Young man considering Houston (Dallas, San Antonio: real estate, homes, employment)

[Manimarco]

I have a few more questions....

- Did my salary expectations look reasonable given my background (Average gpa, Finance major w/ Supply Chain emphasis, BIG 10 school, would be VERY happy with 40k a year). If it matters I am a good interviewer and can hold a conversation with anyone.

- Do the cheap housing prices translate into cheaper rent? I am looking to live in the city. Even though Houston is not very urban -which I like- I would like to live in an apartment in one of the more urban areas. It would be really sweet if they had any that were in a taller building.

-I do not mind driving if I can go to multiple locations every time I park. I would rather not have to drive to literally every single place I go to. I am assuming a lot of the restaurants, bars, stores etc are near each other.

-Does the city offer opportunity besides jobs. By that I mean, if I had to choose a city where i eventually wanted to try to make it on my own, would Houston be a good choice for that?

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by Manimarco

I have a few more questions....

- Did my salary expectations look reasonable given my background (Average gpa, Finance major w/ Supply Chain emphasis, BIG 10 school, would be VERY happy with 40k a year). If it matters I am a good interviewer and can hold a conversation with anyone.

- Do the cheap housing prices translate into cheaper rent? I am looking to live in the city. Even though Houston is not very urban -which I like- I would like to live in an apartment in one of the more urban areas. It would be really sweet if they had any that were in a taller building.

-I do not mind driving if I can go to multiple locations every time I park. I would rather not have to drive to literally every single place I go to. I am assuming a lot of the restaurants, bars, stores etc are near each other.

-Does the city offer opportunity besides jobs. By that I mean, if I had to choose a city where i eventually wanted to try to make it on my own, would Houston be a good choice for that?

1. Sounds reasonable to me, but I'm not in your industry so hopefully someone else will answer for you.

2. Rent is cheaper here compared to NYC, Chicago, and LA, definitely. Nice apartments here will still cost you a pretty penny however, especially if you want one in the city and in a taller building.

3. Yes, there are pockets of the city that can be explored on foot as long as you can get there by car.

4. Yes, it's easier to start your own business here and the regulations are less than in other cities (unless you're a food truck).

[grownmanstatus313]

Originally Posted by manimarco

i have a few more questions....

- did my salary expectations look reasonable given my background (average gpa, finance major w/ supply chain emphasis, big 10 school, would be very happy with 40k a year). If it matters i am a good interviewer and can hold a conversation with anyone.

- do the cheap housing prices translate into cheaper rent? I am looking to live in the city. Even though houston is not very urban -which i like- i would like to live in an apartment in one of the more urban areas. It would be really sweet if they had any that were in a taller building.

-i do not mind driving if i can go to multiple locations every time i park. I would rather not have to drive to literally every single place i go to. I am assuming a lot of the restaurants, bars, stores etc are near each other.

-does the city offer opportunity besides jobs. By that i mean, if i had to choose a city where i eventually wanted to try to make it on my own, would houston be a good choice for that?

i see youre on the same page as me lol. Im from michigan and will be relocating to houston in june/july. I have ran my course in michigan (29yrs). Its time to go somewhere nice, hot, great job opportunities, diverse culture, beautiful women, basically start a new chapter in my life..no kids, got my degree in management information systems..and enjoy my life. I have imma say 9 months of saving money ready..i have one uncle who stays in katy, tx which he told me that katy is the suburbs to houston like bloomfield hills to detroit..im lookin at moving in katy tx which is 20-25 mins away from houston..i have some interviewers coming up so hopefully things fall into plan..i want to start off making minimum 35k salary which i dont think is bad at all.. Alot of jobs call me to start right away but the only problem is i cant just drop everything here and work the next day in houston..thats my only issue i have..i try to setup a video call interviews from these jobs but no luck..very stressful on that aspect..

[Marlin84]

Originally Posted by grownmanstatus313

im lookin at moving in katy tx which is 20-25 mins away from houston.

Be very careful with this assumption. I've never made it to Houston (downtown) in 20-25 minutes from Katy, even without traffic.

[grownmanstatus313]

Originally Posted by Marlin84

Be very careful with this assumption. I've never made it to Houston (downtown) in 20-25 minutes from Katy, even without traffic.

