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Welcome to the latest episode of the Physician Cents Podcast, where we explore complex financial topics tailored specifically for physicians. Whether you're a medical student, resident, fellow, or attending physician, you're going to find valuable insights that can help you increase your financial IQ, further your financial journey, and improve your overall well-being. Hosted by Chad Chubb and Tyler Olson, let’s dive in!
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Finally earning an attending salary can make homeownership feel overdue. After years of renting, call shifts, and delayed gratification, a place of your own can seem like the obvious next step.
Yet renting after residency can be the smarter financial move when your first job, city, or family routine is still untested. A rushed purchase can bring large transaction costs, negative equity, non-compete limits, and less freedom to leave a bad fit.
A home can be a great long-term purchase, but it should fit your life before it becomes a major financial commitment.
A higher income changes your borrowing power fast. It doesn't automatically make a large mortgage comfortable or wise.
Your first attending year often includes unfamiliar variables. You may be learning a new compensation model, repaying loans, setting up benefits, or adjusting to a longer commute. Family plans can shift, and the neighborhood that looked perfect during a weekend visit may not work on a Tuesday after call.
Buying immediately can turn an uncertain career transition into a fixed financial obligation. The issue isn't whether you can qualify for the mortgage. The issue is whether you can comfortably own and keep the home if your job changes.
Consider a $1 million home. Buyer closing costs often run about 2% to 5% of the purchase price, depending on the loan, title fees, taxes, and local rules. That can mean $20,000 to $50,000 before you even settle in.
Selling has its own price tag. Agent commissions, transfer taxes, seller concessions, repairs, and other expenses can total roughly 6% to 10%. A quick purchase and sale could consume around $100,000 or more.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lists common closing expenses such as appraisal fees, title insurance, government taxes, and prepaid insurance or interest. Exact costs vary by state, lender, title company, and real estate agreement.
Mortgage interest, maintenance, moving expenses, and a slower-than-expected sale can push the real cost even higher.
Negative equity means your home would sell for less than the mortgage payoff plus the cost of selling it. Transaction costs are expected. Negative equity adds a loss that may require cash at closing.
This can happen after a market decline. It can also happen when you buy with a small down payment, pay top-of-market prices, or sell after only a short ownership period.
If a better position opens in another city, you may face an ugly choice: bring money to the closing table, keep a distant property, or pass on the job. That loss of mobility matters when your career is still taking shape.
A mortgage can be manageable each month and still be expensive to exit.
An attending offer can feel permanent after the uncertainty of training. Still, physicians change jobs for many reasons, including burnout, leadership turnover, compensation disputes, growing administrative pressure, and family needs.
The AMA's review of first-job physician turnover cites a study with a 7.3% median annual turnover rate across physicians. That figure isn't a prediction for any one doctor or specialty. It does show why a new job shouldn't be treated as guaranteed stability.
A home purchase works best when it supports a career decision that has already proved durable.
Living somewhere as a resident is not the same as building an attending life there. Your clinical duties change. So do call expectations, commute patterns, income, and the amount of control you have over your schedule.
A physician might buy immediately after accepting a job, then discover a toxic work environment within two months. If a restrictive non-compete blocks nearby alternatives, leaving could force a sale before the home has had time to recover its purchase costs.
The physician may have loved the city during residency. That doesn't mean the employer, schedule, or family routine will fit once training ends.
Have an experienced employment attorney review the contract before you make a major housing commitment. Pay close attention to the non-compete's geographic radius, duration, covered facilities, termination language, and any repayment obligations.
A five-mile restriction can have a very different effect in Manhattan than in a rural market with only one hospital system. Map the restricted area and count realistic employers outside it before deciding where to live.
Federal law is unsettled in this area. The FTC states that its federal Noncompete Rule is not in effect or enforceable, while state rules and court decisions can differ sharply. For a deeper look at reviewing a physician employment contract, get legal advice before you sign, renew, or relocate.
Renting after residency for 12 to 18 months isn't throwing money away. It can be a paid test period for a job and location that may shape the next decade.
You are buying time to learn what the offer letter couldn't tell you. During that period, you can build cash reserves, understand your true take-home pay, and avoid a pressured sale if the role isn't right.
