Moving Cold - some advise? (Houston, Dallas: apartment, lease, hotel)

[Muhnay]

What's that? Moving Cold??

When a person or family moves with no job, no home, no contacts, and maybe as little money a Tax refund gives him/her/them.

Have any of you done this?

I'm a planner, I don't like to up and leave with out having some since of security, a place to move too, a job when I get there etc.. but that maybe not always possible... and you just need to move and find a new start, or some place to better your situation.

So has anyone here done a cold move? How did you do it? Was it as scary as I think it is? Would you do it again?

[kittymama]

When I graduated college my best friend and I moved to Boston. The economy was great then - I got a job with a temp agency within a week. It was almost a cold move. We took a trip up there a month before we moved and found an apartment. We had no plans for what happened after we signed a lease other than get jobs. I lived there 3.5 years. It was fun.

[Cowboybootnut]

I did something close about 20 years ago. I'm married, wife had a great job, we owned a home in Shreveport, and I was employed with the same company for nine years. Then I lost my job, tried to find something in Shreveport for six months - nada (lucky my wife had a good job).

I thought the Dallas area might have been better for me employment wise, so I took a hotel room for two weeks at a Days Inn that was on 635 and Coit, got the Yellow Pages/want ads, called every company in the environmental consulting industry (I had no direct experience, but had an applicable degree). I had a few interviews, some close calls, and one job offer within those two weeks. I took the job offer, and rented an apartment on Spring Valley. My wife moved here nine months later when we bought a home in Plano (she is in the medical field and has job offers all the time! ) We couldn't sell our house in Shreveport, so we rented it to family so we could cover that house's expenses. Even though my wife loved her job in Shreveport, and thought that she could never find a better job, she did and her job is much better than the job she had in Shreveport, and I am probably doing better too.

I was fed up with Shreveport, so I was looking forward to getting out. I guess that negated any fear that I had. It can be done, I wouldn't want to try it again unless both of us lost our job. But a person would have to target a city with several opportunities in their field (or their applicable experience), do some research in advance, and perhaps make a few calls to get a local insider's opinion(s).

[Muhnay]

So far great info and tips. There has to be more people out there with a story to tell.. please share.. you may help someone make a very important move in their life.

[txsizzler]

I am originally from Montana. Born in Cut Bank, lived in Great Falls in my early youth, then in the capital, Helena, for 20 years. When I was 23, I decided to make a move, as the economic situation in Helena felt stagnant. I have relatives here in Wichita Falls, TX (grandparents), and decided this would be a good place to start, as the population here, although larger, wasn't a huge metropolis, and it felt comfortable.

Both my older brother and I moved here in 1995. We came here without jobs, housing, or with anything except the clothes on our backs, small tax refunds, and the vehicles we came here with. The first day, we found an apartment, and within a week I got a mall job at Sears selling electronics. My brother got a job at Walgreens, working in the photo department 2 weeks later.

Anyhow, that is how I got my start. Interesting thread!


Ian

[Cowboybootnut]

Muhnay,

I must add that while in Shreveport, my wife absolutely loved the house we owned, loved the neighborhood, and strongly believed that we could never find a better home and neighborhood in Plano. She even cried with the thought of leaving Shreveport. We did find a better place, she admits it, and to this day I continue to tease her about it when I "threaten" with another move.

I don't know how "Cold is Cold" but I seriously recommend background work on towns/cities before a move is made. I wouldn't recommend a move on hearsay, like Oklahomans did on their move to California during the Depression.

I consider myself lucky, but perhaps I was stupid enough not to be intimidated with calling unknown managers at unknown companies to see if there was a position there for me.

[Muhnay]

Originally Posted by txsizzler

I am originally from Montana. Born in Cut Bank, lived in Great Falls in my early youth, then in the capital, Helena, for 20 years. When I was 23, I decided to make a move, as the economic situation in Helena felt stagnant. I have relatives here in Wichita Falls, TX (grandparents), and decided this would be a good place to start, as the population here, although larger, wasn't a huge metropolis, and it felt comfortable.

