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My friend who has lived in Cbus for 11 years keeps warning me that Clintonville is noisy and very college oriented. I would not like that, if that is the case. He thinks Worthington would be a better fit for me. But $190K seems impossible.
Your friend doesn't know what he's talking about. Clintonville is one of the oldest areas of the city in terms of median age of the population (around 42-43). It's well north of Campus and is populated mostly by families, singles and older couples without kids. It's quiet, safe, and quite frankly, very insular.
I'm just very upset. Ohio is supposed to be affordable, and now it doesn't seem like it is. I am absolutely appalled at how expensive everything is now. It makes me not want to bother working harder.
I don't get your complaint here. Nationally, Columbus is one of the most affordable cities for housing and rent. If you think it's bad there, it's going to be even worse almost everywhere else (certainly compared to where you came from). Columbus just had it's hottest month ever for housing sales in July, and because of the recession and remaining loan issues, it's still somewhat difficult for developers to build. Given the demand and low inventory, prices have come up, but similar issues exist elsewhere. There are still plenty of reasonably affordable housing in the city, in both good and in upcoming areas, but you have to move fast. You're not the only person moving to Columbus.
Today I went to an open house in Worthington and saw a condo priced at $169K. Then I saw another one in Upper Arlington priced at $130K. I wasn't really impressed with either of them, although the Worthington one was nicer. They just sort of seemed gritty and old. I know Upper Arlington and Worthington are on the pricey side, so I should probably forget about them and just look in Columbus itself.
You shouldn't just be looking at the price *right now*, anyway. If you plan to be in the city for at least 5 years, you have to think about longer term than that. Places like Worthington and UA will likely increase in value over time, or at the very least, maintain it, because of the demand for housing in these areas (even if another economic downturn occurs). If the places were gritty and you have a budget of $190K, why couldn't you put some money into them and fix it up for a better return down the road?
For example, back in November I looked at a huge house in King-Lincoln (just east of Downtown). It was an old house and was in rough shape, but I looked at it because it was an incredible deal (8 beds, 5 baths for $100K). Unfortunately, it didn't work out, but I kept track of the house. It was purchased and renovated all in less than a year, and last month, I saw it on the market again for over half a million dollars. That one is going to sting for awhile.
The average American gets 10 PTO days. Look it up on the BLS website.
I did not take a 29% pay cut. I took a 19% salary cut. The bonuses were not guaranteed, so it didn't matter anyway, especially because the cost of living in FFC was astronomical, which negates any high salary/bonus. Yes, I do have a pay a little more for insurance, but so what? My rent is $761 less per month. That's HUGE.
I CAN afford a nice home here. If you read through this thread, you would see that all I did was go to two open houses in the more expensive suburbs. So of course, they were not that impressive. I can absolutely afford a nice place here for $200K or less. And I sure as hell couldn't afford ANYTHING in FFC for many years to come.
I don't even care to see my family as often as you would think. I'm okay with 4 times a year. And I have plenty of money to pay for airfare. And driving is an option, if I really want too. I can't stand staying at their house, to be honest.
Once again, staying in FFC would have been STUPID, as I was miserable as hell there, living a terrible, subpar standard of living, despite high wages and PTO. I still can't believe you support that, despite me being better off now. You're also forgetting that my job in Stamford was severely stagnating my career. And you also keep harping on the absurd expectation that I could have kept similar pay to what I was making in Stamford, here in Ohio. Accounting salaries in central Ohio pay 19% less than they do in FFC. And I got 19% less, which is fair.
Where did I ever say that my apartment here sucks? I am rending a NICE 2 bedroom condo here for just $989 and I love it.
After all of my monthly expenses, I am able to save just as much money as I was saving in FFC, not counting any bonuses. The bonuses in FFC were worthless, due to the extreme cost of housing there. Plus, the housing market in central Ohio is doing excellent, which is a good investment choice. In CT, I would probably not have been able to make the same investment gains as people are making here.
I am 100% happy with my decision and have no qualms or regrets. Stop hunting me down on here and trying to make me feel bad or regretful about it, because guess what? I feel GOOD about it. There is absolutely no aspect in my mind that thinks, "geez...I should have held out for a better offer," or "geez....I should have stayed living in miserable FFC." Believe me.
Not to jump in this thread- but as someone who followed your posts on the CT board and tried to offer advice once or twice, you're creating a false dichotomy here NEP. Nobody said Fairfield county or OH only, plenty of posters advised you to look to New Haven or Hartford county or even less costly parts of FFC but with a slightly longer commute where homes are available in your budget to no avail.
For those of you not familiar with FFC/Fairfield County - it's among the most expensive places in the US to live, mostly driven by wall st/hedge fund $$$. However, there were many other more affordable places to live in CT that NEP rejected. Check his posting history- Jay's posts are not without merit. To his point, you could have still moved to Columbus but held out for a better job- you found one very quickly, obviously it's a strong market .
NEP- I hope OH works out for you and that you're able to find something, Columbus area seems nice from the little I;ve seen/read about it, but no place is perfect, you'll have to accept that and work to find what you can live with.
The average American gets 10 PTO days. Look it up on the BLS website.
I did not take a 29% pay cut. I took a 19% salary cut. The bonuses were not guaranteed, so it didn't matter anyway, especially because the cost of living in FFC was astronomical, which negates any high salary/bonus. Yes, I do have a pay a little more for insurance, but so what? My rent is $761 less per month. That's HUGE.
