should I move to Texas (Austin, Moody: best city, rent, houses)

[lpdsag]

My husband and I live with our 3 boys in Omaha, Nebraska. He is a measure agent for flooring and business is not going well here. I think the industry is so saturated with installers, measure agents and floor managers that there is not enough work here.
My husband wants to go to Austin and find a job and have the kids and I go down after we sell the house. I am scared, my husband and I have lived here with our families forever! I don't mind moving but I am afraid of the unknown. Tornadoes scare me and my son and I both have alergies. Yet I hear the housing is very in-expensive in Austin. We have a 1500 sq.ft. 3-bedroom home that we can probably sell for around 140,000. I think we would rent in Austin first and buy a year later just to make sure we made the right decision. Also, the schools in Papillion where we live are excellent. What are the schools like in Austin. We are very conservative people and have heard that we would not like Austin. Please someone please give me some information. What is the work availability like and is it worth looking into. Also if anyone knows someone in the flooring industry how are they doing for work?

Thanks,
Lisa

[love roses]

One of my old friends from High School lives in Nebraska. She moved here for a short time, planning on bringing her 3 daughters, but had to move back because her mom got breast cancer. I could ask her what her opinion was. She still plans on moving back once her mom is in the clear.

[lpdsag]

That would be great!!

[neddy]

Well my hubby and I lived for 3 yrs in Papillion off on S. Polk street. Austin is a great place to go and the houses are going to be about the same price it sounds like. Now you do have the family factor that you are going to miss. I think it would be go for the family to visit the area to get a small feel for it. The schools in the suburbs seem to be better on a whole than in Austin ISD but there are good and bad every where. We are from here and never got used to the winter at all. Its a hard thing to get used to and we being from Texas the local cornhuskers did not take to kindly to us at the time cause thats the years UT always beat them (90s). Lots more to do here but I do miss the zoo!

[Trainwreck20]

I have a friend who works in one of the larger companies that does carpet installation (mostly commercial, some residential). I am assuming this is the industry your husband is in. As I understand it, it is dominated by a relatively small number of larger companies, with some smaller ones fitting in the gaps. Anyway, this is one of the labor intensive industries that gets lots of cheap labor from both legal and illegal immigrants. Make sure your husband checks out the work market carefully to make sure he will make enough money.

[lpdsag]

My husband is more of a measure agent now and would not even mind getting into warehouse work. He no longer installs. (hard on the knees).

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by lpdsag

My husband and I live with our 3 boys in Omaha, Nebraska. He is a measure agent for flooring and business is not going well here. I think the industry is so saturated with installers, measure agents and floor managers that there is not enough work here.
My husband wants to go to Austin and find a job and have the kids and I go down after we sell the house. I am scared, my husband and I have lived here with our families forever! I don't mind moving but I am afraid of the unknown. Tornadoes scare me and my son and I both have alergies. Yet I hear the housing is very in-expensive in Austin. We have a 1500 sq.ft. 3-bedroom home that we can probably sell for around 140,000. I think we would rent in Austin first and buy a year later just to make sure we made the right decision. Also, the schools in Papillion where we live are excellent. What are the schools like in Austin. We are very conservative people and have heard that we would not like Austin. Please someone please give me some information. What is the work availability like and is it worth looking into. Also if anyone knows someone in the flooring industry how are they doing for work?

Thanks,
Lisa

A friend of mine owns a commercial flooring business (did the childrens hospital) and business is booming.

[Derek ATX]

Originally Posted by lpdsag

My husband and I live with our 3 boys in Omaha, Nebraska. He is a measure agent for flooring and business is not going well here. I think the industry is so saturated with installers, measure agents and floor managers that there is not enough work here.
My husband wants to go to Austin and find a job and have the kids and I go down after we sell the house. I am scared, my husband and I have lived here with our families forever! I don't mind moving but I am afraid of the unknown. Tornadoes scare me and my son and I both have alergies. Yet I hear the housing is very in-expensive in Austin. We have a 1500 sq.ft. 3-bedroom home that we can probably sell for around 140,000. I think we would rent in Austin first and buy a year later just to make sure we made the right decision. Also, the schools in Papillion where we live are excellent. What are the schools like in Austin. We are very conservative people and have heard that we would not like Austin. Please someone please give me some information. What is the work availability like and is it worth looking into. Also if anyone knows someone in the flooring industry how are they doing for work?

Thanks,
Lisa

The Wall Street Journal and Moody's Economics named Austin the best city in the nation last week. They factor in economy, quality of life, living expenses, and annual increase in household income.

[lpdsag]

thanks for the information!