Buy or Rent for Residency?

[SpoiledMilk]

I am in the process of selling my current home to move out of state for residency. With the proceeds from the sale of the house, I will likely have enough to outright purchase a newly built (2022) mobile home in my new residency city, live there for 3 years of residency, and then sell. I cannot afford to buy a "real" house. Otherwise, I can rent a 2B, 2Ba apartment and renew yearly for the 3 years.

What are the pros and cons of buying the mobile home vs renting an apartment?

The commute from the mobile home to the hospital/clinic vs the commute from an apartment is negligible (20 mins vs 10-15 mins).

There is the loss of the 3 years of rentals from the apartment. After living in a house for so many years, the thought of living with neighbors separated only by a wall stresses me out. What if the neighbors have dogs that bark all day long, they are noisy, we don't get along, etc. There is the probability that rent will increase when it's time to renew annually.

There is the fact that I am unfamiliar with the area where the mobile home is located, the cost of monthly/annual upkeep, and whether a mobile home appreciates or depreciates in value when I graduate and put it up for sale.

Any thoughts?

Thank you!!

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[InternistDO]

In most cases, 3 years is not enough time to see a benefit to buying over renting from a purely financial standpoint, once you consider closing costs, maintenance, taxes, etc.

I personally wouldn't want to take the risk of dealing with a large emergency payment during residency (the oven broke, the roof leaks, etc) unless you have a lot of money sitting around, but I can't say that I'm an expert on this.

 

[SLC]

We bought, in New England. But mortgage was cheaper than the average rent somehow when we were there. We benefitted from the financial resurgence post 2016 and sold at a tidy, nearly 6 figure profit at the end of residency, and had a chunky down payment on our next home. We then sold that one 3years later at a much bigger profit (home almost doubled in value). All this home shuffling allowed us to get into our current home which is unfortunately a 7figure proposition in this town these days, without needing to be anywhere near 7-figures in home debt.

We were fortunate, It could have easily gone the other way however. Buying a home with a short (in real estate terms) flip interval, is always a risky move.

 

[wysdoc]

I am in the process of selling my current home to move out of state for residency. With the proceeds from the sale of the house, I will likely have enough to outright purchase a newly built (2022) mobile home in my new residency city, live there for 3 years of residency, and then sell. I cannot afford to buy a "real" house. Otherwise, I can rent a 2B, 2Ba apartment and renew yearly for the 3 years.

What are the pros and cons of buying the mobile home vs renting an apartment?

The commute from the mobile home to the hospital/clinic vs the commute from an apartment is negligible (20 mins vs 10-15 mins).

There is the loss of the 3 years of rentals from the apartment. After living in a house for so many years, the thought of living with neighbors separated only by a wall stresses me out. What if the neighbors have dogs that bark all day long, they are noisy, we don't get along, etc. There is the probability that rent will increase when it's time to renew annually.

There is the fact that I am unfamiliar with the area where the mobile home is located, the cost of monthly/annual upkeep, and whether a mobile home appreciates or depreciates in value when I graduate and put it up for sale.

Any thoughts?

Thank you!!

Rent a house or apartment and you will have more flexibility should your circumstances change.

 

[Splenda88]

Buy something that is not expensive.

If the market goes down, you will be able to weather any storm when you start making attending salary. I regretted not buying.

The few residents who bought during residency at my program left with 50k-70k in profit.

 

[FrustratedFamDoc]

Adding even More debt, house and yard maintenance when you have 4 days off a month, fixing broken things, overinflated house prices, property taxes, homeowners insurance and a crappy interest rate.

 

[Ironheme]

I believe NYT has a rent vs buy calculator that I found helpful. If you don't have someone helping you with the house maintenance (plumbing/electrician/etc) side of things, RENT for residency.

I bought a house with great mortgage rate + cheaper than renting. However, the sheer amount of paperwork + home repairs if I had to have done it solo would not have been worth it for me.

You need a more compelling reason imo to buy a house than just $$ for residency - ie pets/planning on needing a side hustle with more privacy (ie breaking bad). Annoyances add up. Imagine having no hot water and trying to fix that/arrange for that during a busy rotation.

 

[Itachi87]

I would rent especially in this current housing climate. Unless you know for sure you're going to be staying in the area post-residency, it's not worth buying. I would rent a home if you can, but if not a condo or apt will do.

I actually switched jobs recently and moved out-of-state and sold my home that I lived at for 3 years where I was previously practicing and am now renting an apt close to my new job. I have neighbors that I can hear above me. My neighbors have a dog that they crate and I can him whining and banging at the crate frequently when they leave the apartment. Despite all that I don't regret renting right now. I do plan on staying at my new job long-term so will be looking to buy a home when my lease ends. This will give me extra time to scout the area find a good home or if I don't find a home I like I can find a good location to build a home.

As a rule of thumb, don't buy unless you know you will be living in an area 5+ years as there's a higher chance for the house to have appreciated and for you to make a profit when you sell. I made a slight profit when I sold my last home, but I could easily have lost money. It's a crapshoot when you buy and sell in under 5 years b/c you're at the whims of the housing market in your area.

 

[NITRAS]

Mobile home is a terrible idea unless you buy a super cheap one that is already falling apart. That is just a bad idea.

Personally I would just rent.

 

[sloh]

Imagine your neighbors when you buy a mobile home. I’d rather jump off a cliff

 

[FrustratedFamDoc]

Imagine your neighbors when you buy a mobile home. I’d rather jump off a cliff

All day. Residency is already stressful enough so don't make it harder than it has to be. There will be plenty of chances to make your $$ when you're done.