OHHH wow..ok ill talk to him about that..thanks for the heads up

[Spade]

Originally Posted by grownmanstatus313

i see youre on the same page as me lol. Im from michigan and will be relocating to houston in june/july. I have ran my course in michigan (29yrs). Its time to go somewhere nice, hot, great job opportunities, diverse culture, beautiful women, basically start a new chapter in my life..no kids, got my degree in management information systems..and enjoy my life. I have imma say 9 months of saving money ready..i have one uncle who stays in katy, tx which he told me that katy is the suburbs to houston like bloomfield hills to detroit..im lookin at moving in katy tx which is 20-25 mins away from houston..i have some interviewers coming up so hopefully things fall into plan..i want to start off making minimum 35k salary which i dont think is bad at all.. Alot of jobs call me to start right away but the only problem is i cant just drop everything here and work the next day in houston..thats my only issue i have..i try to setup a video call interviews from these jobs but no luck..very stressful on that aspect..

Good luck man.

[grownmanstatus313]

Originally Posted by Spade

Good luck man.

thanks man...just need that one phone call then im out ASAP lol

[winkosmosis]

What you're looking for isn't Houston. As a young person that wants to live the city life, Houston is a very difficult place to do that. There are fewer good urban neighborhoods than other cities, the ones that do exist have less in the way of restaurants and bars (and they tend to close after short periods), those neighborhoods are expensive, and public transit is severely lacking. Look at Dallas and Austin.

BTW the weather is not that great. Winter in Houston is downright gloomy. I was really depressed this past winter. I have no idea where this myth about Houston being full of sunshine came from--- a lot of people seem to confuse it with LA.

[houstan-dan]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

What you're looking for isn't Houston. As a young person that wants to live the city life, Houston is a very difficult place to do that. There are fewer good urban neighborhoods than other cities, the ones that do exist have less in the way of restaurants and bars (and they tend to close after short periods), those neighborhoods are expensive, and public transit is severely lacking. Look at Dallas and Austin.

BTW the weather is not that great. Winter in Houston is downright gloomy. I was really depressed this past winter. I have no idea where this myth about Houston being full of sunshine came from--- a lot of people seem to confuse it with LA.

I agree with the first paragraph for sure. If you want to live in the nice urban areas expect to pay at least $1000/mo+, at least from what I've found. Toss in your utilities on top of that and it would be incredibly difficult to live in one of the more urban/nicer areas on 40k a year.

40k is going to end up taking home around 2400ish/mo after taxes. Putting half of that towards rent would probably not be a good idea and could be pretty difficult. You don't want to be so stretched every month that after rent you don't even have money left over to enjoy the things in the nice area that you're living in. The biggest thing will be finding out where you will work and finding something close if possible so your commute isn't terrible. Depending where you live in Houston, the commuting isn't bad. I live on the SW side of Houston and work in Channelview. It's 28 miles and I've made it in 28 minutes before. To get home usually takes 30-40 minutes. Not bad at all and beats living in Channelview. More to do over here and closer to the gym I like, mall, etc.

[Manimarco]

Originally Posted by houstan-dan

I agree with the first paragraph for sure. If you want to live in the nice urban areas expect to pay at least $1000/mo+, at least from what I've found. Toss in your utilities on top of that and it would be incredibly difficult to live in one of the more urban/nicer areas on 40k a year.

40k is going to end up taking home around 2400ish/mo after taxes. Putting half of that towards rent would probably not be a good idea and could be pretty difficult. You don't want to be so stretched every month that after rent you don't even have money left over to enjoy the things in the nice area that you're living in. The biggest thing will be finding out where you will work and finding something close if possible so your commute isn't terrible. Depending where you live in Houston, the commuting isn't bad. I live on the SW side of Houston and work in Channelview. It's 28 miles and I've made it in 28 minutes before. To get home usually takes 30-40 minutes. Not bad at all and beats living in Channelview. More to do over here and closer to the gym I like, mall, etc.

Yea I am definitely not looking to pay 1000 a month (I was thinking 7 hundred). If the only places one could find a reasonable apartment at a reasonable price are very far from the city/work, that would be a huge problem for me. To the point where I would rule out the city. My definition of "urban" is very lenient though. I am definitely not expecting it to look anything close to Chicago. But at the same time I don't want to feel like I am living the life of a 45 year old guy with kids when I am 23 and single.

There has to be some middle ground between the best spots in the city and the suburbs miles and miles away. Right? I don't need a place where everything is walking distance by any means.