Should I buy or rent? New graduate student at UCSD

[just someone]

Suggestion.
Don’t just jump in to the area and buy. Rent first. Grad students are the preferred over undergraduates… use that to ask for a little price break. Ask your advisor’s present students if they know of any good places that might be opening up (aka grad students graduating).

Once you have rented, Walk around the complexes and find a few that you like. Complexes have different characters Wander around complexes on weekdays and weekend night and days (and during commute hours). Find out when the board meetings are, and attend them. See how the uscd/public transit system to the complex works. This can save you about $70/month.

While the area around campus is not as distressed as other areas, there are still distressed properties, and those affect some complexes more than others. Prices have not fallen in line with rents… but they have dropped a good deal. Odds are they will continue to drop… and if they don’t then they should stay flat.

[Dukehorn]

If you were a grad student at Wash U in St. Louis or at Duke, I’d definitely take a look at the markets there to buy, but you’re in San Diego and it’s not a cheap market by any stretch of the imagination.

As someone noted above, PI’s do move. My sister’s advisor almost went from NYC to LA. I have a number of friends who moved with their advisors (from NC State to Columbia, from UVA to UC-Irvine) What are you going to do then?

You’re a grad student. While I applaud the homeowner mindset, I still think there’s something to being flexible as a grad student. To rent one place and move somewhere else if you like a different neighborhood. Why anchor yourself at your age?

[Dukehorn]

If you were a grad student at Wash U in St. Louis or at Duke, I’d definitely take a look at the markets there to buy, but you’re in San Diego and it’s not a cheap market by any stretch of the imagination.

As someone noted above, PI’s do move. My sister’s advisor almost went from NYC to LA. I have a number of friends who moved with their advisors (from NC State to Columbia, from UVA to UC-Irvine) What are you going to do then?

You’re a grad student. While I applaud the homeowner mindset, I still think there’s something to being flexible as a grad student. To rent one place and move somewhere else if you like a different neighborhood. Why anchor yourself at your age?

[Dukehorn]

If you were a grad student at Wash U in St. Louis or at Duke, I’d definitely take a look at the markets there to buy, but you’re in San Diego and it’s not a cheap market by any stretch of the imagination.

As someone noted above, PI’s do move. My sister’s advisor almost went from NYC to LA. I have a number of friends who moved with their advisors (from NC State to Columbia, from UVA to UC-Irvine) What are you going to do then?

You’re a grad student. While I applaud the homeowner mindset, I still think there’s something to being flexible as a grad student. To rent one place and move somewhere else if you like a different neighborhood. Why anchor yourself at your age?

[Dukehorn]

If you were a grad student at Wash U in St. Louis or at Duke, I’d definitely take a look at the markets there to buy, but you’re in San Diego and it’s not a cheap market by any stretch of the imagination.

As someone noted above, PI’s do move. My sister’s advisor almost went from NYC to LA. I have a number of friends who moved with their advisors (from NC State to Columbia, from UVA to UC-Irvine) What are you going to do then?

You’re a grad student. While I applaud the homeowner mindset, I still think there’s something to being flexible as a grad student. To rent one place and move somewhere else if you like a different neighborhood. Why anchor yourself at your age?

[Dukehorn]

If you were a grad student at Wash U in St. Louis or at Duke, I’d definitely take a look at the markets there to buy, but you’re in San Diego and it’s not a cheap market by any stretch of the imagination.

As someone noted above, PI’s do move. My sister’s advisor almost went from NYC to LA. I have a number of friends who moved with their advisors (from NC State to Columbia, from UVA to UC-Irvine) What are you going to do then?

You’re a grad student. While I applaud the homeowner mindset, I still think there’s something to being flexible as a grad student. To rent one place and move somewhere else if you like a different neighborhood. Why anchor yourself at your age?

[sd_bear]

rEQ,

I think the argument to buy falls apart because of these two reasons:

1) Your breakeven/make a little money scenario hinges on it recovering 10% in the next 5 years. I think the absolute most optimistic case is that the condo you buy today remains flat in value for the next 5 years, in which case you were better off renting. I think the realistic scenario is that the value continues to drop for a couple years and then remains flat in value for several years. There is absolutely nothing putting pressure upward on prices, especially in condos right now, and there is so much pushing it down for so many years to come.

2) The place you could buy for 200k is nowhere near as nice as the place you can rent for the same monthly cost.

[sd_bear]

rEQ,

I think the argument to buy falls apart because of these two reasons:

1) Your breakeven/make a little money scenario hinges on it recovering 10% in the next 5 years. I think the absolute most optimistic case is that the condo you buy today remains flat in value for the next 5 years, in which case you were better off renting. I think the realistic scenario is that the value continues to drop for a couple years and then remains flat in value for several years. There is absolutely nothing putting pressure upward on prices, especially in condos right now, and there is so much pushing it down for so many years to come.

2) The place you could buy for 200k is nowhere near as nice as the place you can rent for the same monthly cost.

[sd_bear]

rEQ,

I think the argument to buy falls apart because of these two reasons:

1) Your breakeven/make a little money scenario hinges on it recovering 10% in the next 5 years. I think the absolute most optimistic case is that the condo you buy today remains flat in value for the next 5 years, in which case you were better off renting. I think the realistic scenario is that the value continues to drop for a couple years and then remains flat in value for several years. There is absolutely nothing putting pressure upward on prices, especially in condos right now, and there is so much pushing it down for so many years to come.

2) The place you could buy for 200k is nowhere near as nice as the place you can rent for the same monthly cost.

[sd_bear]

rEQ,

I think the argument to buy falls apart because of these two reasons:

1) Your breakeven/make a little money scenario hinges on it recovering 10% in the next 5 years. I think the absolute most optimistic case is that the condo you buy today remains flat in value for the next 5 years, in which case you were better off renting. I think the realistic scenario is that the value continues to drop for a couple years and then remains flat in value for several years. There is absolutely nothing putting pressure upward on prices, especially in condos right now, and there is so much pushing it down for so many years to come.

2) The place you could buy for 200k is nowhere near as nice as the place you can rent for the same monthly cost.

[sd_bear]

rEQ,

I think the argument to buy falls apart because of these two reasons:

1) Your breakeven/make a little money scenario hinges on it recovering 10% in the next 5 years. I think the absolute most optimistic case is that the condo you buy today remains flat in value for the next 5 years, in which case you were better off renting. I think the realistic scenario is that the value continues to drop for a couple years and then remains flat in value for several years. There is absolutely nothing putting pressure upward on prices, especially in condos right now, and there is so much pushing it down for so many years to come.

2) The place you could buy for 200k is nowhere near as nice as the place you can rent for the same monthly cost.

[Author]

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