Navy Hospital--but it could have moved). That office has listings of houses for rent as well as for purchase. Most people who list with them are obviously courting the military community. You also might get a good deal from a student who is graduating or an alumni that still has propery in the area. It's a good place to start.

[PrincessFiona]

buying/selling

We didn't buy during residency and at first, I felt badly to be renting...I really wanted us to have our 'own home'. Towards the end of it all though, I was grateful....we didn't have to mess with getting the house ready to show, the stress of maybe not being able to sell ontime, etc like some of the people who had bought their homes.

You won't put away that much equity in 4 years of med school....though you will save some money on taxes. Of course...you'll have to balance that with the fact that anything that goes wrong in the house will be yours to repair!

We rented a townhouse during residency and a small, dirty house during fellowship 8) . It was a bit disappointing not to 'own', but we did save ourselves a lot of hassle too.



Kris

[DCJenn]

The problem with renting in the DC area is that it can be pretty expensive. (buying is though, too!) Just be prepared for sticker shock and you'll be fine with whatever you decide. Also, be prepared to move after graduation. I know of one person who graduated with my husband who did his residency in DC. DC is a spot where people come to stay!

Jenn

[peggyfromwastate]

Thanks everyone! We've looked at some listings through the Washington Post and Realtor.com, but we haven't gotten too far in the process. We have found single family homes in Laurel and College Springs that seem to be reasonable. Does anyone know about these areas? The subway system reaches out to College Springs, but my husband plans on driving to school, and it seems to be not too far a drive... I understand that traffic in DC is horrendous, but he plans to leave for school at about 5 (now he goes to work at about 5:30) and then come home after 6, probably... Who knows.

Shiela- thanks for the advice about the housing office there. I suppose that after (if) he is given an unconditional acceptance we may hear more about those kinds of services.

Jenn- my husband talked with a med student when he was at USUHS and he said he was renting a 3 BR townhouse in Gaithersberg, and that lots of med students rent there. It seems like a really nice place to live- but is the market there especially hot? Or is the whole suburban DC area "hot"? Anyway, Gaithersberg seems really nice, but is most likely out of our price range! And being from out west, I just can't fathom living in a row house- do those things have small yards anywhere???

DC is a different world! Thanks for all your advice, everyone!

Peggy

[DCJenn]

Oh, Peggy- You guys are in for a Major Shock.

First, Gaithersburg is where I grew up. It's a nice area, the schools are pretty good. The traffic from Bethesda to Gaithersburg is a NIGHTMARE. The only good way to go is to take the Metro. Driving, it could take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and thirty minutes depending on time of day and conditions. Laurel is a good hour drive away from Bethesda- there aren't any direct routes that don't involve the hellish Beltway or backroads. College Park is probably a 30-35 minute drive under excellent conditions (like 2:30am on a Sunday) Silver Spring, depending on where in SS could be a 20 minutes drive or an hour plus drive- again depending on whether or not you need to use the beltway.

It took my husband a few months to realize that the only decent mode of transportation is the Metro system. (He's from Southern California and you know those people and their cars!) We were living in SW DC and even going against traffic it would take him an hour. It took him slightly less than that on Metro, without having to worry about parking, etc. Encourage your husband to consider the Metro System as it's a great opportunity to read or just chill before class. When I lived there I would park my car on Friday afternoon and not get back in until Monday.

Townhouses are a very common thing in the DC area. They usually have a little backyard and a little front yard. The neighborhoods usually have playgrounds and parks, though. Rick rented a house in Kensington with two other people, he rented a townhouse in Rockville with his girlfriend, and he lived in DC with me.

If you think of a clock, with the Monuments and the Mall being the center, Bethesda is at 11 o'clock. Gaithersburg is NW of Bethesda, Laurel is NE of Beth., College Park is at 1 o'clock, Silver Spring is at noon. does that help. I would recommend either living as close as you possibly can afford to USUHS so that he won't have a horrible commute, or live as close as you can to a Metro Station. (USUHS/Medical Center is a stop on the Metro Line.) http://www.wmata.com for commuting info

If we're able to get back for Fellowship, we're looking in the 20910, 20912, 20012 20011 zipcodes. Our ideal is to find a house so close that Rick can ride his bike. (He rides his bike to BAMC sometimes now)

Hope this helps. If you can, try to get out there for a weekend. (Let me know, you can stay at my parents!)

Jenn

Wow, Jenn, you are an amazing resource!

As a former DC-er, I wanted to chime in, too, but you pretty much hit all the high points.

I would never ever choose to live in Laurel or College Park and commute to the Navy Hospital or USUHS. The traffic is absolutely horrendous. The flip side of the coin is that those are some of the only areas that are really affordable to people living on a med school student's budget, since lots of UMd students live in those areas. Virginia is even worse because it's much more expensive and the commute is even longer. Yes, there is the Metro, which is infinitely better than driving, but it's not as fast as you think it is. To ride the Metro from College Park to Bethesda takes a good 45 minutes--or longer.

The recs to look in Kensington or north of Bethesda are good. Bethesda itself is ridiculously expensive. I don't know what your budget is, Peggy, but I don't know anyone in med school these days who can afford most of the house prices in that area---for a house that would be large enough for a family, anyway.

But do check with the housing office at USUHS. They have dealt with people in your situation before.

[peggyfromwastate]

Wow- Thanks for the information... 8O

It will definitely be a living experience for us all! The USUHS student my husband met with who lived in Gaithersberg told him that he drove to campus and it usually takes him about 20 minutes! He leaves the campus at about 8 pm... Are there typical rush-hour times? If my husband leaves for USUHS at about 5 am, should he beat rush hour at least in the am???

