thinking moving from ny to sa (Houston, Dallas: for sale, health insurance, houses)

[faithalexis]

how's the job opportunity for legal secretaries?
how's the cost of living?

can a single person afford to live there?

thanks

[SanAntoQT]

Originally Posted by faithalexis

how's the job opportunity for legal secretaries?
how's the cost of living?

can a single person afford to live there?

thanks

Having been a litigation legal secretary in San Antonio, I would say your best bet would be to go through a temp agency geared towards servicing the legal community. At $21.50/per hour when I left SA, I was able to support myself and two children on a legal secretary's wages and didn't have major financial issues. As a legal secretary, you can make a fairly decent living, depending on the type of law and size of firm. Personally, I would never work for a solo practitioner again. I did that for six months and it was disastrous.

[ShaneSA]

If your living in NYC, then you can definitly afford living in SA. You may make less money, but still make enough to have a decent comfortable life. I don't know the average pay rate, I do know the cost of living is much less. The previous poster probably answered that part of your question.

[faithalexis]

thanks so much for your replies.

i have always liked pictures of SA online and looked at houses for sale. i am thinking of selling my house here and buy a modest house there and work part-time as legal secretary to have some kind of income and health insurance. i really would like would like to retire but still have at least 10 years to go - i am just tired!

one more thing - can tropical plants like oranges and mango survive in SA? that's what i long for is to garden all day.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by faithalexis

thanks so much for your replies.

i have always liked pictures of SA online and looked at houses for sale. i am thinking of selling my house here and buy a modest house there and work part-time as legal secretary to have some kind of income and health insurance. i really would like would like to retire but still have at least 10 years to go - i am just tired!

one more thing - can tropical plants like oranges and mango survive in SA? that's what i long for is to garden all day.

Gardening all day? In SA heat?? Hehe.

[SanAntoQT]

Originally Posted by faithalexis

thanks so much for your replies.

i have always liked pictures of SA online and looked at houses for sale. i am thinking of selling my house here and buy a modest house there and work part-time as legal secretary to have some kind of income and health insurance. i really would like would like to retire but still have at least 10 years to go - i am just tired!

one more thing - can tropical plants like oranges and mango survive in SA? that's what i long for is to garden all day.

If you work part-time, you can pretty much forget about having health insurance through your employer. That benefit is usually only provided to full-time employees. If I remember correctly, though, if you go through a temp agency and work a certain number of hours, I think the agency provides some sort of health benefits.

I know someone who has grapefruit trees growing in their yard, so I think oranges will do well. I don't know about mangos, though. Mmmmm...I love mangos...but I'm allergic.

[AnthonySA]

Althought I cannot comment about how the job outlook for legal secretaries are in San Antonio, I know that we have a relatively low unemployment rate. Our economy is going strong and the cost of living is indeed much lower than NYC.

As far as tropical plants go, we do support palm trees and citrus. I have seen orange and grapefruit trees grow successfully here. We do endure occasional hard freezes in the winter time, so you may want to consult some experts on what to do to protect tropical plants from the cold.

Other than that, you should have no problem adapting to the city of San Antonio. I hope all goes well

[TexasWeatherman]

San Antonio...why would anyone want to move to San Antonio? Not very crowded. Too many nice people. Nice drivers. Natural resources that aren't too strained by the population - at least until the next 1950s style drought.

No doubt a New Yorker would suffer from agorophobia here. Move along. Nothing to see here. Try Houston, Dallas, or Austin.

[mmac12]

I also moved form NYC 2yrs ago am single, worked in a malprractice law firm and was able to retire here!! I love San Antonio, the people, weather the sun and being able to be outside almost every day!