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Old 08-07-2007, 11:50 AM
 
Location: Greer, SC
83 posts, read 482,832 times
Reputation: 69

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Quote:
Originally Posted by fruitytoocutie92 View Post
OMG yes please don't......very very very hard to find a job and the schools (high and middle) suck! not to mention everything depends on what religion you are. ok, yes some parts are pretty. if you come from the north, forget it! everyone will hate you.
This is just silly. Greenville has low unemployment and some of the best schools in SC. My kids went to these "sucky" schools, both scored over 1400 on the old SAT scale, and were accepted in some of the best liberal arts schools in the country. My daughter graduated as a history major in 2004 and is now in Greenville making a very good salary as a business analyst for a very large insurance company. I am an agnostic/unitarian, and moved here in 1980 from Pennsylvania. Most of the people in the high growth areas of the county moved in from somewhere besides the southeast. Most of the people on these boards singing the praises of Greenville came from somewhere "up north". I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience, but please don't generalize.
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Old 08-07-2007, 01:43 PM
 
Location: Kingston, MA
51 posts, read 169,657 times
Reputation: 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by RCfromGreenville View Post
This is just silly. Greenville has low unemployment and some of the best schools in SC. My kids went to these "sucky" schools, both scored over 1400 on the old SAT scale, and were accepted in some of the best liberal arts schools in the country. My daughter graduated as a history major in 2004 and is now in Greenville making a very good salary as a business analyst for a very large insurance company. I am an agnostic/unitarian, and moved here in 1980 from Pennsylvania. Most of the people in the high growth areas of the county moved in from somewhere besides the southeast. Most of the people on these boards singing the praises of Greenville came from somewhere "up north". I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience, but please don't generalize.
I, too, was taken aback by the negative comments. Don't see too many on this board. As someone considering the area, and yes from up North, I have concerns too, but most have been addressed on the forum. Others when we visit the weekend of Aug 18th. And still others probably not till we actually relocate. Jobs, of course, are a concern. RC, you comment on your daughters employement with a large insurance company. I'm in the insurance industry (medical), but had not seen much for companies down that way. Any that you are aware of would be most helpful
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Old 08-07-2007, 07:58 PM
 
Location: Greer, SC
83 posts, read 482,832 times
Reputation: 69
Liberty Life Insurance is a small regional company now owned by Royal Bank of Canada. Depending on your particular specialty, there could be some opportunities there. What was at one point Liberty Life's back office became Liberty Insurance Services in the 1990s, and one of the largest providers of life insurance business process outsourcing in the country. Royal Bank of Canada owned them for a while, then sold them to IBM. They are now IBM's Insurance Outsourcing unit. They have been eliminating more jobs (sending them to India) than creating them, but again, depending on your specialty, there could be something.

My daughter works for MetLife, which has its biggest location for software development and support for its group life and non-medical health business in Greenville. Canal Insurance company is a local P&C company with offices downtown. United HealthCare has a large software development and support center in nearby Duncan. Depending on your specialty, there could be something there. Computer Sciences has a life insurance outsourcing group in Greenville. At one point I know that they were doing a lot of work for US F&G in Baltimore - I don't know what their current situation is.

Another possibility is working for the Greenville Hospital system. That is a large, well-regarding operation, and they have a variety of jobs that someone with background in medical insurance might fit.

Good luck!
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Old 08-08-2007, 08:54 AM
 
69 posts, read 321,332 times
Reputation: 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by g-man430 View Post
Greenville is NOT progressive. We have no aquarium, amusement park, large water park, IMAX, large airport, etc. We can't get a new tower built downtown even if it was free. Everything is so slow here. The only thing we have is traffic, sprawl, pollution, etc. The only minor league sports team we have is baseball. No football, basketball, hockey, etc.

So we NEED to have more caged animals to be considered progressive?