Oh well- Jenn, I think your suggestion of us going to DC to take a look around is an excellent one. I'll see if we can swing it. And JenL- thanks also for chiming in about the housing office at USUHS. Shiela thought this may have moved, do you know if it's on campus?

By the way- I know that when renting a house, often the house is on the market and if it sells you are asked to pick up and move. (This is how renting is here where I live, but then our market is surely slow in comparison to DC). Does this happen in DC? Is there any way you can rent a house for 4 years without a fear of the owner deciding to sell??? AAAAAAUGGHHH! Sometimes I wish he'd just stay a food inspector forever... So much simpler.

Thanks for everyone's help though! I really appreciate it!

Peggy

[DCJenn]

Peggy-

The renting thing all depends on your lease. Rick's room-mate was on the lease for at least four years. She held the lease and sublet to whichever USUHS students needed a room. It was a revolving door! My brother rents and has lived in the same place for three years. Most of the time, it's not a huge deal.

Jenn

You are probably overloaded with DC info by now, but I thought I would add another tidbit on commuting. Regardless of how far your husband is willing to drive, do not forget the "winter" factor. Although DC is in the northern part of the U.S. and gets snow every year, for some reason they are never prepared for it. The loop around DC has been know to shut down during a snowstorm. In fact, people will just abandon their cares on the highways. Also, if the snow hits on a weekend, certain neighborhoods won't get snowplowed for a couple of days. Both my husband and I grew up in the midwest, so we were not daunted by the weather, but we grew impatient with the delays on getting the snow cleared.

If I were you, I would look into staying within a 30 mile radiaus of USUHS. Laurel is a bit far, but we had friends who lived on Andrews AF Base and on the Army base near Laurel (the name escapes me right now) and they didn't seem to mind the commute.

[DCJenn]

Yeah the Winters are quite strange- so we locals do nothing-

We have the people from the North who drive like it's no big deal, commuting with the people from the South who think ice/sleet/snow must be just like rain.

We locals on the other hand, just buy toilet paper and bottled water and stay at home.

It's really funny- for some reason the entire metropolitan area goes to the grocery store and buys out all of the toilet paper and bottled water. (With the exception of my best friend, who, after 9/11 also went out and bought several beauty products with Alpha Hydroxy, figuring she needed to look good while under attack...it's a strange town at times!)

That said, there hasn't been a decent snowstorm in DC since 1996.

Jenn

[peggyfromwastate]

Thanks again! Shiela- I am not overloaded with DC info, I'm lapping it up! It does seem to be a different world. These last few days I've been looking at commuter sites and was curious about the MARC train. It seems to be a good option for those who don't want to live too close to the city for whatever reason. Are there any opinions on that? I know my husband would have to take the train to a subway station, then the subway to USUHS, but *on paper* it seems he could do all that from Laurel, for instance, within an hour with plenty of time (10+ minutes) to connect at the subway. An hour may seem like a lot of time, but I just don't see it being any shorter if driving traffic is as crazy as everyone says... Even if you live within 5-10 miles of USUHS, you would get caught up in traffic, correct???

As far as driving in the winter, we have the same thing over here. We get lots of snow and our snow plowers are lazy (it's a tax repercussion thing- we didn't pass the tax hike they wanted, so...). But we all on the East side of WA state just drive through it (almost everyone seems to have 4wd.) But in Seattle, it's a different world. They get 1/2 inch and the town shuts down. To be fair, they have horrendous hills and what not, but generally the problem seems to be drivers who don't know that just cause the speed limit is 60 on the highway, in the snow/sleet you probably should be a bit more cautions. There are always huge accidents. They just don't learn! But thanks for the heads-up about driving problems with winter conditions!

Peg

[DCJenn]

Hey Peg!

OK, here's the problem with the MARC train- people are stupid.

It's the same problem with Metro- they built the lines to go back and forth from the city, not realizing that people were going to end up commuting from county to couny without ever entering the city.

So, to get to Bethesda from Laurel, he'd have to go into DC, change from train to subway at Union Station, and then commute back out to Bethesda. So, that's a 45 minute train into DC and another 20 minute commute back out. Or, he could take the train to Greenbelt (20 minutes), hop the Green Line Metro into DC to Metro Center (20 minutes), then take the Red line train to USUHS- again- about an hour. (and aren't you glad I memorized every single possible source of public transportation! I had my roommate from college call me from her cell phone here in Texas to navigate her through DC!)

It's certainly doable! The only problem would be late hours or early morning hours. There are lots of people who commute that way. I just prefer the straight shot and I'm one of those who will happily sacrifice house and yard to not have to drive! (city girl through and through!) My room-mate from college commutes from Baltimore to DC via MARC and loves it! My cousin commutes from Columbia Maryland to the World Bank downtown via bus. My other cousin takes Metro everywhere and my brother and my father will never get out of their cars. It's more a matter of figuring out what you find tolerable. My thing is that I think my time is better utilized reading or people watching than fuming in traffic.

Check out http://www.washingtonpost.com for additional resources- the real estate section is published every Saturday. Also, read the Metro section for an idea of what's happening in the Metro area. Another source for information is http://www.washingtonian.com- that's the city magazine. YOu may be able to get the Post and Washingtonian at a Barnes and Noble or Borders or other larger book chain.

Jenn

Jenn

Peggy,
I agree with Jenn. Taking the train would be a big hassle from the Ft. Meade/Laurel area. It is great for commutes into the city, but it can be a big pain for anyone else. I think a better plan would be to find a friend and car pool in. While we lived in Rockville I attended nursing school in Baltimore. I evertually found a friend that lived in the northern D.C. area and we met at a park and ride each morning a took turns driving in. I know that some of the med students that lived near Laurel/Ft. Meade did the same. Also, our friends who lived on Ft. Meade usually drove into to USUHS early to beat the morning traffic and used the extra time on campus to study/sleep etc.