I CAN afford a nice home here. If you read through this thread, you would see that all I did was go to two open houses in the more expensive suburbs. So of course, they were not that impressive. I can absolutely afford a nice place here for $200K or less. And I sure as hell couldn't afford ANYTHING in FFC for many years to come.
I don't even care to see my family as often as you would think. I'm okay with 4 times a year. And I have plenty of money to pay for airfare. And driving is an option, if I really want too. I can't stand staying at their house, to be honest.
Once again, staying in FFC would have been STUPID, as I was miserable as hell there, living a terrible, subpar standard of living, despite high wages and PTO. I still can't believe you support that, despite me being better off now. You're also forgetting that my job in Stamford was severely stagnating my career. And you also keep harping on the absurd expectation that I could have kept similar pay to what I was making in Stamford, here in Ohio. Accounting salaries in central Ohio pay 19% less than they do in FFC. And I got 19% less, which is fair.
Where did I ever say that my apartment here sucks? I am rending a NICE 2 bedroom condo here for just $989 and I love it.
After all of my monthly expenses, I am able to save just as much money as I was saving in FFC, not counting any bonuses. The bonuses in FFC were worthless, due to the extreme cost of housing there. Plus, the housing market in central Ohio is doing excellent, which is a good investment choice. In CT, I would probably not have been able to make the same investment gains as people are making here.
I am 100% happy with my decision and have no qualms or regrets. Stop hunting me down on here and trying to make me feel bad or regretful about it, because guess what? I feel GOOD about it. There is absolutely no aspect in my mind that thinks, "geez...I should have held out for a better offer," or "geez....I should have stayed living in miserable FFC." Believe me.
Stop saying things I never said. I never said you should be getting the same salary in Columbus as you got in Stamford. That would just be ridiculous. I said that you likely could have done better than you did. The quote below is from you on this thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by nep321
I'm just very upset. Ohio is supposed to be affordable, and now it doesn't seem like it is. I am absolutely appalled at how expensive everything is now. It makes me not want to bother working harder.
You are saying that you are "appalled" at how expensive everything is. You would not be so "appalled" if you had held out for more money. And once again you are making an excuse for not working harder. You did that over on the Connecticut Board saying your time was too valuable for you to work anything more than 40 hours. Then in another post you were complaining that you were not getting ahead in your career. How do you expect to get ahead if you are not willing to work hard? Companies are not going to pay you or value you for just doing the minimum.
As for your salary, I am merely quoting your multiple posts which despite what you say now all quoted a 29% reduction in your overall take home pay for the year. Those bonuses are part of your income and they are primarily why you have been able to save so much in only 2 years.
Also I did not say you hated your apartment but you kept saying that you did not want to live on top of other people like you were "forced" to do in Norwalk and yet you chose a place where you are doing just that. Again that is from another post on this board.
The only reason I am even replying again is because you keep saying that I said things that I did not say. I want you to accept reality which you have consistently rejected since you began posting on this forum 7 years ago. You left Connecticut with very high expectations, thumbing you nose at the state that gave you so much but from your posts here, the reality is much different than those expectations. Again good luck to you. Jay
Not to jump in this thread- but as someone who followed your posts on the CT board and tried to offer advice once or twice, you're creating a false dichotomy here NEP. Nobody said Fairfield county or OH only, plenty of posters advised you to look to New Haven or Hartford county or even less costly parts of FFC but with a slightly longer commute where homes are available in your budget to no avail.
For those of you not familiar with FFC/Fairfield County - it's among the most expensive places in the US to live, mostly driven by wall st/hedge fund $$$. However, there were many other more affordable places to live in CT that NEP rejected. Check his posting history- Jay's posts are not without merit. To his point, you could have still moved to Columbus but held out for a better job- you found one very quickly, obviously it's a strong market .
NEP- I hope OH works out for you and that you're able to find something, Columbus area seems nice from the little I;ve seen/read about it, but no place is perfect, you'll have to accept that and work to find what you can live with.
And now after telling us in a thread longer than Methuselah's beard the many faults of Cleveland, our dear friend Nep is back on the Cleveland forum telling us how it's a city he does think is okay after all but doesn't seem to think it's a place people would want to relocate from other states to.
As my daddy used to say, "Some people wouldn't be happy if you hung 'em with a brand new rope."
I'm just very upset. Ohio is supposed to be affordable, and now it doesn't seem like it is. I am absolutely appalled at how expensive everything is now. It makes me not want to bother working harder.
190k was probably not realistic, in my middle Tennessee tony suburb a nice home in a nice neighborhood was more than that.
But, in all likelihood, you could probably go higher..w/o getting to insane FFC or decent New Haven County burb range.
You should sit down with mortgage bankers and discuss your budget assumptions in detail. ALL of the items, including your hyper aggressive savings rate. View home ownership as a form of savings, where decades from now, near retirement, you can "cash out" that equity..
Ohio is affordable. It is often ranked as one of the most cost effective places to live in the country. Columbus on the other hand is less affordable than much of the rest of the state, particularly in the urban areas you desire, but still much more affordable than nearly any metropolis along the coasts. You can take a look here to see the equivalent income needed to maintain your current lifestyle and purchasing power in another well-known gay friendly city - San Francisco.
No Jay. Reality is not "settling in." You seem angered that I......moved out of CT, for some odd reason.
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Jay
