Boston to Phoenix, would it work for me? (Scottsdale, Chandler: renting, mortgage)

[Bamtown]

About me:

I'm a single, white male, late 20's working professional. I work in IT and I make around six figures in the Boston area right now. I'm currently renting and I've built up 100k+ in savings over the years to purchase a home.


Why I want to leave:

I've lived in Massachusetts for my entire life and I'm finally tired of the rain, snow, cold, flooding and constant overcast for 8 months out of the year. In short, it's time for something different.

When I was originally looking to leave, only one place came to mind and that was San Diego. However, I quickly found out that the income and housing in that city was grossly disproportionate. You would have to be a multi-millionaire or a person that doesn't mind being neck deep in debt in order to live there. Their job market is also terrible at the moment.

I wanted to move to a place that was more sunny than Boston, but I can't stand humidity, so Florida and Texas were out. I thought my search was over, until I realized that I forgot all about Phoenix.


Phoenix? Why not?:

At this stage in my life, I think it's time to buy a house and look into settling down. Massachusetts has a very old and poorly maintained housing infrastructure. If you want to own a house in a semi-decent area near Boston, you're looking at $350k to buy and then another $100k to make it livable. It's insane and I don't want to be paying off a mortgage until I'm in my 60's.

Phoenix seems to have much cheaper housing prices and a more reasonable cost of living. The job market obviously doesn't compare to what's available in Boston, but it still looks decent compared to some other places. I looked at many jobs that were centered around my career path and the average salary seemed to be around 80k-90k. This is ok for Phoenix, right?


Climate:

Let's not ignore the elephant in the room. I've been reading around on this forum and I see people talking about how they have to stay indoors for six months a year to avoid the 100+ degree heat. That sounded horrific to me, until I realized that I do the same thing to get away from the constant cold and rain that plagues Boston seven months out of the year.

I'm fairly pale and tend to stay out of the direct sun, so it didn't sound like Phoenix was a good match for me. But, I LOVE dry heat. It's 95/sunny/dry in Boston right now and I'm sitting on my patio with some iced tea while I'm writing this post. If it was like this year round, I don't think I'd mind this place as much.

I'm also a homebody. Unlike most people, I love being indoors and chilling in my house. I enjoy going for a walk or doing some hiking every now and then, but I like to spend the vast majority of my time at home doing stuff on my computer or working out.

Where to live?:

This brings me to my last section. If I was going to move to Phoenix, where should I live? I'm looking for newer housing that's somewhat close to downtown. Boston has a lot of traffic. On some days it can take 30 minutes to go one mile. I'm reading that Phoenix doesn't seem to be much different, but obviously location matters.

Are most of your IT jobs are located in downtown Phoenix? I am not sure where your corporations are located. If someone could let me know, I'd appreciate it.

I don't want to spend more than $300k on a house. I was looking at Scottsdale, but the housing seems a little overpriced and the infrastructure seems older. Chandler seems like it's too far away from downtown.

I don't mind diversity at all, but I also don't want to live with a bunch of gangbangers. I want to feel safe at night, like everyone else. Peace of mind is important to me.

Laveen seemed to be the only place that matched what I was looking for in terms of housing and location. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like such a great place to live after reading this forum. Some people say it's great and they have no issues, but other people say there's a lot of burglaries, shootings, vandalism, etc. Does anyone have more info on this place?

Anyways, thanks for reading and any advice is appreciated. Please don't worry about being politically correct with me. I'm from Boston and I have a thick skin. Feel free to tell me if I'm being a naive idiot or if a certain area of Phoenix is more ghetto than another one.

[AZJoeD]

Yes it can work for you if:

You decide not to bring Boston with you. It is remarkable how many people want to relocate here to the valley, but they want everything (maybe weather excepted) to be just like it was back home. It will not be the same. If you decide to come, decide to adapt.