A rental lets you experience the real commute at hospital hours, not just Google Maps at noon. You can see whether call nights make a distant suburb unbearable and whether nearby childcare has availability.
It also gives your household time to test neighborhoods, schools, traffic, and weekend routines. Urban living may feel energizing, or a yard and shorter school commute may matter more than expected.
Most importantly, a lease is easier to unwind than a home sale. If the job proves unhealthy, you can leave without listing a property under pressure.
Physicians often feel social pressure to buy early. Colleagues purchase homes, family members ask when you'll stop renting, and social media makes every new house look effortless.
However, ownership comes with more than a mortgage payment. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, repairs, maintenance, furniture, and reduced mobility all compete with student loan payoff, retirement savings, and family goals.
Renting can preserve cash and flexibility. That can be a better measure of progress than owning a house before it suits your circumstances.
The first attending paycheck can create a false sense of available cash. Some offers include signing bonuses, relocation funds, production incentives, quality payments, or loan repayment benefits that arrive later or carry conditions.
Keep those dollars separate from the decision to buy. A signing bonus may be taxable, delayed, or repayable if you leave early. Similarly, a production bonus can vary with patient volume, staffing, billing, or changes in the practice.
Build a cash buffer before committing to a down payment. It gives you room for a lease break, an unexpected move, or a period between jobs without needing to sell investments at the wrong time.
This is also a good time to study what doctors should know about home loans. A physician mortgage can solve a down-payment problem, but it doesn't solve a job-fit or affordability problem.
Buying can make sense when the job, location, and household needs have become more predictable. The purchase should fit your broader plan without relying on the most optimistic version of your income.
Start with base salary and actual take-home pay. Treat bonuses, loan repayment, relocation money, and delayed compensation as separate categories until you understand their timing and conditions.
Your housing cost should leave room for student loans, retirement contributions, disability insurance, taxes, emergency savings, maintenance, and moving expenses. Include a realistic estimate for furnishings and early repairs too.
A conservative budget should still work if a bonus is lower than expected or arrives months late. If the payment only works in the best-case scenario, the house costs too much.
Many home purchases need several years to overcome purchase and sale costs. A common break-even window is about four to seven years, although local appreciation, financing, rent, and selling expenses can change the answer.
Ask yourself whether you would still want the home if you had to change jobs in two or three years. Then compare the likely outcomes of selling, renting it out, commuting, or continuing to rent.
Be careful with the landlord option. A rental property can create vacancy risk, repairs, tenant issues, insurance costs, and long-distance management work. It should be a deliberate investment decision, not an emergency exit plan.
Homeownership can build stability when it follows a stable job, a workable commute, and a conservative budget. Until those pieces are clear, renting after residency can protect both your money and your career choices.
A year of renting may feel slow after training. It can save far more than it costs when it prevents a rushed purchase and a forced sale.
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The best of the best list is a paid sponsorship, but these are professionals/companies that Tyler and Chad collaborate with within their own practices or have been vetted to earn a spot on this list. By supporting our sponsors, it allows Chad & Tyler to dedicate more time to you and the Physician Cents community. If you ever have a question (or not a great experience, which we don’t expect!) about a sponsor, please let us know. We call it the “best of the best” for a reason, and we will maintain that standard for our listeners & viewers.
This information is for general purposes only. This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific professional financial, tax, or legal advice, as individual circumstances vary. Please see a financial professional, CPA, and/or an attorney in regards to your own individual situation.
Wealthkeel’s Advisory Services and Financial Planning offered through Vicus Capital, Inc., a Federally Registered Investment Advisor. WealthKeel LLC, 615 Channelside Drive, Suite 207, Tampa, FL 33602 -- 267.590.9533.
Olson Consulting LLC, Offering Advisory Services and Financial Planning, is a State-Registered Investment Advisor.
A podcast designed specifically for physicians, offering a breakdown of complex financial topics to help you develop your financial IQ, further your financial journey, and improve your well-being. Whether you're a medical student, resident, fellow, or attending physician, you're sure to learn something new that will benefit your journey.
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Conversations helping graduating medical students to attending physicians build a strong financial foundation