Look at me! I put big fish in big tank! I progressive!
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Old 08-08-2007, 09:02 AM
 
Location: Kingston, MA
51 posts, read 169,657 times
Reputation: 20
Default Thanks for the Info RC

The company names you gave will be most helpful. I can check out their website for local jobs to see if anything fits my experience. I've already bumped into the Greenville Hospital system and have that on the list as a definite possibility. The hardest thing is wrapping my head around the pay scale. It's hard to know what it considered "good pay" when it is so much lower than what I make here. Of course, I know the cost of living is much less, but guess it's just going to be an adjusment thing. Thanks again for the info
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Old 08-08-2007, 09:41 AM
 
Location: Greer, SC
83 posts, read 482,832 times
Reputation: 69
Recently I was looking about moving to central NJ. One calculator I found online said that I would need to make 40% more to break even - mostly because of housing costs.
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Old 08-08-2007, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Kingston, MA
51 posts, read 169,657 times
Reputation: 20
That's actually very reassuring as housing costs will be the biggest change for us when we relocate. Paying 2,500 a month mortgage now. Looking to lower that by a whole lot! I'll have to see if I can google an income calculator like the one you mentioned.
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Old 08-08-2007, 01:23 PM
 
Location: Greer, SC
83 posts, read 482,832 times
Reputation: 69
I bought a house four years ago for $270k. Cape Cod, mbr down, formal rooms, large den, large sunroom, 2br and a huge bonus room upstairs. It is in arguably the best school district (Buena Vista Elem, Riverside Middle, Riverside High), in a very nice neighborhood, and has a beautiful landscaped lot. Two car garage with separate storage room. Two attics. Three zones of heating and air. The house was built in 1991. It has 3800 square feet. It would probably sell now for about $300k at the most. The feedback I've gotten from some of my New Jersey friends who have seen the house is that it would be three times that or more in central NJ. My monthly payment, including taxes and insurance, is less than $1500.

There have been a lot of new houses built in the Greenville area over the past few years. You pay a bit of a premium for a new house. The best buys are in houses that are a few years old, but still in very good shape. Prices on those houses are a bit depressed because there are so many new houses to choose from.

Gasoline is about 30 or 40 cents a gallon less than the northeast. You will pay property taxes on cars and boats, and that can be a good bit for a really nice car. You pay sales taxes on purchasing a car, but that is capped at $300. I think most other costs are comparable to other parts of the country, so the biggest difference is housing.
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Old 08-08-2007, 06:10 PM
 
Location: Greenville, SC
11,689 posts, read 24,645,722 times
Reputation: 3429
Quote:
Originally Posted by ILMK View Post
So we NEED to have more caged animals to be considered progressive?

Look at me! I put big fish in big tank! I progressive!
Yes, a water park and an IMAX involve caging animals. It would be like Finding Nemo.
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Old 08-09-2007, 07:23 AM
 
Location: Kingston, MA
51 posts, read 169,657 times
Reputation: 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by RCfromGreenville View Post
I bought a house four years ago for $270k. Cape Cod, mbr down, formal rooms, large den, large sunroom, 2br and a huge bonus room upstairs. It is in arguably the best school district (Buena Vista Elem, Riverside Middle, Riverside High), in a very nice neighborhood, and has a beautiful landscaped lot. Two car garage with separate storage room. Two attics. Three zones of heating and air. The house was built in 1991. It has 3800 square feet. It would probably sell now for about $300k at the most. The feedback I've gotten from some of my New Jersey friends who have seen the house is that it would be three times that or more in central NJ. My monthly payment, including taxes and insurance, is less than $1500.

There have been a lot of new houses built in the Greenville area over the past few years. You pay a bit of a premium for a new house. The best buys are in houses that are a few years old, but still in very good shape. Prices on those houses are a bit depressed because there are so many new houses to choose from.

Gasoline is about 30 or 40 cents a gallon less than the northeast. You will pay property taxes on cars and boats, and that can be a good bit for a really nice car. You pay sales taxes on purchasing a car, but that is capped at $300. I think most other costs are comparable to other parts of the country, so the biggest difference is housing.
The difference in housing costs is going to be the biggest change for the better, and for a better house than we have here! Not that interested in new, but more important is not being in a cookie cutter neighborhood. Like to have a bit of space between houses.

We pay yearly taxes on all of our vehicles, campers, trailers, etc. too, so no difference there. There is no cap on sales tax for purchasing a car here. Also, the cost of utilities in this area is insane and add heating during the Winter, which for heating purposes runs October - April, sometime later! Property taxes seems to be much more reasonable in Greenville too. As you said, I'm sure most other things are comparable. Although, being an evil smoker, the cost of cigaretts will be another big difference. MA charges $1.52 tax per pack! Well, we're not known as Taxachusetts for nothin!

Appreciate your input
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