Question about moving out of state

For anyone who's moved out of state -

1. did you have a job lined up when you moved? If so how did you get that job? was it hard to job search from another state?

2. did you rent or buy a home right away? if you bought, how did you do this from another state?

DH and I are planning to move to New Hampshire later this year. I am verrrrry concerned about finding a job and a home. Do we rent first? Do we buy a super cheap home and THEN buy a bigger home after we know what our costs will be, based on our income there, and rent out the smaller home? Should I get a waitressing job to start, and then look for a full-time office job?

If anyone has experience moving to another state (and not because your job transferred you, but because you feel that another state is a better decision for you / your family in terms of costs of living, etc), please let me know / FM me.

THANKS.

Re: Question about moving out of state

well we've been "trying" to move for a long time

we found a house, waiting since jan. its a short sale so its a pain in the a$$....if we get this house, DH will tell his job he is ready....he has spoken to them before about transferring and he can - he just has to give them a heads up before we are ready to go (about a month or two) so they have the time to get him down there....

its nervewracking b/c he talked to them before the wedding and now its freaking may - and you hope they are still as cool with the idea as they were 6 months ago...but DH is confident everything will be fine with the transfer...

once we close DH will give them the i'm ready talk....and then however long it takes to get him down there is how long it takes....if its 2 weeks, 1 month or 3 months we have no choice but to pay the mortgage on the house and continue renting here....

we looked only at houses we could afford on just Dh's salary - that was a big reason for moving....we want a home that we could sustain on just 1 salary so that i can be a SAHM....

i am going to try and find a job when we get down though - probably something part time i hope....i figure a job will get me out of the house, ill meet people, and the extra money cant hurt....im nervuos though b.c i have no idea what i am going to find down there i was thinking of doing something with real estate though - ive learned a lot so far through this agonizing short sale process and i figure that is something i could do full time now and then part time when we have kids if i wanted to cotinue at it for extra money and stuff...but the plan is for me to stay home at that point if i want too....

ets: we've been renting for 4 years so we are ready for a house....we had an idea of the area we wanted to live - somewere in between DHs job and my family - about 40 mins to each....we have no idea if we'll like it but it has to better than living in our 1 bedroom basement apartment

Message edited 5/11/2009 4:46:01 PM.

Re: Question about moving out of state

1. no jobs lined up, but we moved to city where there was a need for us(IBK assist and restuarant management)

DH found his job through a headhunter.

2. no...and I am so glad we did not buy while living in NY. We rented in 3 different charlotte areas before deciding where to buy.

Servers and bartenders are always so quick to jump into a move...you can find a job anywhere and make good money. Both of us have tons of serving experience, its always in the back of our minds as a safety net.

I would not buy small unless you plan on renting it out when you upgrade. You don't really know the market up there, you don't want to be stuck with something that won't sell right now.

And renting is fun and carefree. Rent, get established, figure out what street you want to live on and go from there.

good luck!

Re: Question about moving out of state

I moved from NY to Portland, OR into my DH's house that he already owned. If we were both moving to a place we've never lived before I would definately rent first. When I moved to Florida with my parents years & years ago, they rented first. They researched neighborhoods, value, etc. and then realized that they didn't like living in Florida so, they moved back to NY and weren't stuck trying to sell a house.

As for the job.....I had none. I tried applying from OOS and had no luck. It wasn't until I was physically here that I was noticed. It took me about 2 months to land a FT job.

Re: Question about moving out of state

Re: Question about moving out of state

Re: Question about moving out of state

When we moved OOS - DH had been laid off in NY and didn't have a job in CA. I didn't have a job going, but I had a summer check that we lived off until DH got a job.

we rented for 6 months at first - best decision we made. We were able to get a feel for the individual neighborhoods



when we moved back DH DID have a job (I was pg, so I didn't want to be without health insurance). We lived with my parents for 3 months while the CA house was being sold and while we looked for a NY house to buy.

Re: Question about moving out of state

Dh had a job lined up. That was the reason for the move. We rented first in the area where he worked to see where we wanted to live in the surrounding area. i got a job 3 months later. it's been 10 years.

Re: Question about moving out of state

I have moved out of state a few times, other than college or moving back with my parents lol.

When I moved to CA, I didn't have a job. I had an apt., though (roommate). Never bought a home out there - never could afford one lol. It took 2 months to find a job - a temp turned perm. I worked there for 7 years... and when I moved out here, I just transferred with that company. I had a place to live - I'd just gotten married so I moved in with him.

I'd suggest renting an apt first. In this economy, I'd be a bit wary about not having a job. But if you have enough money saved, go for it!!

Re: Question about moving out of state

Thank you all for your responses! Renting where we plan to move is just as expensive as renting on LI, so that is a factor in making us want to buy -- we've been tlaking about moving for YEARS and have visited the area several times, have researched areas extensively, and plan to do more research this summer. I'd like to find a "rent-to-buy" house, but I don't know if that will be possible.

Thanks again for your responses! If anyone has more info I'm all ears!

If anyone knows anyone who lives in New Hampshire, particularly in the Portsmouth area, please FM me!

Re: Question about moving out of state

1. I did not have a job lined up. It was very hard to do the job search from another state, but I was across the entire country at the time (I moved to CA). It might be easier for you with NH, since it's closer. In my case, no one wanted to fly me out for interviews. So I moved without the job but with enough money for a few months and a backup plan to sub (I was a teacher) for money and experience if I couldn't find something in time for the next school year.

2. I rented. The circumstances were such that I could not buy at the time. But even now, if I were to move OOS again, I think I would want to rent for a while first. It would give me time to get used to the area, pick a neighborhood I want to live in, and comparison shop, rather than being stressed and trying to rush the buying process just so I'd have a place to stay when I got there.

HTH!