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Wife and I are classic examples of "reformed academics," high-education/low skills. We both work as office-wonks.
Problem is, we're in N. Texas, and the allergies are slowly killing my wife's lungs. It was bad, now it's worse. We've basically got to emigrate to somewhere with salt air that isn't completely unaffordable on straight-middle-class salaries. Housing won't be a huge issue, b/c we'll have the mortgate killed in about 16 months (we're extremely aggressive on it; about 80% of my take-home goes straight to the mortgage). But I'm having some difficulties coming up with strategies for a reloc that don't give my wife night-sweats, and although we've got a TON of interesting personal stuff going on, what we do for a living doesn't give us much to stand out on a resume.
I'll start the hunt in earnest at the end of the coming year -- push come to shove, we'll be able to sell the house at a loss and use that as springboard money (it's an unremarkable ranch-box in Irving), but if anybody's got a smarter-not-harder strategy, or some experience, I'd LOOOOOVE to get some opinions.
Should easily be able to pull 70-80k cash clear off the sale of house -- ought to be plenty.
First choice is Juneau area, which has up and downsides (up: ready tourist employement if timed right, down: very expensive housing).
Second would be somewhere along Gulf Coast, the wetter the better.
Third would be Washington, but I've heard COL can be a killer.
Whichever one has the highest earning potential should look for a job first. Or both of you start looking and go where the first job for either of you is. Then the other one should start looking in the same place. Moving without a job is just not smart.
Whichever one has the highest earning potential should look for a job first. Or both of you start looking and go where the first job for either of you is. Then the other one should start looking in the same place. Moving without a job is just not smart.
It's okay to do so if you have at minimum 6 months of living expenses in savings for the area you are moving into. Obviously you'd want extra cash from the sale of your home to either rent or buy a new home and use the profits from the house to cover moving expenses, setting everything up, and still have a little extra to get you through. It shouldn't be too hard to find a job within 6 months, even if both of you work for 8-10 an hour until you find something better.
It is not impossible to line up a job before moving. Recently on the Chicago sub-forum a poster related some of things that enabled him to do this successfully -- Looking for Advice About Moving to Chicago
Some of the keys are to target sectors facing if not true shortages at least a dearth of motivated / top tier candidates. You also benefit from being honest in a cover letter, I would probably not stress the allergy angle but stress that your move if motivate by a "personal reason that will keep us in the new area for the foreseeable future"... You also have to be upfront and Stste that you will cover your own expenses, and make yourself available for interviews without cost.
If you invest some time researching the sectors where your skills will be most "appreciated" I suspect you can do OK.
Should easily be able to pull 70-80k cash clear off the sale of house -- ought to be plenty.
First choice is Juneau area, which has up and downsides (up: ready tourist employement if timed right, down: very expensive housing).
Second would be somewhere along Gulf Coast, the wetter the better.
Third would be Washington, but I've heard COL can be a killer.
I'd remove Juneau from your list. COL is extreme. Not just housing. All food stuffs, hard durables, etc are shipped to the island because there are no roads connecting it to mainland AK. Outside of summer tourism, not much there except state/fed govt jobs. Currently many fed govt agencies are experiencing a hiring freeze.
Housing in WA state is high, but not extreme. Groceries aren't bad. Used to live there, used to live in Juneau. Gulf cost would be the most cost-effective of the three.
The Gulf Coast would have cheaper housing prices. Florida has unbelievable housing options right now. Lots of foreclosures and short sales. Maybe you could do a road trip, visit some areas you might like to settle, and then job hunt. You may want to check out specific allergy issues in those areas, though. Depending on what your wife is allergic to, the Gulf Coast may be as bad as Texas.
I agree that one of you should have a job in hand before you move. Even with a chunk of change in the bank after the sale of your house, the recession has taught us that jobs don't fall off of trees. Best wishes!
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