What comes first; sell the house or find a job? (Atlanta: rent, insurance)

[kbrkr]

My wife and I are in our 50's and we are burnt out. We love the warm and humid south, hate the cold and we both long for a slower paced way of life. We also want an area relatively safe from Hurricanes. Everything I've heard, seen, and read about Georgia we love.

My question is this; Should I start selling my house first in this tough Northeast RE market or should I find the right job first? Not too many companies are helping with relocation and we do see a bias towards candidates relocating from out of the Georgia area. For the record, I'm a Senior Project Manager for a Wall Street Firm.

Thanks All!!
Al

[USA_Mom]

I would suggest sell the house first, worse case scenario is you can rent until the right job comes along. While our relocation package did include paying our mortgage for 6 months or until the house sold; our house didn't sell during that time and it was tough for us to make 2 mortgage and utility payments (most homeowner's insurance policies require electricity and sometimes water at least to be left on for fire coverage to continue, as well as realtors preferring it to show). If you can afford 2 mortgages, utilities, etc. for awhile until the market is better, then go for the job first.

[SaraSatin]

I agree, the market is so slow everywhere it seems that I wouldn't move without getting my house sold. We're trying to sell here in GA and it's slow here as well, so you shouldn't have trouble finding someplace to live once you're ready to move because there's a lot of inventory. Jobs can be tough to come by, but if you've got good experience and are good at what you do it shouldn't be that hard. You probably won't get moving expenses, but if you are definitely moving and can show that you are planning on sticking around for the long haul you should be able to find a job. Just make sure when it looks like you are going to have a buyer that you schedule time to come down in person to meet with people. My brother found his job that way, just walked into a company he had heard about when he knew where he was moving to and asked the HR department if they were hiring. It can work, and it can't hurt. Good Luck!

[BillWagner]

Please sell the home first. They are plenty of homes available for you to choose from and it shouldn't take very long to locate one. Atlanta is a very competative market for jobs so look at that also while you are selling your home.

[kbrkr]

Great wise advice! Thank you folks. I was pretty much leaning the same way.

Thank you all
Al

[MayorOfMacon2019]

Contrary to what youve heard I believe you should look for a job first. Georgia doesnt have the best job market especially for you 50 years young folks. Atlanta does but my understanding was that you were looking for a slower pace, and Atlanta is definately not the place, especially with over a million people who moved into the Atlanta Metro Area in the last five years. Im also not to sure about the housing market in the Northeast, and especially with all this mortgage talk going on. I would suggest finding the job first, and then making that long awaited move, finding a house here in Georgia shouldnt be a problem, and dont be shocked when you see the difference in the price of square footage in the Northeast and in Georgia. Whichever you decide to choose I hope your move to Georgia is the best experience of your young life.