Both my older brother and I moved here in 1995. We came here without jobs, housing, or with anything except the clothes on our backs, small tax refunds, and the vehicles we came here with. The first day, we found an apartment, and within a week I got a mall job at Sears selling electronics. My brother got a job at Walgreens, working in the photo department 2 weeks later.

Anyhow, that is how I got my start. Interesting thread!


Ian

When we moved to Boise, we were on our way to Seattle.. the car broke down there in Boise so we took that as a sign to stay. All we had was the income tax refund about 3K. No furniture, nothing, just some clothes our computers, and that was about it. We found a house after being in a hotel for about a week. I got a job at Micron building web pages for clients, and my wife got a job at another computer place there on an assembly line. We were doing fine.. but that fizzled.. Boise was a great city back then, the wife and I biked or walked any place we needed to go. We hardly ever used the car we bought when we got a few months after living there. We made it to Seattle and lived at East Lake a small area not far from Downtown Seattle. I loved it there, I would wake up each morning to the sea planes, sit on the balcony of our little duplex and drink coffee, look out over the water and Queen-anne hill. I would walk to this little beach like park toss a couple pebbles and then make the long trek back up the hill to the bus stop and head downtown for my job as a security guard at a bank... hey it was a good job, don't laugh. =) Times got a bit tight and we had to come back to El Paso to recoup.

When I moved to Mississippi, I planed it all out, rented a house online unseen, and had a job with a casino before we got there. I loved Mississippi, but the area we moved to was rough and the Casino job sucked, so I got another one. And we were about to move to another part of town. when my mother called and said my uncle had a heart attack and they needed us.. so we ran back here.. its all better now here, but I am ready to get out. I cant get paid what I feel I am worth, that is if I can find a job that does not require spanish.. thats a whole other post though so ignore that.. Anyways.. I am ready to move again. I am pulled in two directions though.. back to Seattle to be near my brother, or to the gulf-coast a place I also really love.

[Muhnay]

I hope you all dont mind a bump.. I would like more replies.. I am sure there are more of you out there who have done this.. tell us about it.

[TX_AGGIE13]

A few years back when I was 24 I was living in Houston, TX., and was working for the prison system as an officer. I hated the job at the time, and decided I wanted a change from Texas (Although I love it to this day). I decided I wanted to live somewhere on the beach, and I found a job in Jacksonville, FL. that I called and the company sounded interested in me after talking, and reading over my resume (I in no way had the job locked in yet though). I got in my truck with what I needed, and drove out and stayed in a hotel for a week and had the interview. I did not immediately get the job, and was in a way brushed off, but I decided I would show major persistance, and basicaly begged...lol...and was hired later that week. I eventually moved into an apartment and stayed there for 6 months before the business was bought out by new ownership and my position was cut. I loved the time I was there, and made amazing friends that will last a lifetime, but it was risky and stressful at first.

[txsizzler]

Originally Posted by TX_AGGIE13

A few years back when I was 24 I was living in Houston, TX., and was working for the prison system as an officer. I hated the job at the time, and decided I wanted a change from Texas (Although I love it to this day). I decided I wanted to live somewhere on the beach, and I found a job in Jacksonville, FL. that I called and the company sounded interested in me after talking, and reading over my resume (I in no way had the job locked in yet though). I got in my truck with what I needed, and drove out and stayed in a hotel for a week and had the interview. I did not immediately get the job, and was in a way brushed off, but I decided I would show major persistance, and basicaly begged...lol...and was hired later that week. I eventually moved into an apartment and stayed there for 6 months before the business was bought out by new ownership and my position was cut. I loved the time I was there, and made amazing friends that will last a lifetime, but it was risky and stressful at first.

Just curious... what do you do now for a living? I always like to hear the end of the story.. lol