Sick of the Midwest (Phoenix, Glendale: real estate, hotel, job market)

[ehubb53]

I know there is a lot of good info out there. But I will ask for some more. Me and the wife are very sick of St. Louis. The cold winters the hot humid summers, its dirty the roads are terrible, the list goes on and on. I being from So. Cal (mostly the San Fernando Valley, but have lived in other areas) is a bit out of reach at this moment. And the wife spent a few years in No. Cal. We just hate the midwest. So after visiting my wifes sister for thanksgiving, who just moved to Surprise about 1.5 years ago, believe this would be a great place to move to. It would be close to my friends in LA and my sisters in nieces in So. Cal. plus close to Vegas, the mountains. So any way I understand it will be hot in the summer and the commute from Surprise to Phoenix can be long(btw our commute is around 45min now) (plus I'm from LA) Is there any other basics we should know? We are planning to move in the fall, we don't want to do another winter! It appears its a good buyers market now. Another big question is the job market? I am in the real estate field, don't mind switching gears though, the wife will have no problem and can just transfer. Any words of wisdom would be helpful. Thanks

[Havasu]

My advice is to move. I moved from the midwest and have no regrets at all. It wont be bad for you at all since you spent some time in SoCal you will wonder why you stayed there as long as you did.
My Home

[ehubb53]

Thanks I have had 7 long years here and don't want to make it 8.

[Ponderosa]

I would consider areas other than Surprise that might be closer to my job. You will be driving everyday, but see the relatives only on occasion. Surprise is "repeated" in every quadrant of the Phoenix metro if you get my meaning. There is nothing there that you can find elsewhere. That applies in the reverse as well. People moving here should not get set on one town or another. It really doesn't matter much. Focus on the commute. It's not just your time. If you are out on the road you take up our space too.

[altus2006]

What area of real estate are you in? I assume that you are aware we are in a huge housing downturn here and many Realtors have found other jobs that pay their bills.

altus2006

[LocoAZnative]

and dont forget the job market here is horrible right now. I wouldn't move unless you already have something lined up.

[ehubb53]

Appraising, but i am willing to switch gears. Kind of sick of it anyway for lots of reasons.

[ehubb53]

I hear ya. It was where we spent most of the time. Well surprise and Glendale at the hotel from the stadium. But Surprise seemed nice enough

[JennySquirrel]

ehubb

I was in your same situation and I spent about 4 years traveling around and looking into all the various possibilities. We looked all over California, Texas, Arizona and Florida. Even took a peek at Utah. We ended up in Florida because of a job offer but I wanted to tell you to take a look at Gilbert, AZ.

It is a safer area and there are developments built on the water. Some places you can even have a boat. If we didn't end up in Sedona, Gilbert would have been our next choice.

Good luck and what ever you do...GET OUT!!! The midwest was a place I will never look back and miss. I hated it there. Gray skies, cold Winters, depressed, sick looking people walking around, high taxes, bad roads,etc. It's not until you get out of there and travel do you realize just how sickly people look from there. It's sad Don't stay one second longer than you have to!

Good luck!

[ArizonaBear]

Being from the Wash DC area: oh how well I understand people wishing to flee places with similar climates--------and, DC is not quite as cold in the winter compared to even St Louis.

Left DC 30+ years and have never returned----------even for a visit. Did live in Springfield, Or in 1990; reminded me too much of back east so I hightailed it back to the Sunbelt ASAP.