I have been reading your blog and the responses of others, and kept thinking I needed to respond myself. I have a little time, so here goes.

On the resident doctors at U.Va., I have a personal experience. My daughter-in-law was a 4 year resident. She and my son bought a house in the Ivy area and sold it this past May. They did a little bit better than break even because of the market,and concessions to the purchaser. I think any resident coming in today would be crazy not to buy in this market. Four years from now things will be significantly better.

And, on the subject of living in a community where you felt safe to let your children walk or ride bikes in the neighborhood without supervision I think that varies with the neighborhood. When I was growing up in Staunton (I won’t say how long ago it was) I would ride my bike literally all over town when I was 12 and 13. My parents never gave it a thought. It was a small town and everything was within an easy ride, or walk. Today, there are more people, and with that, more bad people. That is not to say the ratio is higher, just that in a population of 300,000,000 you will see more crime than in a population of 150,000,000. Plus, the media tends to make us more paranoid.

Sorry for the rambling, but those were 2 things to which I can relate.

I had one who matched elsewhere, one with whom I am still working with from time to time, one who bought and two who rented … a bit slower than usual ….

Big question: figuring out a way to sell the property if after 3-4 year residency the property did not appreciate enough to cover sale costs: attorney fees, real estate commission, etc. At the end of the residency, might there be a need to pay out of pocket for these expenses? On the flip side Renting for 3 years ($1,000 per month X 36) = $36K Lots to think about.