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I have been doing all the research, calling police stations and trying to use all the info on this forum to find a decent place to live in Fort Worth but I am now so confused. Pretty much what I am looking for is a 625-750 dollar 2 bedroom apartment that has central air and will take my German Shepard. I will be starting completely over when I move to Texas. We do not have a job waiting for us so pretty much any area that has a low crime rate and has jobs available is the place for me. I can't find that place. Does anyone know of a specific apartment name or number that would offer this at all? I'm getting out of California for the gangs, drugs, and unemployment aspects that sunny Southern California has to offer. I do not want to move to Texas to be in that same rut. I will be moving where I have no family or friends so any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking to move in August and I really want to be comfortable there. Thank you for all of your help in advance.
I have been doing all the research, calling police stations and trying to use all the info on this forum to find a decent place to live in Fort Worth but I am now so confused. Pretty much what I am looking for is a 625-750 dollar 2 bedroom apartment that has central air and will take my German Shepard. I will be starting completely over when I move to Texas. We do not have a job waiting for us so pretty much any area that has a low crime rate and has jobs available is the place for me.
That is really risky, and I really don't reccomend coming here without a job lined up, unless you have very high in demand skills. If the situation was bad enough I would ditch the dog and take whatever place you can get...
Plus, job centers are scattered all over the place. Fixating your search on a particular area without knowing your job location will be a costly, stressful, time consuming mistake.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MsBellemae
I can't find that place. Does anyone know of a specific apartment name or number that would offer this at all? I'm getting out of California for the gangs, drugs, and unemployment aspects that sunny Southern California has to offer. I do not want to move to Texas to be in that same rut. I will be moving where I have no family or friends so any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking to move in August and I really want to be comfortable there. Thank you for all of your help in advance.
All of those things exist here, and are getting worse
I have been doing all the research, calling police stations and trying to use all the info on this forum to find a decent place to live in Fort Worth but I am now so confused. Pretty much what I am looking for is a 625-750 dollar 2 bedroom apartment that has central air and will take my German Shepard. I will be starting completely over when I move to Texas. We do not have a job waiting for us so pretty much any area that has a low crime rate and has jobs available is the place for me. I can't find that place. Does anyone know of a specific apartment name or number that would offer this at all? I'm getting out of California for the gangs, drugs, and unemployment aspects that sunny Southern California has to offer. I do not want to move to Texas to be in that same rut. I will be moving where I have no family or friends so any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking to move in August and I really want to be comfortable there. Thank you for all of your help in advance.
As Ronnie said, moving here without a job lined up is very risky. Do you have an in demand skill? What happens if you rent in Fort Worth and then get a job in Dallas or one of the northern Dallas cities like Plano? The metroplex is extremely large and traffic gets worse every day. What if the job is an hour commute or longer from the apartment you pick? Do you have months and months of savings in case it takes that long to get a job? Then there is the matter of will any apartment complex rent to someone who doesn't have a job? They want to know that you can pay after all.
Also, our cost of living is certainly lower than California, but a 2-br for 625-750 in a decent area will not be an easy find, if at all, either. A 1-br can be done. But a 2-br?
I'm not trying to be a downer, but realistically there is a reason that we all preach "get the job" first.
If you are really determined to come here first, you may have to go for an extended stay motel until you get a job and then get an apartment. Then in terms of being able to job hunt in both Dallas and Fort Worth, I would consider Arlington or the mid-cities (Hurst, Euless, Bedford).
I second everything Ronnie just said. What you are doing is a huge risk. There are unemployment, gangs and drugs in Texa, and especially so in areas with low rent apartments. You also run a huge risk of not being able to get an apartment here unless you have a verifiable income source, aka a job. This is even worse when you have a very large breed dog.
Why did you pick FTW?
What are your job skills?
Do you know that your budget is very, very low for our area? What you will be able to afford on that budget will put you in remote locations or among our highest crime areas for a 2 bedrm.
We moved here from northern California last November to be closer to two of our children who secured good jobs here, but they are in their 20's with great degrees. They had jobs here BEFORE they moved here. Renting an apartment in your budget level will put you into higher crime areas. We are semi-retired, sold a home for cash that we had bought too soon in northwest Ft. Worth, and we STILL had to verify by three bank statements that we could pay a three month lease rent. Everyone wants a lease, the longer, the cheaper the monthly rent. We were told by a bank notary who grew up here to avoid anything below $600 per month. We looked in those areas and she is correct!
Now, we can't afford to buy a house here because of the high property taxes. Texas has the fifth highest property taxes in the U.S. and they keep rising. Corporations pay no income taxes, but their home owner-employees pay for ALL police, fire, roads and schools. Look at the high school stadiums here. They rival a pro-football stadium because football is king here. It's 50%+ of the property taxes that pay for those. A doctor told us to look in an older area where they don't want to build a new stadium. Ha ha. Cheaper and more crime there. We are very seriously considering moving back to northern California.
There is a lot of federal crime in Arlington. Friend is on the fed grand jury. You don't hear about it on the news. There are gangs, muggings, robberies and just as much crime here as in So. California. You're not escaping it.
The only extended stay we found that will take a pet is the Studio 6 at Hwy 26 and the 820. Traffic sucks here. It's 20 mph on all the major "freeways." I-83 is going to be a toll road soon. A Spanish company is doing the conversion. Supposed to lessen traffic on the other "freeways." Expensive to live here.
