Looking for a new home. (Anchorage, Nome: for sale, maintenance, apartment)

[Sobered]

I'm currently in the process of trying to decide on a place for a new start and you folks on this forum have provided me with hours of entertainment so far. One of the things that caught my eye in my searching of the site was that of all the states I've looked in, Alaska is the only one that doesn't have a bunch of seemingly disgruntled people posting about how horrible the place is.

First off, I'll give you guys some background information on myself. I'm a 27 year old married man with 2 children. I'm currently living in the Tampa, Florida area and I'm horribly unhappy. I grew up in the mountains of Pennsylvania and moved down to Florida in 2000 for my wife. I've long dreamed of living somewhere out West in the mountains.

Anyway, after 7 long years of living in a place I hate, it has basically become unbearable. It's started to take a noticable toll on marriage, and my wife and I have decided that we need to get out of this place. The flat, dull scenery, lousy pay, and crime are something that we definately won't miss.

I am currently a truck driver (CDL Class A with Hazmat) with some management/dispatching experience. More importantly, I'm young, in good health, and I'm not afraid of hard work. Afterall, I work 60-80 hour weeks here. After reading in some posts here about the lack of motivated 20somethings and how the jobs are just waiting for someone hungry enough to take em, I've decided that Alaska sounds like the perfect place for me and the family to get a fresh start.

I've already looked at the websites that you guys have recommended for finding jobs, and see that in general, they pay more than what I make here. This has me pretty excited, but I figured I'd check here to see what kind of personal experience you folks have had with the job market and pay in the areas you live in.

I am kind of intrigued by the idea of working in the oilfields, but I'm not sure what kind of training or experience they're looking for.

I'd like to thank you all in advance just for reading my novel here, and also for any information or advice you could give me. By the way, my wife is sitting at her computer cracking up at alot of the posts on this forum.

[Rance]

ASRC Energy Services - Contact hires many drivers/operators for northslope oilfeild. More so during winter months. But you might find something there. The pay is usually higher here because of remote duties. Some guys work 5 and 6 weeks straight. Some only one or two weeks. And there are many in town trucking outfits that run short of drivers during road maintenance and construction or paving. You should have very little trouble finding your line of work here. But you'd best get goin. Things are already happening.

[rotorhead]

Don't forget to check out the companies that wholesale bulk petroleum products. They're always looking for someone with a CDL and hazmat experience, especially if you're checked out for tankers. Aviation companies and airport service companies are another option, lots of aviation fuel moves through Alaska in general and Anchorage in particular, its a big-time stopover and refueling point for the cargo airlines going to the orient and Europe. If you're looking for seasonal work, check out who's got the contracts for aerial fire-fighting work, they're always looking for someone to drive the fuel trucks and the pay can be pretty good though the season is short.

[akladysoul]

I live in Nome, Alaska where I own a large home with a garage (almost unheard of in this town) and in the most desirable neighborhood, if you will. Nome is off the road system but family friendly. There are a couple of school options for kids and the pay is always pretty good. You do have to fly in/out but there are 3 jets operated daily by AK Airlines (among several smaller airlines.)

I know that a CDL here could yield about 25 an hour. There is a new gold mine here, too that is paying decent wages for long hours. I, however, have a perfect opportunity for SOMEONE out there. I'm selling my janitorial business for $60K and it brings in over $10K a month working less than 40 hours a week. I want to leave AK for a few years so desiring to sell asap. It's worth way more as some months I take in more clients and bring in more than double that but it requires more working (hard to do with 5 kids that I homeschool.)

For the right person who doesn't mind sweeping and mopping a small grocery store, dusting the counters at banks and vacuuming, as well as a few select houses to clean weekly it's perfect and makes tremendous money.

Additionally, my house is for sale. It's a 4 bedroom, remodeled, newer applicances, new windows, large garage that is custom painted on the interior. Also, the 4th bedroom could be converted to an apartment as it has it's own entrance, heat source and such. It was originally designed to be an entertainment room with pool tables and seating in the loft. Very nice. The garage can also be converted to an apartment plus additional room in the garage upstairs that's already been prepped some for making it a mother in law bedroom of sorts. This is a great investment for someone. I'll sell separately or make a sweet deal on them together.

If you want great money, walking on a cool beach or panning it for gold, fishing, hunting, riding ATVs.......or just leading a laid back no worries kind of life, you might like this town with about 4000 people. It's full of opportunity for someone who wants off the road system.

Have a great day and enjoy the weather in FL. It's a beautiful sunny day here at about 6o something degrees!

Cristy