Backstory: my wife and I are both physicians. She is done with residency and is an attending in a moderately compensating specialty and I'm a resident/about to start 1 year fellowship in a generously compensating specialty. We are staying at our residency home institution/city for my fellowship. Our future following my fellowship in regards to job, including location, is uncertain and won't be certain for at least 4 more months. We are both frugal and follow much of the WCI and Boglehead advice. After med school, we knew we would be in our current city for at least 5 years, and at that point we decided to rent instead of buy due to the increased exposure to potential expenses of home ownership and the uncertainties of the market. We rent an apartment with a very nice location, which we have been happy with, and we are staying for another year in our current lease since we enjoy the place.
Now I see what has happened in retrospect. If we bought a home in the same neighborhood as we currently live, we would have spent approximately 300-400k on a modest home, paying a little more (20-25%, but it would have been well within our means) on a mortgage payment/taxes than we do on rent. These homes are now easily selling for 550-700k. In perspective, this increase is about the same as the amount of money we have been able to save in our retirement saving plans. I believe we would have been able to have been just as diligent saving our money for retirement if we had purchased a home.
I know the logic of not buying a home for residency, and I do agree with the arguments for it. But now in retrospect the logic does not compensate for how I emotionally feel and what the bottom line looks like. If we stay long term in this neighborhood, if our job situations allow, and we buy a house as a long term expenditure, we will be spending an extra amount similar to our principle in our retirement accounts to buy a home off of someone else. Furthermore, although we do like our current apartment, we probably would have been happier in a house where we could have had a small yard for our dogs, more separation from our neighbors, etc.
Am I wrong to feel this way? I guess I'm jealous that some of my friends who are heavy spenders are now moving on to new jobs and can sell their homes for such a profit. Yes, my market has been very good for those who purchased in the last 3-7 years and this may be an atypical story. I am just kicking myself that I missed this sort of opportunity. I know in the long run we will be fine, but I am just upset on the principle of all this.
Now I see what has happened in retrospect. If we bought a home in the same neighborhood as we currently live, we would have spent approximately 300-400k on a modest home, paying a little more (20-25%, but it would have been well within our means) on a mortgage payment/taxes than we do on rent. These homes are now easily selling for 550-700k. In perspective, this increase is about the same as the amount of money we have been able to save in our retirement saving plans. I believe we would have been able to have been just as diligent saving our money for retirement if we had purchased a home.
I know the logic of not buying a home for residency, and I do agree with the arguments for it. But now in retrospect the logic does not compensate for how I emotionally feel and what the bottom line looks like. If we stay long term in this neighborhood, if our job situations allow, and we buy a house as a long term expenditure, we will be spending an extra amount similar to our principle in our retirement accounts to buy a home off of someone else. Furthermore, although we do like our current apartment, we probably would have been happier in a house where we could have had a small yard for our dogs, more separation from our neighbors, etc.
Am I wrong to feel this way? I guess I'm jealous that some of my friends who are heavy spenders are now moving on to new jobs and can sell their homes for such a profit. Yes, my market has been very good for those who purchased in the last 3-7 years and this may be an atypical story. I am just kicking myself that I missed this sort of opportunity. I know in the long run we will be fine, but I am just upset on the principle of all this.
Comment