So is this a stupid plan? (rentals, mortgage, Home Depot)

[AprilFamily]

Ok, as I mentioned in a previous post, we are coming up in a few weeks to look around the area and hopefully, make a final decision to move there. Should we decide it's a go, when we get there intially we plan to rent for about 6 months while we decide on which area exactly we'd like to be in and while hubby looks for a job. Our plan is to sell our home, as well as some rental properties we have, and have enough cash in hand to purchase a home outright with no mortgage and still have, say, 6 months living expenses in the bank.

But with all this talk about how hard it is to get a job, I'm a little worried. On the other hand, I've seen other posts talking about how hard it is to get a job there while you are still living out of town. It's enough to make a girl pull her hair out!

Am I setting us up for failure?

[Tony1790]

Free advice,

Sounds like a great plan, rent first, the only thing that I would suggest is wait until your home and rentals sell before you move. Can you afford to pay the mortgage and rent a place while looking for a job? It might take a while to sell your other properties, I'd have the money in hand before I made that leap, but that's just me, and that's what I did.......with the exception of not actually moving to TN as I received a job offer elsewhere (long story).

Good luck, but definitely rent first!

Tony

[BarbG]

Unless you are professionals, I think it would be harder to get a job while still out of town.

We did exactly what you are planning to do, but our home was already sold when we moved here. We both found jobs, jobs we can stay in for years, within 4 months. We posted our resumes, set up accounts at Knox News, and checked in with all the placement agencies. We also checked the paper daily and located the websites of all the larger employers in the area, and posted our resumes to them as well.

Hope you enjoy your trip up!

[AprilFamily]

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. Yes, the plan is to sell the properties here first - at those that we aren't committed to by lease, which I think will be just one. We actually have all but that one on the market, well, that and our own home aren't on the market. So hopefully they will all sell and we'll be on our way.

And, while I am a homemaker, my husband is a professional, so I think he's planning on starting to send out resumes once we get a contract on our home. Then that would give us about 2 months before we close and then we'd have the backup money in the bank to support us before something happens, job-wise.

Thanks for the encouragement. I feel much better now!

[sliverbox]

First of all, I applaud renting first, buying later. We get a lot of people here who come down for a weekend and buy without really knowing the area that well. That's nuts. But renting for 6 months will allow you to fine-tune your choices. Plus you'll know what your professional situation will be.

As far as jobs, how flexible is your husband at the kind off work he does? What about you? is working an option for you as well? The reason I ask is because if your plan is to buy outright, then your living expenses are going to be minimal. At that point, you all could work at Home Depot for that matter and still have money leftover. If he's only going to consider his own field and you're not going to work, well the picture gets a bit more complicated. You have many options it sounds like. Just weigh them and see what you can come up with.

[TedTLPN]

April,

Not much new from what others have said here, but let me echo and emphasize the job hunt 'issue'. Looking for jobs that are real quality and fiscally comparable to other areas is a soul crushing test of endurance. I think it's possible to get it done, but I have yet do do it for real in 3 months of trying here. If it wasn't for some wise investment moves I'd really be in a pickle.


Best of luck,

Ted