Currently living in Jackson, MS. My wife and I are planning on moving to Houston, TX this year. I have moved across country before, but never to an unknown city where we have to friends or family. So many questions:
Do we wait and have jobs lined up first before we move?
How seriously will employers look at out of state applicants?
Do we move with a warchest, and try to find a job ASAP?
How big a warchest should we have?
Easiest way to find places to rent?
What areas in Houston should be avoid?
Nightmare scenarios of ending up in a motel, not being able to find a job or a place to rent are giving me trepidations. Any advice would be welcome.
I’d say it largely depends on what kind of work you do. If it’s in a hot sector or you’re in-demand skilled labor, you can probably take more risks then if you’re looking for a position teaching cuneiform.
As for finding a place to rent, that’s the one thing I wouldn’t worry about. Unless you have a nasty criminal record or something I doubt finding a place to live in Texas is gonna be a problem. Housing is one thing we seem to have in abundance. I moved to the Dallas area a year and a half or so ago. Even with a large dog, it took me less then a day of searching to find 2 different complexes with cheap apartments and no dog size restrictions…
Not enought excitement in our lives? Just kidding.
My wife wants to go into a Physicians Assistant program. Did a thread about a week ago, about great places to live, where quite a few people responded. Ringo suggested Houston. We poo-pooed it cuz of certain prejudices about Texas.
We were initially leaning toward Indianapolis, because her father lives in Terre Haute. But the more we read about Houston, the better it sounded. No state income tax, big city, low cost of living, good job prospects (terrible here in MS), no blizzards, PA program in Houston and nearby Galveston. A move to any place other than Terre Haute, IN or back to Los Angeles would be a blind move for us.
If Texas, why not conside Austin? Same services, somewhat smaller city, and less of the xerox-housing-and-strip-mall esthetic than Houston.
Never lived there personally, but those I know who have speak of it fondly. I can’t say the same for those I’ve known from Dallas/Ft. Worth or Houston.
I’m a native Houstonian, so let me take a shot at it. Do we wait and have jobs lined up first before we move?
How seriously will employers look at out of state applicants?
Do we move with a warchest, and try to find a job ASAP?
It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have a job lined up. However, the job market here in Houston is good and getting better. Employers will most assuredly look at you; the question is whether they will help with the relocation. The answer to that will
help determine the next questions.
How big a warchest should we have?
Easiest way to find places to rent?
What areas in Houston should be avoid?
Most of the expansion and growth lately has been to the west and southwest, so that’s where I recommend looking to start. West side areas are usually referred to as Galleria, Westside, Westchase, Northwest or something similar. If you are familiar with Houston’s geography, think of a roughly 10-15 mile wide corridor centered on Westheimer westbound from Loop 610 as a good starting point. I strongly suggest NOT going as far out as Katy because of the commute. IIRC, your wife wants to go into a PA program, so you probably don’t want to go too far out Westheimer if she winds up working in the Medical Center. Once you get a feel for that, you can look in other places as well.
A 2 bedroom, one bath apartment with some basics like fridge and dishwasher will probably go for around 650 clams on up monthly for a 12 month lease. Add another 200-300 for utilities, phone, cable (although some places throw that in), etc. I would strongly suggest a warchest of at least 18 months rent, minimum. The more over that you can get, the better, because you then have a cushion.
Feel free to e-mail me if there’s anything I can do to help. Welcome to Houston!
I would second (and third) not living out in Katy and further recommend living inside the loop or fairly close to it. The commute from Katy to downtown is a crawl that frequently takes several hours each day. I don’t know how people do it.
I lived in the Montrose area close to Rice University and enjoyed it immensely.
When you hear “the Loop” mentioned in Houston, it is referring to Hwy 610. The outer loop, Hwy 8, is more commonly referred to as either the tollway or tollway 8. I’m currently renting a 1 bedroom condo in the Westchase area for $600/month (appliances and washer/dryer included). Deals are frequently offered for longer term (12 month) leases including free months, low security deposit, etc. Westchase is a high density residential and commercial area. Westheimer is very commercial with numerous grocery stores, shopping, restaurants, etc all the way from the loop (hwy 610) going west to Hwy 6.
If you’re moving blind, I would STRONGLY suggest that you live inside Loop 610. This gives you a central location, and odds are you’ll be going against traffic if you need to commute. I lived in the Allen House on Allen Parkway; great place just outside downtown, but it was a long time ago, and I don’t know what the rents are now.
The Medical Center has apartments around it; mostly these are small, not big complexes. They seem to have mostly people who want the schools, but can’t afford the houses, and Rice students (Rice being across the street from the Med Ctr. There are also moderately-priced places around Greenway Plaza (along SR 59 at about Buffalo Speedway), and down along N. and S. Braeswood which are quite safe.
Other places to look inside the loop are the Heights (though some parts are quite shaky) and Montrose (although gentrification has ratcheted up the prices there quite a bit).
I’ve moved to Houston twice (1979 and 1990), and didn’t have a job either time. It didn’t take too long to get one, though. I don’t think your war chest has to be too large. If you move in the early spring, when the weather is nice, you’ll hardly have to pay any gas and electric for a while. This changes drastically when summer hits.
Practically everybody here is from out of state, if not out of country. Don’t give it a thought.
It’s hard to say what to avoid, because Houston is very pocketed. In general, you want to be west of downtown. If you’re west of downtown, and inside the loop, you’re more than likely going to be okay.