I can’t get to Florida fast enough!! (Sarasota, Siesta Key: buyers, school)

[SirenSong71]

Zara...it WILL happen for you! You have such a great attitude...it will definitely see you through. I know exactly what you're going through...I've gone through it before and I will most likely go through it again next year...we're planning to move to Florida as well, in 2010. My hubby works for a company who's main headquarters is in Melbourne...not where I want to live but I know people who live in Sebastian and love it...so if that works out we'll probably move there. Though I must admit, I'm dreaming of the west coast...New Port Richey area. We'll see where God leads us.

God luck to you and your family...I have little ones too and sold a house last year...it is SO hard to keep the house neat and ready when you have kids! NOT fun!

[ZaraZoteBuccaneer]

Originally Posted by ZaraZoteBuccaneer

Actually it's Sarasotajobs.net - sorry for anyone I may have mislead in their own search!...

I've had some more job opportunities pop up recently and I wanted to collaborate about job search sites in general. It's definitely a bitter-sweet experience working with all these websites. So much junk mail, so much profile maintenance, and some don't take enough MB or KB to upload doc's, all the login's and passwords and formats... it's enough to make me scream sometimes. I've created accounts through places such as...

• Sarasotajobs.net
• Jobs.com
• JobFocus.com
• CareerBuilder.com
• Monster.com
• AdministrativeJobs.com
• YahooHotJobs and the Tampa Tribune employment section
• SaintGobain
• various individual companies such as Lockheed Martin

...the list goes on....

but you know the best one I've found now is...
simplyhired.com check it out! There's alot on there.

(Hope I didn't just infringe on any City Data policy)

[Big House]

Originally Posted by ZaraZoteBuccaneer

I've had some more job opportunities pop up recently and I wanted to collaborate about job search sites in general. It's definitely a bitter-sweet experience working with all these websites. So much junk mail, so much profile maintenance, and some don't take enough MB or KB to upload doc's, all the login's and passwords and formats... it's enough to make me scream sometimes. I've created accounts through places such as...

• Sarasotajobs.net
• Jobs.com
• JobFocus.com
• CareerBuilder.com
• Monster.com
• AdministrativeJobs.com
• YahooHotJobs and the Tampa Tribune employment section
• SaintGobain
• various individual companies such as Lockheed Martin

...the list goes on....

but you know the best one I've found now is...
simplyhired.com check it out! There's alot on there.

(Hope I didn't just infringe on any City Data policy)

Nice Post! I just gave you a rep point for that! There are a lot of people looking for a job, and trying to make something happen! A cooperative effort, learning from othere experience discussion, will certainly help that process for you and others.

[applesoranges]

Originally Posted by beachbum wannabe

Hey ZZB,Do You mind if I do my whining on your thread. I'm just about at wits end with trying to sell my house too! We had several potential buyers the first month to 2 months and then nothing! Lowered the price 2 times already, offered to throw in all appliances plus all yard maintenance equipment (ie: lawn tractor with all attatchments, trim mower, wheelbarrow,extension ladder,etc.,etc.,etc.!You get the idea and still not even an offer of any kind,even after they tell us how much they just love the house after a tour. What the hell gives! By the way I am now officially into my first week of retirement, and we are ready to pack up and go at a moments notice. Somebody please say a prayer and wish us good luck, cause we're stuck in New York until the place is sold!

Beachbum, Zara, 5 years ago, we had a very hard time selling our home. It was on a busy street, so the traffic noise was a big hinderence. Finally, our realtor told us we should offer a "bonus" to the realtor that sells our house, anywhere from $500 to $2000. Only realtors would see this on the MLS listings, not buyers, so we offered $2000 and sold it in two weeks! The realtor that sold it, was determined to get that bonus and you should have heard her sales pitch. It worked!

[ZaraZoteBuccaneer]

Thanks applesoranges, maybe beachbum wannabe can take you up on your idea,
I don't think I can as I'm not exactly using a realtor. We went with a cheap package that only helps us along. The house is listed and tied to every possible real estate website, with the photos, advertising, 24 hour call center for scheduling showings and even a possibility for open house represenation. But we're kinda doing it ourselves without a realtor working the field.
My mom is also a real estate agent (this brings up another story for an entirely different time)- she was just too expensive for me to use compared to what we are doing... and she recommended the way we're going over paying her broker and her boss. If it works, then I think I have more bargaining power at the table to pay for something or negotiate down and still hit my sweet spot.

