Exploring a move to Rochester (sales, how much, houses)

[HKB]

My wife and I have been talking about possibly moving to Rochester in the next year or two. Rochester would be halfway between our families, and the lower home prices and shorter commute times would really appeal to us. We are still in the exploratory stage, as a move would require several hurdles to overcome before it happened.

My wife is currently an ER nurse, and used to work in a transplant unit at Mayo before we were married. Her skills are in fairly high demand, so I'm not worried about her finding a job at Mayo. My concern is finding a job myself. I work in sales and have a B.S. in Marketing, however, I don't know if I want to stay in this field. Does anyone know if Mayo has any programs to help spouses of recruited employees find jobs? We wouldn't make a move unless I could find a relatively decent job in Rochester too.

What are typical housing prices in a nice middle class area in Rochester? Which parts of town are closest to amenities (Target, grocery stores, etc...)?We'd like to find a house in the $200k-$250k range, which would be a less expensive house than we currently have. A little background: We currently live in the Twin Cities (Hudson, WI). We bought our house new in late 2006, which I highly regret in retrospect. Unbeknownst to us at the time, we bought near the peak of the housing market. Moving now would mean that we'd probably lose a lot of money on a sale (our house is currently appraised at about $30k less than what we paid for it 2 years ago). Along with finding a job in Rochester, this is the other major hurdle we're facing.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[fromupthere]

I'm not sure on whether or not Mayo has that spouse option, but they might have something you'd be interested in. It's worth talking to them about though as they do have all sorts of programs and with over 30,000 employees in Rochester, they can help you out alot.

There's pretty much nowhere in Rochester that isn't near amenities. There are 2 Super Targets (one north, one south), 2 Super WalMarts (also north and south), there are 2 ShopKos, 1 KMart. There are 3 Hy-Vees and Cub. There are other smaller grocery stores/specialty stores as well. I don't think there's probably anywhere in Rochester where you wouldn't be just a few miles from amenities.

For the price range you are looking at, you are pretty much likely to find anything in any area of town. You'd want to look farther away from downtown to find the nicer areas (this includes all areas although you often hear negative things about SE. There are very nice parts of SE Rochester as well as NW which is the most popular.) You might also want to consider how much property you want. A lot of the developments in NW the houses are practically stacked on top of each other. There are pricier areas and areas below your range that are nice too.

I hope this helps somewhat. If you have kids or are planning to have them, that might factor into what part of town you want to look at too. Good luck with your decision.

[Ummm]

i am not aware of any spouse option at Mayo Clinic - you can always ask though. Here's the online database of job openings:
Find a Job at Mayo Clinic in Rochester if your wife is hired you are likely to get a relocation package too, she can ask HR about potential amount (I don't know what the current rate is anymore).

i don't think you'd have a problem finding a nice house in your range. we bought one last year with 3 bedrooms and 1.75 baths and 1 attached garage in a nice area with much less than $200K. mod cut