question regarding relocating

How do you know if you will be "better off" (financially) in a new area....for example, I am a teacher on LI - how do I know that if I move down south ( n. carolina) that I will be better off, even though my salary will be considerably less?????? I am not sure how to figure this out...any help would be appreciated. THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: question regarding relocating

It depends on where you are moving. You would need to research it thoroughly before making any moves. I know that where I am, the starting salaries for teachers (with a masters) are significantly more than NYC teachers start at.

I would suggest that you look into getting a realtor. Plan a few long weekend trips and eat, breathe and live NC (I see that that is where you are looking). I would also check out forums such as www.citydata.com/forum and ask as many questions as you need and get insider info on the areas you are looking in.

I wish you much luck!

Re: question regarding relocating

DH and I were in this same situation about 2 years ago. We were looking to move to Tennessee. I searched all over to try and find some information about the cost of living down there but found nothing.

We ended up making a vacation out of it and went down there for a little over a week and meet with a realtor and looked at over 60 houses. Our realtor gave us all the information we needed including using his own bills to help us get a better idea on the cost of living down there. He also helped us out by giving us info. about available jobs and rate of pay.

He did make sure to tell us that it varies depending on what kind of lifestyle your used to living but nothing too dramatic.

If you have an idea of where you would like to move to I would call the town hall and ask a couple of questions in regard to who provides service...ie..telephone, cable, internet, oil, electricity...and also request a relocation packet-if they offer it. That should be able to help you out a little bit and if you can why not take a vacation to check it out

Re: question regarding relocating

Once you decide on a location, besides looking at national test scores for schools, find out exactly what schools your children will be attending, go see the neighborhood they're in and the watch the kids coming in and going out of the school. My sister moved to NC and looked up the stats on the schools for her area and they were fine. Now that she's there almost 3 years and my nephew is about to go to middle school, she has found out some things about the school, like location, and the whole "district" of kids that go there and has sworn that she will never send her child there. If she doesn't move back to NY before Sept. she will be sending my nephew to private school.