If you have family in So. California, move to northern California, but not the Bay area. Rough there, too. I miss northern California. The air is polluted and humid here. Can't sleep with your window open at night. Produce sucks, unless you go to Trader Joes in FW or Whole Foods (expensive.) I did a search and it takes an income of about $5,000.00 average here to afford to own a home. The population drops dramatically at age 64...now I know why!
I guess I should have made myself a little more clear on my plans. I will be going out there with a mass amount of savings so that we could be comfortable and cover six months of rent and utilities including food. I am currently finishing up on my bachelor's in business with 7 years experience in warehouse laborer and four years doing various clerical work. My husband has pretty much the same experience I do with a high school diploma. I was doing a lot of research on where the job market is booming and from what I have read fort Worth is second only to the north Dakota oil boom. I'm really mostlyrics looking for that community feel where neighbors still gave a crap about each other like it was when I was growing up. Maybe my dreams are unrealistic without a crap ton of money already. My husband and I have been going back and forth on the subject or weeks now. I guess maybe the move isn't the best for us. We both have already put in numerous applications for jobs out there just within the last two weeks. I just know where I live now there is only work for felons and Web designers so I figured anywhere would be a step up from here. My city was voted the worst in the country to start a career. Plus the city just filed bankruptcy not too long ago lol. Maye I just need to come back to reality...
I guess I should have made myself a little more clear on my plans. I will be going out there with a mass amount of savings so that we could be comfortable and cover six months of rent and utilities including food. I am currently finishing up on my bachelor's in business with 7 years experience in warehouse laborer and four years doing various clerical work. My husband has pretty much the same experience I do with a high school diploma. I was doing a lot of research on where the job market is booming and from what I have read fort Worth is second only to the north Dakota oil boom. I'm really mostlyrics looking for that community feel where neighbors still gave a crap about each other like it was when I was growing up. Maybe my dreams are unrealistic without a crap ton of money already. My husband and I have been going back and forth on the subject or weeks now. I guess maybe the move isn't the best for us. We both have already put in numerous applications for jobs out there just within the last two weeks. I just know where I live now there is only work for felons and Web designers so I figured anywhere would be a step up from here. My city was voted the worst in the country to start a career. Plus the city just filed bankruptcy not too long ago lol. Maye I just need to come back to reality...
I'd echo others upthread: start with a solid job offer, whether that's in another part of CA, TX or somewhere else. Statistics about economic growth and job opportunities can be difficult to interpret and might not apply to your particular skills/career. Best of luck.
I guess I should have made myself a little more clear on my plans. I will be going out there with a mass amount of savings so that we could be comfortable and cover six months of rent and utilities including food. I am currently finishing up on my bachelor's in business with 7 years experience in warehouse laborer and four years doing various clerical work. My husband has pretty much the same experience I do with a high school diploma. I was doing a lot of research on where the job market is booming and from what I have read fort Worth is second only to the north Dakota oil boom. I'm really mostlyrics looking for that community feel where neighbors still gave a crap about each other like it was when I was growing up. Maybe my dreams are unrealistic without a crap ton of money already. My husband and I have been going back and forth on the subject or weeks now. I guess maybe the move isn't the best for us. We both have already put in numerous applications for jobs out there just within the last two weeks. I just know where I live now there is only work for felons and Web designers so I figured anywhere would be a step up from here. My city was voted the worst in the country to start a career. Plus the city just filed bankruptcy not too long ago lol. Maye I just need to come back to reality...
If you have decent savings, why not one of you come ahead and stay at an extended stay hotel while looking for work? Its next to impossible to find a job if you are not local. Godley is a nice little town, so is Burleson. Once you have a job you can bring the other person there who can focus on digging in and finding a place to rent.
Once again, KathieT is back at it, complaining about property taxes and how much more expensive it is to live here compared to her precious California.
Ms.Bellemae, many of the other people are correct - you cannot lease an apartment in a decent area with two bedrooms for 600$ a month in a Safe area. A one bedroom - yes. You will need income verification. The suggestion for one of you to come down to look for work is your best option. If ones stays home, then they can still work and can help your savings go longer in case it takes a little bit more to find a job. Stay in an extended stay and start your search. Sometimes people will offer guest houses to rent on craigslist - check that out as well.
You may want to look into a recruiter - but only if your hunt has been a little slow. A lot of smaller oil and gas companies will hire strictly through recruiters because they don't have the people to go through the hiring process. If I had to suggest, try looking for clerical in the Oil and Gas industry to start out. A little bit of knowledge about drilling will get you a long way around here.
And please don't let KathieT's unfortunate situation scare you. No matter what she says, California is MUCH more expensive than Texas to live in - the numbers do NOT lie. Yes, property tax is high - but we have NO state income tax. Property tax should be calcualted into monthly payments with your Mortgage. If you buy a home that's already too expensive, and then didn't plan for property tax - that's your own fault. It does not take $5,000 a month to afford a home - I didn't read that in the newspaper, I speak from experience and knowing other home owners.
And yes, football is king here - But it's good for the Kids. Texas is a top state for recruiting - in numbers and quality. We're putting kids in college - many probably wouldn't be able to afford it without their athletic scholarship.
I think maybe KathieT just doesn't know how to open her windows?? Because I've slept with my windows open all the time! She's just bashing DFW on things (Pollution, traffic, cost, etc.) that are notoriously worst in a majority of California because of her situation.
Good luck to you, MsBellemae. Texas has a lot of opportunity. If it didn't, then people, corporations and jobs wouldn't be migrating here by the masses. (Thanks, California for Toyota!!)
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Fort Worth area, rents and jobs