Thanks for the great tip though

Oh, and by the way everyone, we have another showing tonight. Finally.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by ZaraZoteBuccaneer

Thanks applesoranges, maybe beachbum wannabe can take you up on your idea,
I don't think I can as I'm not exactly using a realtor. We went with a cheap package that only helps us along. The house is listed and tied to every possible real estate website, with the photos, advertising, 24 hour call center for scheduling showings and even a possibility for open house represenation. But we're kinda doing it ourselves without a realtor working the field.
My mom is also a real estate agent (this brings up another story for an entirely different time)- she was just too expensive for me to use compared to what we are doing... and she recommended the way we're going over paying her broker and her boss. If it works, then I think I have more bargaining power at the table to pay for something or negotiate down and still hit my sweet spot.

Thanks for the great tip though

Oh, and by the way everyone, we have another showing tonight. Finally.

Good Luck! - How'd the showing go?

[ZaraZoteBuccaneer]

Originally Posted by Big House

Good Luck! - How'd the showing go?

Great! We actually had comments sent back to us this time around - said it was a possibility for them, they liked the house and the lot.

Everything has been packed up except the day-to-day stuff so if it goes through then all I need is a response on the job search and the hard part's over (IMO). Still have about 5-6 applications out there on active postings without any responses yet.

If you want to see some pic's of our place, I'll try to get them into my profile page as an album...

[mrcoolmrcool28]

Glad to hear it Buc!! Good luck to you. I hope we do as well if/when we decide to sell.

[ZaraZoteBuccaneer]

Well I got those pics of my house up on my profile - but you have to be my friend to see them

As for the house and the job situation Nothing has panned out and no further showings since either.... there's people all over my area that are starting to pull off the market but we're staying on. I'm also not seeing any new jobs coming up in this past month. Man is it slow down there!!! I'm looking from Clearwater to Port Charlotte and there's not much for me to find.

I'm going through huge emotions again - sorry - I must sound like such a dweeb. A guy in his 30's and he's getting all teary-eyed because he can't get to the beach.... but the problem is that now I'm dangerously close to everything I wanted to avoid. It's not just a gripe about snow and shoveling driveways and rust on my cars anymore... it's about worsening family situations with holidays coming up. It's about us not wanting to spend tons of money on new winter gear for our children (while prices are perfect)because we're not sure what's in store (so we're going to get screwed financially buying at the last minute, settling on overpicked leftovers). It's about my wife and how she's starting to experience the early stages of SAD because the daylight is shrinking, and what that does to our family. It's about the heating bills rising slowly and my wife's job getting unbearable and her wages being cut and how all we want is to get out of here before this winter sucks us completely dry of our moving expenses. There's also some things happening at my job that I'm not entirely excited about and it looks like I have to find a way to deal with them now in time for my annual review to include accomplishments over them. I was hoping to avoid these things....

I was just in northern Minnesota over the weekend. It hit upper 40's at night once while we were there. The leaves were changing. It's pretty (in fact, fall is my favorite time of year) but it's coming so quickly, we know it's going to be short lived. I came home to find my garden is dying a few weeks too soon. It's been a very cool summer here with a few sporatic upper 90 degree stints. My pumpkins still won't ripen in time and I planted them in early April. School starts here on Sept 8th. That's in one week. My kids have been telling everyone all summer we're leaving (I can't hide the sign in the yard and I can't lie to my kids about our relocation plans) so it's all bound to get back to some other kids whose parent's works with me... My boss could hear about my little secret in no time.

All I can hope is that God still pulls one out of his sleeve soon. I don't want to face a lot of what's on my "doorstep". I don't look forward to the next 8 months at all. I will do my best to stay positive and lift my family up and have an unwavering faith more than ever before. I know this move is our calling but something seems to be left unfinished somewhere.... I only wish I knew what it was.

[SoFLGal]

Gosh, that sounds so sad! Sounds like you need a hug. Things will turn around. Your story is similar to stories I hear every day and often just when it seems hopeless something turns everything around.

I wouldn't worry about the housing situation down here. At least not right now. I'm seeing many more homes come on the market everyday. I think we might have a ways to go before see a real uptick in things. We are seeing the prices stay pretty stable with just a very slight uptick. If we see another round of foreclosures come out we may see the prices head back down.

Now, the job front is a totally different ballgame. It's tough out there right now-really tough.

You'll make it down here with your family because you're passionate about it. We'll all have to have a big City-Data party once you make it down.

Keep you chin up-it'll happen