As for your career; You make $100K+ back east. You can kiss that goodbye I think you will lucky if you can find an equivalent position here that pays $60K. Defiantly most of the IT jobs will be in the Central Phoenix, Tempe area however there are some significant pockets of IT in North Scottsdale (Go Daddy, Vanguard, JDA, AMEX just to name a few).

You will get used to the climate. Staying out of the sun is no easy task here, but since you will be working inside most of the time you will likely be OK. Again do not expect green grass, trees, rivers and lakes unless you live on a golf course.

As for where to live. There is affordable housing all over the valley. Yes, even in Scottsdale (despite what you might read on this forum). I would not pick a place to live until I know where my work is going to be. The valley is VERY spread out you could easily add an additional 20 miles to your commute just by picking east Chandler vs west Chandler or south Scottsdale vs north Scottsdale (that would be the be the equivalent of commuting Framingham to Boston).

[Ritchie_az]

First, the best advice is to not come until you have a job lined up.

Second, I'll ditto AZjoeD's advice:

You decide not to bring Boston with you. It is remarkable how many people want to relocate here to the valley, but they want everything (maybe weather excepted) to be just like it was back home. It will not be the same. If you decide to come, decide to adapt.

Third, it's really hot here... for three to three-and-a-half months, and not six. The rest of the year the weather is great!

Fourth, where you will work will be (or should be) the #1 factor in where you will live. There are great areas across the valley.

Fifth, Boston has worse traffic than Phoenix, but not by much. Boston has the 12th worst traffic in the U.S. and Phoenix has the 16th worst traffic.

Sixth, Laveen is ok... there are better and worse areas within Laveen. Depending on where you work, there are several cities that could be better choices.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by AZJoeD

As for your career; You make $100K+ back east. You can kiss that goodbye I think you will lucky if you can find an equivalent position here that pays $60K.

Well, my wife is in IT and makes well into the 6 figures, as do most of her colleagues and former colleague, so it's not impossible. 60K is way low, if you are any good with any experience. She works for a company in Tempe, and she has had others try to hire her away. Maybe a way to enter the market is to work for a consultant. I know she has one consultant that works with her, does the same type of work, and he has a $200k+/year income and a $1.3 million house in North Scottsdale, so the money is possible.

[Ponderosa]

A six figure income is possible in Phoenix if you include the decimal places.

[Ritchie_az]

A six figure income is possible in Phoenix if you include the decimal places.

Lot's of people make six figures in Phoenix. Just lot's more don't.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

A six figure income is possible in Phoenix if you include the decimal places.

Phoenix was ranked in the top 10 of all cities with people earning 200,000 or more. Just because many on this forum is out of a job don't assume the rest of Phoenix is in the same predicament.

[maggiekate]

stay put and count your star for a job now, Boston also is not so bad!
Cold etc., spend the money on a vacation to a warm place a cruise etc. Also visit AZ to get the feel
B4 you do a move without income. Boston also does have good public t service for you.

[Zathras]

I recommend visiting a time or two before you move out here. That will allow you to get the lay of the land and start figuring out where you want to live. It's always better to find a job before moving, but it sounds like you have a good savings built up, so you may be able to risk it.

If you come this time of year you get exposure to the worst the area has to offer, climate wise.

We just made the move from Ohio 4 weeks ago and couldn't be happier. Good luck!

[Mares84]

Originally Posted by maggiekate

stay put and count your star for a job now, Boston also is not so bad!
Cold etc., spend the money on a vacation to a warm place a cruise etc. Also visit AZ to get the feel
B4 you do a move without income. Boston also does have good public t service for you.

He doesn't want a vacation. He wants to move.

I would visit first, make sure you get a job here. Maybe when you come out for interviews give yourself time for exploring some different neighborhoods. My husband and I just came from Mich. We are a young couple and we are renting first to find out where we want to end up in the area. So I would suggest renting too and then settling after you know the area better. Good luck, it looks like you have taken a lot into consideration.