I want to move to another state. I have been working at my present job for 7 years and it was my first job after grad school. My credit is immaculate and i can get as much money from the bank as i want. However, i want to move, and after moving, i will have a new job and some debt for expenses. What can i do to not be starting from scratch in the new state?
Im thinking i should buy a house now, at the present job, in the new state, before moving.
Unless you know the area to which you’ll be moving, VERY very well, imho, this is a bad idea. You’d do better to rent for awhile until you know which area of your new city you want to actually have a house.
Some things that didn’t even occur to me when I moved (twice now, to two different states in 3 years) were things like the cost of car insurance, which in Washington state was about 40 bucks MORE a month than Alaska which has the second highest cost of living). So when I got ready to move from WA to CO I checked out every little bill I could think of. I found out that CO’s cost of living is about 12% less than WA’s.
Also, I asked (and got) moving assistance from my company.
I second all of this. Living expenses can vary widely within very small areas, and do remember that moving and job hunting expenses can be tax deductible. Save your receipts!
I’m probably going to be changing jobs though, so I think that will hurt my chances of getting even a small mortgage.
IMHO, you want to set this up so that, if you absolutely HATE the new area, or your new job, or whatever, you have some options. And I say this as one who has gone through this twice in the last 3 years.
In late 2010 I moved from Anchorage to Washington state, (having lived in Alaska for 41 years prior to my move). It was a crazy whirlwind move. I got the job offer and needed to be on the job 23 days from that time. I somehow ( a multitude of Rock Stars compounded by sheer panic) managed to sell and/or give away stuff, rented my condo out (which of course entailed a thorough cleaning to make it move in ready for my tenants), found a place to rent south of Seattle, found out about light rail commuting to my new job, packed (with the limited stuff I was keeping) my truck, got it ready to ship, took my pets to have vet checks, booked a flight for me (including two pets for cargo and the bird for carry on), set up a rental car and hotel room for the night of my arrival etc and so on.
Somehow I managed to get it all done in 23 days. The truck, which had all of my remaining worldly belongings, was supposed to arrive in Tacoma two weeks from the time I left Anchorage, but there were delays and it was a month.
All I had for work clothing were two suitcases, so I got awfully sick of wearing the same thing to work! And because I’d sold all of my furniture, I lived in an empty apartment for quite a bit too. I went around the first weekend I was there, and still had the rental car, and bought things like an air mattress and some basic kitchen stuff.
From that experience, when I got the offer to transfer to Colorado when our contract in Seattle expired, I did NOT sell my stuff, I decided to move it all which posed its own set of fun issues. Driving a convoy with my sister (consisting of my truck loaded once again with my worldly goods and a large UHaul truck with my household furniture and items) 1500 miles across five states, of which three were experiencing some serious winter storms, NOT the most fun time, but I’m sure glad I didn’t have to do the whole “starting over” thing regarding hunting down furniture for my new apartment.
What I’ve discovered over the last three years is, I’m pretty sure I want to go home. I miss Alaska dreadfully, and I never thought I would feel that way when I left. Which is crazy because Colorado is the next best thing to paradise. GORGEOUS weather, people who have great attitudes (Seattle folks are “okay” and many are great, but it can be a bit odd and uptight from my experience), but I’m still hankering to go home even after three years away.
Sorry, this is a LOT about me, but I’m hoping that my experience might help you. If you aren’t going to be making as much from your new job (which is interesting because I took about $1000.00 bucks a month cut in pay to move to the lower 48), things can quickly go from “I’ve got no money issues whatsoever” to “hmmmmm, this is a bit of a struggle”. And with that in mind, you want the initial stages of settling into your new home to come with options.
In this economy you don’t want to get trapped into something you’ve bought, but now can’t sell if you want to move back home, or to a different state or city. If, after a year, you LOVE it, you’ll not only have had a chance to figure out where the best areas are to live, but you’ll know if you even want to stay, and that’s a better time to buy a house.
Omar’s #1 career rule: Don’t quit the job you have until you have your next job.
Sounds like you have post grad degree, so I would expect that the type of jobs you would be looking at will be professional salaried positions. You should start exploring and submitting resumes for jobs in that location now from where you live. If you find the right job, you might be able to even negotiate relocation expenses, etc. from your future employer.
Banks regularly lend money for mortgages to people that are relocating, especially if they have a job with a company that they are moving for.
I agree that you shouldn’t buy the house yet. I read a real estate column once that advised someone moving to a new city to rent for a year or two so that you can learn the neighborhoods. And if you’re moving to a different state and don’t even have a job yet, how can you possibly know where you want to live and work?
For example, if you said you wanted to move to the New York metro area and find a job, do you know if you’re going to be living and working in New Jersey, New York City, Westchester, Long Island or Connecticut? If you buy the house first, you might be a couple of hours from your new job.
Another bit of advice. Start to go through your stuff and throw out or donate as much as possible. When you find you have to pay money to move stuff, you get much less sentimental about it. And most stuff can be more cheaply replaced with new or used stuff than moved.
I can’t imagine that it’ll matter much after a year, and maybe not even then. Having had one job for seven years, they’re not going to think you’re a job-hopper who is likely to end up unemployed.
And if the job doesn’t last a year, you’ll be happy to not have a house payment.
Goodness, don’t buy a house in a place you’ve never lived! Rent for a year, get to know the place, and make sure you are ready to make that kind of investment in the area. It takes at least that much time to get to know what areas are on the up and what are on the decline, what kinds of commutes you can expect, where the people you want to spend time with are gathered, etc.
As for jobs, it really depends. If you are looking for early career positions in a place with a booming economy where you have strong connections, you can probably search there (as long as you are willing to take on grunt work while you look if need be). If you are moving to a brand new place without a great economy and are looking for a specialized position, line that stuff up first.