How's the Job Market Here (Greenville, Mauldin: rental, how much, buying a house)

[jenshops]

My husband and I live in Fl around Sarasota area and are considering a move to the Greenville area. I work clerical in a doctor's office and my husband has worked in the a/c industry (mostly duct work), for the last 7yrs. It definitely appears that we can get way more home for the money, but I am very worried about jobs. I am pretty sure I can find one pretty easily but I am not sure about my husband. Down here we have been hit really hard and those that have jobs usually don't even get 40hrs per wk.Most likely we will be coming without jobs, how quickly can one expect to get a job if they look real hard? How is the job market up there? My husband is also Cuban, speaks perfect English, but I know it is harder in some areas to be accepted, does anyone think this could be a problem? I hope I don't offend anyone with my questions, I am just really worried and want to make the right decision.

[saucystargazer]

While Greenville's job market isn't as bad as other areas of the country, nowhere is great and nowhere can one expect to find a job right away. Not to be mean but it would be extremely stupid to move anywhere without jobs for either of you lined up. If you do plan to do so you need at least 6 months of living expenses saved and in some areas more. I strongly suggest you start applying for jobs and stay where you are. That would be making the right decision.

[ckeely]

Jobs are to be found everywhere, depending on the jobs you're willing to take and how much money you need to earn. My husband and I just finished 8 months of travel in an RV to find a city we liked, and we've just settled in the Greenville area and are buying a house in Mauldin.

We have enough in saving to be fine if it takes us 6 months to find good jobs, but just for giggles, my husband applied for a night-shift job at Home Depot on Friday, and he got called for an interview Saturday morning. The job isn't stellar, but it's full-time and pays $14 an hour -- he figures it will give us some income while he looks for something more permanent. I teach college classes, and my first class is already lined up for March.

You need to know your industry -- some industries flourish in a depression (like education), and others crash and burn (like banking). If you're moving someplace without a job lined up first, you'll probably need to be flexible, maybe plan on taking part-time work while you look for full-time.

Other factors also come into play -- we planned to rent a house, but chose to buy instead because rental prices right now are twice the cost of a mortgage. We bought a small, inexpensive house that would re-sell easily in a couple years, to give us time to get to know the area.

Moving without a job AND without savings would be a bad idea because you may not find work as quickly as you'd like, but one thing that made us like the Greenville metroplex is its strong job market -- many colleges and universities, a thriving downtown with lots of resturants, big chain stores, BMW and other large manufacturing plants, farming, high-tech businesses: all of these mean a diversity of jobs in the area. Plus, communting is easy here; what locals consider "heavy rush hour traffic" is laughably light to me after living in Dallas, TX.

This is also one of the few areas we visited where builders are still putting up new houses, and we just hired a contractor to paint and do some work on the house we're buying, so trade skills are clearly employable.

You'd have no idea we're in a recession based on restaurant wait times; obviously, plenty of service people are still employed, and while most strip malls have an empty store or two, many small businesses are clearly surviving just fine.

To summarize, the Greenville metroplex has a diverse job base and plenty of jobs seem to be available, particularly if you're flexible or if your skills make you a desirable hire. But you definitely should have some financial padding in case it takes you several months to find work.

[ckeely]

Jen, one more comment regarding your Cuban husband -- another reason we chose Greenville is that I wanted some racial diversity. My husband grew up in New Hampshire, which is totally white, but I'm from Texas, and I like speaking Spanish and having other ethnic and cultural influences. The Greenville metro area is about 30% black, 10% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and has some other racial minorities represented. There are a couple of largely hispanic areas locally where all the business have signs in Spanish, and the contractor we just hired to works on our house speaks very heavily-accented English (where had trouble understanding each other by phone), but he's one of the best rated in the area. I don't think your husband would have any problems...

[Made_it_To_the_Metroplex]

Thank you, ckeely for an objective view! When we who live here and love it try to describe things as you have, we're painted as "cheerleaders", glossing over the ugly side of things. Fact is, no place is perfect and yes, we are in the South, but no, we're NOT the very buckle of the Bible Belt as other try to portray us.

[jenshops]

thank you for the input. We have decided that we will try our hardest to get jobs before we move, but I know that is hard. I am already contacting a/c companies and sending out resumes. We were planning on having several months worth of $$ in case we didn't get jobs too fast. We are pretty sure we are still coming but we have not been there yet, so we will decided for sure after our trip a few weeks from now. I do know one thing, things are bad enough here that staying is not really an option. Salaries are very low, few jobs, and very expensive housing.