Moving in a year (Anchorage, Fairbanks: buying a house, wedding, buying)

[Muttlover]

Alright, well me and my husband have decided we want to move to alaska. I have never personally been there but my husband grew up there. We're making a trip this summer to go do some stuff out there so I can check everything out. My husband is in school right now working on his welding degree, which is why we aren't moving for a year. I'm basically just wondering what I should be prepared for specifically in alaska, besides of course the snow factor and everything, and any advice you might have for me before we move?? Also anyone know any specific companies we could look into for welding? I know there are a lot of places with that kind of job but just hoped someone could give me some specifics so we can look into it. Oh and we are in Washington State.

[Crossfire600]

Hi Muttlover! We are in the process of the same thing - a year count down. We don't have much to do - just clean/pack/sell our house, save as much molla as we can, have a ginormous yard sale, make the initial trip up there for interviews, etc, etc, etc
We're looking at our plan like a "wedding" - lots of prep work and the last few months will sail. Before we know it, we'll be posting like Satch here recently -"WE are HERE!"
This board is fantastic, the people are great and willing to share lots of info!
Keep in touch
Crossfire's wife

[Rance]

Might find some welding leads (no pun intended) here. Number 4, 5, 6, 8, 15, 16, 17, 24!

ASRC Energy Services - Careers (http://www.asrcenergy.com/careers/default.aspx?pg=jobs - broken link)

[cblackwell]

Pipefitter, Pipewelder, Electrician Jobs in Anchorage AK - al.com (broken link)

Is this the kind of job you/your husband are looking for? hope it helps.
My husband and I drove up from NC back in January and we love it! we live at fort greely/ delta junction. Are you looking to move to Anchorage, Fairbanks?

[Muttlover]

Alright I totally forgot I posted here, I'm new to this site and forgot I joined. My husband has 8 years working experience with mig and arc welding. He has experience with a lot more than that but it is through school so I'm not sure if that really counts. He is getting his degree in welding, that's whats stopping us from moving right this second! So I'm not really sure exactly what jobs, just something for that kind of experience or welding for anything that doesn't expect you to have a ton of experience with anything other than mig and arc.

Also does anyone know much about how the housing market is up there? We're keeping our duplex and buying a house there when we move but I'm not really sure how price range goes up there, for say a 3 bedroom/2 bath house, anywhere surrounding anchorage. We plan to move about an hours drive from anchorage.

I guess Ill be able to see in a couple months when we visit my brother-in-law but I was just curious.

[Crossfire600]

Originally Posted by Muttlover

Alright I totally forgot I posted here, I'm new to this site and forgot I joined. My husband has 8 years working experience with mig and arc welding. He has experience with a lot more than that but it is through school so I'm not sure if that really counts. He is getting his degree in welding, that's whats stopping us from moving right this second! So I'm not really sure exactly what jobs, just something for that kind of experience or welding for anything that doesn't expect you to have a ton of experience with anything other than mig and arc.

Also does anyone know much about how the housing market is up there? We're keeping our duplex and buying a house there when we move but I'm not really sure how price range goes up there, for say a 3 bedroom/2 bath house, anywhere surrounding anchorage. We plan to move about an hours drive from anchorage.

I guess Ill be able to see in a couple months when we visit my brother-in-law but I was just curious.

From our search experience, in Juneau at least, count on $225,000 and up for anything that "appears" to be in good shape. I could be wrong but we watch the housing market daily. Remember, this is based on internet browsing. One thing I find odd about the market up there is that they don't show the inside of the homes like they do down here. In Pa, you can take virtual tours of homes on a lot of sites.. You can see everything. In AK, you get 3-5 pictures of the outside and a room or two.. odd...

[ComputerUser000]

Originally Posted by Muttlover

Alright, well me and my husband have decided we want to move to alaska. I have never personally been there but my husband grew up there. We're making a trip this summer to go do some stuff out there so I can check everything out. My husband is in school right now working on his welding degree, which is why we aren't moving for a year. I'm basically just wondering what I should be prepared for specifically in alaska, besides of course the snow factor and everything, and any advice you might have for me before we move?? Also anyone know any specific companies we could look into for welding? I know there are a lot of places with that kind of job but just hoped someone could give me some specifics so we can look into it. Oh and we are in Washington State.

I wish you the BEST of luck in moving to Alaska in the future. I know a move can be exciting.. but nerveracking and frustrating.

[elgusano]

Lots of welding jobs and lots of skeeters. Well, we don't have too many skeeters here in Homer because the wind is always blowing, but everywhere else.

[Muttlover]

Me and my husband can afford a house up to 300,000. Our duplex is worth some amount over 400,000(can't remember what the appraiser said I think 450?), and if things go well and we sell it okay, by the time we sell it, it should probably be worth more. It was 365,000 when we bought it last July. Didn't expect it to go up that much!

My husband has now been considering a job on the slopes with his cousin. But he's not sure he wants to do that because it's two weeks on two weeks off. I think it's a good idea. I won't be working and when he's off we can go do whatever but I understand why he would rather not. Luckily his dad is one of the owners of american fast friehgt so shipping everything will be cheaper for us than it is for others. We've decided to camp on the way up there and drive through canada. We could just ship everything and fly but we have a bearded dragon, and bunny, and turtle, a car and a dog so that wouldn't work to well! lol.

I've actually looked a bit online and found some pretty nice homes in wasilla and palmer for 200-300,000. One was an alpaca farm or something lol, but that's kind of what I am looking for. Less house, more land, for horses. We're looking specifically for somewhere with enough land for a horse or two, because we eventually want them, but if we can't find anything now we will wait till later when we have even more equity built up.

[elgusano]

I'd check about taking those animals into Canada. Also check the other threads for info on taking the dog.