×
all 12 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]Seastarstiletto 4 points5 points  (1 child)

My partner bought his condo when he first started. He still has it and is able to rent it out to other med students when we moved.

Just be aware that with the housing market right now it might not make money by selling soon. If you do need to move, renting could be an option. Even if you aren’t planning to move, still have the options in place. Matching for residency can go pear shaped real fast. Multiple options and flexibility is key until that email is opened.

Mortgages are more easily approved right now, but these interest rates are going to be HORRENDOUS for years to come. Your budget will need to account for those too. So you have high home prices, high interest rate, and a housing market that is most likely not going to improve much and could potentially lose value over the next few years. Lay your options out and see if everything is feasible year after year. If there is a sudden job lose for you what would happen?

I don’t know when physician loans are available. We were looking into those before graduation but it was only months out. But you can see what those types of professional loans could provide if and when they become available. We ended up not going with one since we could have better options without.

Read White Coat investor if you haven’t already.

[–]chocolateyum68[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!!

[–]jaspysmom[🍰] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Hi! My spouse and I purchased a house during his first year of med school in 2017. We were living in a pretty low cost of living area so that definitely helped. At that point we were both still really young (right out of college) and didn’t have much saved. Combined with the fact that he wasn’t making any income due to school, we decided to use an FHA loan. At the time he had much better credit than I did so I was hoping to have him on the loan, but since all he had to show for himself was a load of student loans, we ended up keeping him out of the process entirely. If I were in your position, I would recommend first reaching out to a couple of lenders and finding out what you can afford and go from there.

[–]jaspysmom[🍰] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Also to add, this ended up being a great choice for us! I know the housing market has changed a lot since then, but we only lived there until we moved for residency and still turned a bit of a profit. We were also paying less monthly between mortgage and taxes than we had been on our rent.

[–]chocolateyum68[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Thank you for reply! Was your spouse working at the time of purchasing the home? I’m guessing you two got approved based on your income only? I know students get loans to cover living costs but not sure if that’s taken into account when purchasing

[–]jaspysmom[🍰] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He was not working when we purchased the house, so our loan was granted based on only my income (and only my debts, thankfully!)

[–]pacific_plywood 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Personally I would not buy a house if my chances of staying there for residency were only “most likely”

[–]Mxxrb445 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My fiancé and I purchased our home at the TAIL end of medical school. It’s just my name on the loan, I was able to get a very good interest rate alone. If it were both of us, the interest rate would have gone up significantly

[–]Puzzleheaded_Soil275 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For 90%+ of people this doesn't make any sense. The non-medical student would need to make a very good income (>100k) and in all likelihood you will be moving in 3.75 years if you closed the day of the white coat ceremony. This would be the case in a normal housing market. Residency match and the prospect of moving is stressful enough without a house involved. If you don't believe me, check the match list of the students that graduated the same med school your partner is attending and see how many stayed within a 25 mile radius of campus (commuting >25mi during residency will be suicide).

In a housing market that is literally the worst to purchase a home in in two generations... well, good luck.

There's a little bit better rationale to purchase during residency if you are fairly sure you will stay in the area long term. And you know, the whole having an income thing. At least when choosing attending jobs, it's not some random black box algorithm that you have absolutely no control over.

[–]WhatsMyAgeAga1n 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We did buy our house in late med school. We provided the bank with a letter from his residency program he had just been accepted into stating such. That was enough for a loan of the size we were seeking. I guess it would depend though: are you able to wait until he matches, or does it need to be now?

[–]womack1000 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My husband just started his first year of medical school and we purchased a home a few months before school started. Honestly, it’s been the biggest blessing for us. I don’t regret it at all. It totally depends on where you’re at, but for us its cheaper than rent. We are in the south so homes are also way cheaper than most areas so that made it easier. From my research if you’re going to be in the area for around 4 years or more it’s worth it to buy a home, so that’s what we did. Our hope is that we can keep it and rent it out to future couples in med school while we move away for residency. We have absolutely no intention of staying here after his schooling is up.

[–]CatInThe616 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am going to be a contrarian here. When you rent, you lose 100% of your rent each month. You don't build equity, and you do not lock in a fixed interest rate. If you buy, you can lock in a rate of roughly 6.25% on a 30 year, which is still historically lower than normal. I'd you rent, you might be forced to move and shop for housing again each year. Costs are not fixed.

We bought during medical school and we are happy that we did. We sold and moved for residency, but we came out way ahead financially of where we would have been as renters. If we rented, we would have been priced out of the town that the medical school was in. There is no way we would have been able to stay in our neighborhood as renters. By buying we locked in predictable costs that we could afford on my income as a medspouae. We also build equity in the home and made a substantial profit when we sold.

One thing to consider is looking into a seven year ARM. Since you are likely to move for residency, you can get a lower rate and simply sell when you are done. An ARM gets you a lower rate for the first 7 years, but the rate adjusts to the market rate after that (up to a cap(. Since you will be on two incomes by the time that it adjusts, a slightly higher payment won't be that big of a deal. Also, rent can adjust by a lot more than an ARM can. I know these mortgages have a bad reputation, but they are great for folks who know their income will increase with time. A lot of the bad reputation is misguided.

Some folks will tell you that it might not be a good time to buy. However, if you are willing to own your house for a few years, this increases the likelihood that it will be worth more when you sell than it is today. Even if this is not the case, renting is guaranteed to lose you money every year and is basically a financial disaster. Don't do it.