Job offer in Western Mass. Best way to relocate without renting?

[silverspoons]

Originally Posted by Yakscsd

LOL, I cant help but wondering if he feels the job was "cushy" or if what he did wasn't work. Most business owners wouldn't use that word to describe their 24/7/365 commitment. Many would find "doing work" to be a pleasure again after some of the hassles of business ownership.

I just wanted to address this because I was shocked at how the business world works in Utah, after growing up in Mass/NY all my life.
My husband had a salaried management job for over 15 years at what would be considered a medium size business in Utah. My husband worked 8-5 but, the culture here is if your kid has a baseball game or a dr's visit you go and get paid. It also means if a shipment comes in on Saturday you come in and open the office but you can bring your kids with you, most companies have a playroom and the kids are friends. My husband loved his management job until the owner became a bishop (Mormon). Then my husband was doing the owners job, and was almost 100% responsible for everything. Both of us had moms that got sick, one went on hospice and then I got sick and my husband and I talked and said why should you run someone else's company while they collect the profits for a salary? My husband really like one department and I said start a business on that one area and he did.
Starting a business here was easy. within 6 months he was making the same amount in profit as he was in management salary.
While I call his Utah business ownership cushy is because he has lots of flexible free time and now 4 years later makes more then his salaried job. This is one aspect that I doubt happens in most cities, NO ONE works on sunday in my husband line of work, and rarely does anyone work after 5pm or Saturdays. While my husband is technically on call 24/7/365 he makes more on a sunday working maybe 4-5 hours then they average person makes in a week. His business grew so fast because some many people have moved here from out of state or need service on a weekend or evening and he is the only provider. My husband rarely takes a day off, maybe 5 days in the last 4 years, but he has been able to enjoy watching our kids grow up, walking them to and from school, being at every game, coaching their teams, and has time for hobbies like restoring an old car, golf, mountain biking. Of course his phone is at his hip at all times.

Cost of doing business is low. He could sell his phone numbers and clients. He is great at predicting and knowing the amount of inventory he needs so he would not have a lot to sell off. he would sell off one of the trucks and he does have advertising and a very good lease ($200 a month for a warehouse and offices).

Taking either job In Mass or Ct would mean 8-5 at least, plus travel time to work and maybe more physical labor involved as he might wear several hats again. I was just saying that the quality of life in this area of Utah is so bad (for kids especially) that my husband is willing to give up a job that affords us a comfortable life, that yes maybe he has a phone and is on call 24/7 but actually works 30 hours a week and has virtually no commute.

[silverspoons]

Originally Posted by KellyCrash

Good thing summer is coming up. You'll have some time between school starting back. Many towns don't start school here till after Labor Day. Although some start before.

I think the key here is finding a bank that will give you a loan based off of his current salary that will perhaps will take an offer letter from the new employer with salary? I would find a realtor that can help you do this here in MA. They should be able to do some leg work.

There is much more housing availability in the Spring & Summer. Houses are for sale all year long of course like anywhere else, but people tend to move in the summer when school is out. There is always more available in the warmer months.

What towns are you interested in?

Here is my million dollar question, which towns? I grew up in Longmeadow so I seem to end up comparing everywhere I look at Longmeadow. My 2 concerns are good schools and safety. My husband built his first house himself from the ground up so he can certainly do some work on an older home, we might actually prefer making a home our own instead of the same granite and back splashes and colors I see on 8 out of 10 remodeled listings.

Every town I look at I come back to longmeadow. I saw that house in south Hadley is only $225 cheaper a month and I don't like the schools as much, or the house in East Longmeadow is $175 a month cheaper but the yard is smaller. I'm not even sure Longmeadow is a good fit school wise for my kids. My daughter is top dog here(like wins every contest/award), but girls are not that competitive and the school though very highly rated in Utah I think is a joke compared to most average rated Mass. schools. My son has straight A's in high school but high school is weird here. I have never seen homework or a book read (and my child is in regular and honors classes at one of the top 5 high schools in Utah, I think top 2 this year). They do this A/B day so classes are 114 minutes and only go to class every other day. The teacher teaches for an hour and then kids do homework for the next 54 minutes. They also have religion in public schools so my child is not Mormon so my child has an extra 114 every other day to go work with a teacher on an assignment, retake a test, or do extra credit. Also if any grade slips below an A , my husband and I get a text and email. If it is below a B a bright colored paper is on my front door, a C and the principal be calling or visiting. It is really hard to fall through the cracks. A good example is my child hated one of the common core math units. I emailed the principal who was formally a math teacher and within 10 minutes he pulled my child out of class, personally worked with my child for 20 minutes before the test and my child took the test and the principal emailed me that my child got a 100 and was happy to help(and this is not a small school over 500 kids per grade and one principal).

Two ways of showing the way the school operates. My child plays an instrument, by ear. I love my child but they are no musician. I questioned if they should be in the high school program. I was told this is how grading works, your child shows up everyday, partciapates in class, goes to all performances dressed in formal dress and plays their best and does 2 solos for the teacher(not in front of the class) and if they complete that they get an A. I'm not sure this is normal grading? We have a neighbor who plays the same instrument as my child but has been doing it for 12 years and is awesome and she gets the same A, yet she spends hours practicing.
The clear indication to me was my child took the ACT practice test. I know my child is great at math, good at science and language arts is the hardest. My child has always had a straight A report card. The latest ACT came back 98% math 92% science and 44% language arts and I believe this is more accurate of my child then the straight A's.

As for housing itself I'm willing to downsize a lot. I have a 6 bedroom 4 bath home here with multiple floors. I don't even use most of the rooms. I just want to be somewhere safe that has rules that are enforced about neighborhood rules. Here in the nicest neighborhoods anyone can just run any type of business out of their home or rent out their 5-6 bedroom home to 5-6 roommates. I have a pretty serious illness and I just want some quiet, safety and peace and the ability on my good days to do more the eat out or go to a movie. I would like a town that has a few stores, maybe a pharmacy , small grocery store, gas station and to have some better shopping/eating 15 minutes away is fine. There are only 6 places that have experts on my condition and BU is one of them so I would be going there for medical care. Currently I go to the Mayo clinic which is 850 miles trip so anywhere I live in Mass, BU will be much closer then my current journey.

I asked my kids and husband when they were the happiest and it was when we lived in a small brick condo in a safe wooded area with a stream in northern Utah for a year. It was nothing fancy. the school district was very small. There were lots of small shops and unique activites in the area and more diversity. I would actually be okay with a condo or townhouse but I see so few for rent or for sale.

[gf2020]

Where, exactly, is the job located that your husband has accepted? That should really be a factor in where you choose to live.

In terms of towns in the Greater Hartford and Springfield area that offer good schools and easier access to Boston, I would recommend Tolland, CT, in addition to Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, Wilbraham and Hampden, MA.

[RiverBird]

The best place in the state is Westford. Best schools. Pricey to live there, but if you can afford it, it's also a terrific location, close to Boston.

[in_newengland]

If you grew up in Longmeadow you know about towns like Somers, Suffield, Granby, etc. in northern CT. I always loved Somers for its beauty. They are all safe, quiet towns and I think CT has better schools, on the average, than most MA towns.

Hampden, Wilbraham, E. Longmeadow, Longmeadow for MA--all nice towns with good schools.

I just went back to visit Longmeadow and nothing has changed. That may be a good thing or a bad thing. I don't think I saw any condos there. If you are thinking condo you won't find many in those suburban towns. There are some in Wilbraham but I don't know anything about them. You could check out the northern CT towns too. As long as you are near enough to the Mass Pike getting to Boston shouldn't be too much of a problem.