Advice for School Psychologist Relocating to Denver (insurance, mortgage)

[rusty44]

All,

My girlfriend is wanting to relocate to the Denver area, and she is a bit concerned about the pay, good areas vs. bad areas, and other factors to which she could never possibly know without actually being here. She has offers from Adams county and Douglas county, but they are offering less money (3000 - 8000 dollars less) than she is making out in Florida. As a school psychologist in south Florida (the largest school district in the country), she is a bit concerned about accepting less money for either one of these jobs. Does anyone have any advice on good vs. bad school districts to work for the Denver area? There are several factors to consider and as an engineer here, I don't have much advice to give her. I wish I could help her. Any info that you guys can provide would be helpful, and I thank you in advance.

[StacyAT]

I just read your post....I didn't see any responses though...did your girlfriend end up moving to CO?
I am currently a School Psych in FL and thinking about moving to CO. I have also noticed the salaries in CO are much lower in CO than FL...was wondering what the outcome was.

[jamesr242]

BUMP

Weirdly enough, my girlfriend is also a school psychologist and I'm an engineer and we are considering moving to the Denver area. Does anybody know what the market is like? Initial research shows that pay is lower than Houston, which is where we are at now.

[spartan5]

There must be something about engineers and psychology majors. I'm also an engineer considering moving to CO and my wife is a marriage and family therapist. Are there a lot of counseling groups that she could potentially join? I just did a yellow pages search for marriage and family therapists and I wasn't overly impressed by the number of search results in the Denver area. We are hoping to move just after she completes her Master's degree, which should be later this year.

Also, if anyone knows of a hydraulics (fluid power) company I could contact regarding job openings, I be interested to hear about them. I can also work in other areas of mechanical design engineering. I understand that the salaries may be lower in CO, but since I am probably underpaid in my current job, my salary in CO could actually go up significantly. It seems like the cost of living there may actually be a little less or about the same as here in MN, so I'm not too worried about it.

[nevada1427]

Maybe all of you already know this.....but the job market is VERY rough in Colorado and I have been told that it always has been. There is a TON of competition for jobs and B/C of that...the wages are kept low. For the oringinal poster...if your GF has already received two job offers, kudos to her because she is of a lucky few. If she really wants to move here, then take the job and move. For all you other posters.....I would highly recommend NOT MOVING until you have a job lined up. As beautiful as Colorado is.....the cost of living combined with the low wages is not worth it. But of course that is only my opinion. I wish you all good luck in your job search!

[bflogirl]

i have to say I moved to southern colorado from phx and then back to phx only to move to the denver area last year. I love Colorado...and the Denver area. Wide variety of schools/districts and pay. I had no problem with salary match and I was making well above average for a School Psych in AZ. They give you an initial salary placement and then most disticts here will add on a stipend for NASP certification, for hard to fill position and for professional development. You have to do the leg work of getting your hours together and submitting them for approval to move on the pay scale.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by rusty44

She has offers from Adams county and Douglas county, but they are offering less money (3000 - 8000 dollars less) than she is making out in Florida.

We moved from Florida to Denver 3 years ago and, with all due respect, the reason your friend has been offered $3-$8,000 less than she makes in Florida is that Denver isn't anywhere near as expensive to live as it is in Florida. We loved Florida and would have happily continued to live there if we could have afforded it. I didn't even need a huge house or a fancy lifestyle...even a subpar house in Florida costs a fortune (and that's not even factoring in the ridiculous costs of homeowner's insurance!).

Denver is much cheaper to live than Florida is (it doesn't matter what "ratings" people will throw out...I lived there happily for 4 years and saw a huge difference in everything compared to Denver), so instead of looking at salary, your friend needs to look at what she gets for that salary.

Also, Denver isn't anywhere near as dangerous as the dangerous areas of Florida. There are some less-than-great areas of Denver (as with any other city), but even then, "danger" is subjective and your friend will likely laugh at the areas we on the forum recommend people stay away from.

[mariafraietta]

Yes, some people think that Denver is expensive, but take a look at property taxes in Denver compared to other parts of the country. Most median value houses (say around $250K) have property taxes anywhere from $1000 - $2500/year. I've never seen any higher anywhere in the metro area, and I think that's pretty low compared to other regions of the country (including Florida).

Of course, with that comes lower teacher salaries!!

[Moonwalkr]

Maybe it's just me, but $3-8K less doesn't sound like 'much less'. Like others have said, you should weigh cost of living, benefits, and change of pace in lifestyle.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by mariafraietta

Yes, some people think that Denver is expensive, but take a look at property taxes in Denver compared to other parts of the country. Most median value houses (say around $250K) have property taxes anywhere from $1000 - $2500/year. I've never seen any higher anywhere in the metro area, and I think that's pretty low compared to other regions of the country (including Florida).

Of course, with that comes lower teacher salaries!!

The problem in Florida is not the property taxes...it's getting homeowner's insurance. After numerous hurricanes and repair claims for homes damaged by sinkholes, there are very few homeowner's insurance companies left in Florida. Even companies who offer car, life and homeowner's insurance have pulled out from offering homeowner's insurance (and the state government lets them get away with it). If you've got a mortgage, you MUST have homeowner's insurance. When you get a letter in the mail from the company you have telling you that they are leaving Florida, you are left trying to find insurance from the overpriced companies who still offer it. The state has a company that offers insurance too...my sister-in-law had to go there since she lives in a "flood zone" (which incidentally is nowhere near the ocean). Her homeowner's insurance went from $350 per month to $1150 per month. PER MONTH...added on to her mortgage payment! It was the only company she could find and the fact that she has a mortgage means that in order to keep her home, she had to send proof that she has insurance. People in Florida are getting screwed...and many people who own their homes outright are taking a risk and not insuring their homes at all. It is very expensive to live in Florida, so when you see the news stories about how home prices have fallen...perhaps they have, but homeowner's insurance costs have only gone up so in the end, your mortgage payment (which includes homeowner's insurance) is still very high.