How much would this property cost in various parts of the U.S

[haakee]

$435,000, exactly 5 miles from Stanford. Reasonable neighborhood. Maybe a little small for you. You will not find anything cheaper to buy.

Mountain View condo

[CardSharpCook]

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$435,000, exactly 5 miles from Stanford. Reasonable neighborhood. Maybe a little small for you. You will not find anything cheaper to buy.

Mountain View condo

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ew. That's just a freaking apt, and not a very good one at that.

[partygirluk]

What is the difference between a condo and an appartment?

[kenberman]

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What is the difference between a condo and an appartment?

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you own one and rent the other

[peachy]

way to pick all the expensive places

[nothumb]

The cheapest will be Chicago, but you'll get mugged as the school is near a roughish area. Boston and San Fran are ludicrous. Try this: bend over and touch your toes. If no wads of bills fell out of your ass, you are not rich enough to be a full-time student and also buy a house in these areas. You'll have to rent.

Also, are you planning on owning this place for the duration of your PhD studies, then selling it? My feeling is you could take a big loss on that, the housing bubble in this country is ridiculous right now.

NT

[daveymck]

I dont think buying is definatley going to be the best option without more research. You will be there how long 3-4 years whats the growth in the property market going to be in that time in the States? How much would the actual mortgage costs be and how much is renting?

You could invest the lump sum you have at 5% minimum in the UK can you get higher return on property in the US? Another option could be to buy a property over here and rent it out usng the rent to pay off the mortgage and make a profit towards your rent in the states, there are pleanty of property hotspots in the UK where growth of 15-20% a year is happening.

I understand wanting to get on the ladder at this point and agree you should be doing it but not sure why so set on buying the home in the US just to goto Uni in.

Another option could be to get the mortgage here use the good exchange rate for the full amount rather than just the deposit might increase you budget, but would be looking at comparing interest costs and projections to compare the real costs of this between UK and US mortgages.

Also need to check the tax position of the house sale at the other end as well might need to add that to any costings.

[renodoc]

Chances of getting out of your program from one of the five schools you list without becoming a complete liberal wackjob is extremely low. I would agree with the University of Texas.

I don't think it's realistic to buy and live in the Bay Area or Boston. As others of said, unless you're rich, forget about it. Even if you are, you're probably looking at a break even return on investment (if you're lucky) within a four year period. Rental costs will be far lower than an equivalent mortage payment for the same property in these high cost of living cities.

Some alternative schools:

Cornell (in a small town, ivy league school)
UNC/Duke (Raleigh-Durham is a reasonably priced area and both of these schools are very good)

There are others...a lot of the Big 10 schools are good depending on what your area of study is. It's difficult to recommend schools/areas of the country without an idea of what you're studying.

-dustyn

[casinogosain]

2 bedroom condo within 5 miles of University of Chicago or Northwestern (assuming these are where you would pursue your doctorate in an field you didn't mention), somewhere between $200-350k, depending.

If you decide on Chicago (or they decide on you) I can put you in touch with trusted realtors and also advise on locations, etc. Good town.

Oh, FWIW, I have 2 bedroom townhouse, within the distances you quoted, for >= twice what I quoted. So there is a broad range.

-Ash