Should we buy or rent in Lexington, VA? (Washington: days on market, rental)

[fmetaljacket]

Hi everyone,

We're very excited that my wife has been accepted into the Washington and Lee School of Law (no lawyer jokes please...) and that we will be moving to Lexington in the next few months. I have negotiated a telework arrangement with my job in DC, so it looks like we will be in good enough shape to buy a home there - if that is, in fact, a good idea.

We've already looked at houses once while we were in town for an open house a few months ago and the ones we liked that were in our price range are still available. This is a good thing from our perspective, but raises the question for us (we've never owned a home before) that if this is what you would consider a buyer's market, why are these reasonably priced homes still sitting there? If we were to buy and have a house (maybe) appreciate over the next 3 years, would it be even harder for us to sell it at that time? We don't plan on staying in Lexington after school is finished, which is pretty common from what I understand, so we want to make sure we're as practical about balancing the benefits of owning a home with the reality of the housing market in Lexington as we can be.

Does anybody have any insight or experience with this type of situation that could be helpful? Thanks so much in advance.

[LynchburgLover]

Depends . . . do you have any interest in being a landlord in the future? There will always be law students at W&L . . .

But, I doubt the housing market will suddenly boom in three years to the point you could make a profit. It's going to take years to dig out of this mess. Since you don't plan to stay in Lexington, the landlord plan is the only reason I see to buy.

Congrats to your wife. Good luck.

[Pilgrim21784]

The general wisdom is don't buy unless you are planning a 7-10 year stay. Knowing nothing about your specifics beyond your post, I'd very strongly suggest you do a rental. More than a few law school students decide it is not their cup of tea and bailout. Owning a house could be a disaster in that circumstance. The US housing market does not look like any massive recovery is going to start in the foreseeable future, so unless one is buying in a location planned for long term residence - skip buying.

Your closing costs alone would cover a significant chunk of your rental costs during the first year. Why role the dice when you do not need to? JMHO

PS - the employment situation and outlook for lawyers is abysmal (in the opinion of my well established lawyer/son-in-law and others). I'd suggest you minimize any long term financial commitments until you are established post degree.

[fmetaljacket]

Well, this is certainly the type of input I'd hoped to get. Really appreciate the honest answers.

We definitely don't have the goal of turning profit on a home after all the awful news over the past several years. I was just curious if the prevailing wisdom of "throwing money away" on rent vs. getting at least some of it back through owning still held any water. We have a 6 month old baby as well, so we've been harboring fantasies of finally having that white picket fence type of scenario after having home ownership mostly out of reach during our time here in Northern Virginia.

It all may be more trouble than it's worth, so we're trying to prepare if that's the reality. Thanks again and please keep any and all insights coming!

[RetAFVet]

Am a transplant Lexington for the past 7 years. It's a wonderful town but small. "Everything you need, but not everything you want" is a fair description for Lexington. Houses sit on the market here longer than they should - many are overpriced. The houses that are priced right sell. Employment here is pretty stable due to W&L and VMI being the main employers If you're working with a realtor, look at the 'days on market' for their houses and then ask if the house has been listed before recently - many switch agencies to re-start you can probably buy at a fair price, but when it's time to leave, plan on having you house sit on the market for at least a year. I strongly recommend renting. There are many nice ones. (I have one coming on the market this month!) dean.svp@gmail.com