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Hi All...just looking for some advice. I am a 29y/o female, born in raised in monmouth county NJ. I have been offered a promotion with my company and given the choice to stay in NJ or move to our Arizona office. Same pay for both offices, but drastically different cost of livings. I am in a long term relationship with my boyfriend who is 30 and is ready to get of NJ. I am confused and not sure what to pick. What would you do?
Pack your bags and load up the station wagon(do they still make them?). It's a no brainer. It's not getting better in NJ and I would leave if I was you.
I personally would stay in NJ. Unemployment in AZ is sky high and there are tons of foreclosures out there right now. It seems like since the housing bubble thing their economy has really imploded. I know your going down there with a job but what about your boyfriend? And if god forbid either of you loose your jobs then what? At least here you have options, not a ton but there are some. Also you might get a good deal on a house down there but inventory is waaaaaaaay more than demand right now if you decide AZ is not for you selling that house is going to be nearly impossible.
I would head to AZ. The cost of living is much lower, so your salary will in effect be much higher. AZ is suffering from the housing bubble crash, but it's farther along that road than NJ is (and so you will sooner be able to buy a house in AZ at "normal" levels than you would in NJ). Of course, safest option is to rent one of the many houses available for rent in AZ to see if you like it.
NJ is not going anywhere and will be here for you if/when you ever want to return. You're young and you can benefit from experiencing a different part of the country. Of the people I know who have left NYC/NJ, I can count on my left knee-cap the number who have any desire to return.
NJ is in for some rough times economically and is dysfunctional from a tax/corruption/economic opportunity perspective. You have an opportunity to leave handed to you on a silver platter. I'd take it.
If I did not already own my own house, if I was not yet married, if I could make the same amount I'm making here, or more, somewhere else in the country where cost of living is cheaper, I would HAVE to at least give it a try.
Don't buy anything for the first 2-3 years. Regardless of the market and how cheap houses may be. This way if you hate it and need to come back you wont have a problem. Do it! Let us live vicariously through you. GO!!!!! lol
go west, young lady! It's beautiful there. Biggest drawback - summers are long and oppressively hot; the heat IS a DRY heat, and that, IMHO, really does make a difference for the better, but many people say it doesn't matter. Otherwise it's a lovely place.
Have a backup plan to get back to NJ, in case it doesn't work out, but I think you may love it there. If it doesn't work out and you get laid off or something, you can always come back to NJ at your age, and finding a new job here, and you can explain your move to AZ as being company-ordered.
It's worth going while you have this golden, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go and see how it is. You may find a new home there. You can explore beautiful national parks and great citiies like Vegas and L.A. and Albquerque from AZ. If you fall in love with AZ or anywhere out there it could become your home for life!
OR...you may find that you miss NJ and really want to come back. So, you can come back if you really want to. But I'd say go out there and live out there at least a couple years or so.
If I did not already own my own house, if I was not yet married, if I could make the same amount I'm making here, or more, somewhere else in the country where cost of living is cheaper, I would HAVE to at least give it a try.
Don't buy anything for the first 2-3 years. Regardless of the market and how cheap houses may be. This way if you hate it and need to come back you wont have a problem. Do it! Let us live vicariously through you. GO!!!!! lol
Not to mention that as a renter in AZ, she'll be spending much less for a nice rental than just the property tax on a home in NJ. In NJ, rents look like $1000+ for a 1BR with no frills at all, but AZ I believe one can get a 2BR, in a nice community apartment w/ pool, fitness center, covered parking for less than $1000, probably $750-$850 (maybe even less).
Yeah, it's a good deal that she should definitely try...
$1000 for rent in AZ will get you what you said, nice 2 br, nice community, pool, covered parking.
Phoenix housing is ridiculous right now. Just be ready for a little culture shock. Phoenix is huge and sprawling and within Phoenix it can be very different. Where will you be working?
I personally would stay in NJ. Unemployment in AZ is sky high and there are tons of foreclosures out there right now. It seems like since the housing bubble thing their economy has really imploded. I know your going down there with a job but what about your boyfriend? And if god forbid either of you loose your jobs then what? At least here you have options, not a ton but there are some. Also you might get a good deal on a house down there but inventory is waaaaaaaay more than demand right now if you decide AZ is not for you selling that house is going to be nearly impossible.
Looks like she already has a job and with a foreclosure she can get a home for dirt cheap that is relatively new.
NO brainer unless you have a lot of family in NJ that you would miss
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