British Nanny wondering about Job Opportunities

[JMT]

Originally Posted by britgirl

Bang On !!!! mbmouse

They are the kind who hire, but where do they advertise !!!

If neither DH or I have jobs to come to then we will be limited to a house price range of $125,00 (approx) depending on how much profit we make on current house. It could be more but if the truth be known I would prefer it if his pension would cover all our bills and we didn't have to rely on a 2nd income because that way you always have a choice about working or not. We have two German Shepherds who need a decent sized yard, a neighbourhood to walk them and people don't like to rent to us, so buying may be our only choice. We have a TT we could stay in temporarily. The logistics of all this is a nightmare being so far far away, it's not like we can just pop on over for a visit, it will be costly what with flights, car hire, hotel etc....

In fact I must be insane to want to move us all over again. DH says this is the last move so it better be the right one because we can't keep on uprooting ourselves. Our move to Montana was impulsive, last minute and an adventure at the time. DH had always wanted to move out west. We threw a map of the western half of the USA and threw a dart. We said we would go to the state we hit. We hit Montana, bought a book, mountains and scenery looked good. DH put in for his disability (took 3 monhs) 2 days after he received the news we put the house on the market and 2 days after that we had a full cash offer, 30 days later we were packed onto a moving truck and drove 5 days to Libby, Montana (Upper North West corner). WOW !! What a ride, what a lot of snow, not for me......7 months later we had camped on the Oregon Coast for a couple days to get away from the snow and thought WOW, just like Cornwall, England but on a bigger scale, I can handle this.......bigger town, more tourists, more to do...........MORE RAIN LOTS MORE RAIN WAAAAYYY TOOOO MUCH RAIN So now we want to leave...Again And here I am prattling on.....this time trying to get the guts for a major move again.

Have you thought about Asheville NC? It's smaller than Knoxville or the Tri Cities and has gobs more money than the Tri Cities (Asheville has a very presitigious private school, for example). Plus, it's less than 2 hours from Charlotte where you can fly non-stop to London.

[mbmouse]

WOW!!!!
That is some adventure! But you are smart to be doing as much research as you can with this move. In this instance I will give you the same advice as I recently gave someone else here that got a job transfer, never been here and will not be able to visit before bringing all belongings with them and needed a house. If you are hiring a moving company, see if they can store you belongings (either in the truck or at a facility) for a week or so, get a hotel (there are several here that are pet friendly) and look around the town you are thinking of, check out a few others (this can usually be done in just a day or so with a first quick look around) then spend another day really looking at the one or two you narrow it down to. Set up some appointments to see some rentals or houses. If you get prequalified (strongly) heck you can even get approved then take just a few days once you find a house to close.
I wish I did this as I moved up here after one quick visit for an interview, then we ended up in a town we didn't like and took us 3 moves to find where we were happy with everything.
Again, just a suggestion, you can take it or leave it.

[britgirl]

Originally Posted by JMT

Have you thought about Asheville NC? It's smaller than Knoxville or the Tri Cities and has gobs more money than the Tri Cities (Asheville has a very presitigious private school, for example). Plus, it's less than 2 hours from Charlotte where you can fly non-stop to London.

Isn't Asheville a wee bit spendy when it comes to buying a house. I also did a search for flights from Charlotte. I never knew there were direct flights from there. You are awesome, thanks. It certainly puts a whole new spin on things as my DH loves NC and visited a lot as a child. Asheville though might cost us too much

[britgirl]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

WOW!!!!
That is some adventure! But you are smart to be doing as much research as you can with this move. In this instance I will give you the same advice as I recently gave someone else here that got a job transfer, never been here and will not be able to visit before bringing all belongings with them and needed a house. If you are hiring a moving company, see if they can store you belongings (either in the truck or at a facility) for a week or so, get a hotel (there are several here that are pet friendly) and look around the town you are thinking of, check out a few others (this can usually be done in just a day or so with a first quick look around) then spend another day really looking at the one or two you narrow it down to. Set up some appointments to see some rentals or houses. If you get prequalified (strongly) heck you can even get approved then take just a few days once you find a house to close.
I wish I did this as I moved up here after one quick visit for an interview, then we ended up in a town we didn't like and took us 3 moves to find where we were happy with everything.
Again, just a suggestion, you can take it or leave it.

All three times our house has been for sale by previous owners it took 9 months to 1 yr for it to sell. It hadn't been touchd since 1971 but now we have completely remoldeled it even down to installing oak flooring, new windows, new insulation, brushed nickle fixtures and fittings, new paint, new landscaping this summer, granite counters, marble on the fireplace, just about everything is new except for wiring and plumbing and walls. I even scraped the popcorn ceilings myself. I am hoping it won't take as long to sell this time (as long as we price right).

You are right about doing loads of research, it's neverending..............renting will be extremely tough with two big dogs. People just don't want to rent to us, phone gets slammed down at the mere mention of what we have. I may have to fly out on my own and do some research. Ta for the input.....Where did you live the previous times that you weren't happy with and where did you ultimately end up?? Thanks

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by britgirl

.....Where did you live the previous times that you weren't happy with and where did you ultimately end up?? Thanks

First Jefferson County then Greene County. Greene was nice, just needed better schools and didn't want to have to move in town to get them, so I moved to Washington County, Love it here....can ya tell? lOL!

[hiknapster]

No one will slam the phone down here. They are very nice.

Try to get a couple of job interviews lined up before you get here, though.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by britgirl

Isn't Asheville a wee bit spendy when it comes to buying a house. I also did a search for flights from Charlotte. I never knew there were direct flights from there. You are awesome, thanks. It certainly puts a whole new spin on things as my DH loves NC and visited a lot as a child. Asheville though might cost us too much

Asheville does have its pricey neighborhoods. But then again, it tends to be the well-to-do who can afford to hire nannies. So if you want a better chance of getting a job as a nanny, you probably need to live close to people with a lot of money.

(I personally prefer the Tri Cities area, for the record.)

USAir flies non-stop from Charlotte to London and Paris. As much as I dislike USAir, they often have cheaper fares than British Airways, Air France, and Delta out of Atlanta.

[where_to_move]

I would imagine western Knoxville would be appropriate. We are still scoping out places to live, within the next few yrs, but we will want to have a nanny. We are considering Farragut, Maryville, Seqouyah Hills area....you could live more west in a smaller town then commute to one of these areas possibly???
Perhaps check out craigslist that is a good resource for child care.. it is a free web listing which should include most US cities.

[mbmouse]

Britgirl,
I am sorry, but I have found no agencies or anything that will help you here in the Tri-Cities. Everyone I talked to that would have the need for a Nanny looks over seas and sponsors someone over and has them live in.
Looks like Knoxville and those areas will be better options for work for you.
Good luck!