Westward from NH/Boston for the permanent move... (Riverside, Carlsbad: real estate, to rent)

[rpatch76]

So it's another 'relocate from Boston' thread...

My lovely wife has been pining for SD since we spent 10 days there last spring, she's Portuguese and loves the weather. She is in real estate, so I'm not sure how the market is there compared to NH/MA (we are currently in NH somewhere, there's too much snow to tell exactly). I work in commercial construction as an engineer for a reputable glass company in Boston, and make low 6 figures... basically the breadwinner if that's still a term.

Two kids, two dogs, couple of reef tanks (terrible hobby, sucks the money out of your wallet) and no ambition to spend any more of our good years here. The one year plan is to shift westward, but the job market (especially in commercial construction, not sure about real estate) doesn't seem strong enough yet.

Realistically, is this an obtainable pursuit? Is the employment outlook still bleak there like it is most everywhere else? Anyone know any contacts in the glazing industry

Mostly just wanted to introduce myself to the board, been lurking for a while and definitely serious about the move... jealous of you all.

Thanks for any input or advice you can give!

Rob in NH

[loveautumn]

not sure about the commercial construction industry...there is some building going on but not alot that I see. Unfortunately, I think most of the ground here has been taken up already. There are probably tens of thousands of former RE agents here, obviously they were hit very hard during the recession. I would guess real estate and construction are two of the toughest job markets here. You'd really have to do alot of research on the job markets and talk to people in those industries. Low six figures isn't much here with family of four, housing is alot more expensive than NH. But as an engineer maybe you can transfer your skills to other areas?

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by rpatch76

So it's another 'relocate from Boston' thread...

My lovely wife has been pining for SD since we spent 10 days there last spring, she's Portuguese and loves the weather. She is in real estate, so I'm not sure how the market is there compared to NH/MA (we are currently in NH somewhere, there's too much snow to tell exactly). I work in commercial construction as an engineer for a reputable glass company in Boston, and make low 6 figures... basically the breadwinner if that's still a term.

Two kids, two dogs, couple of reef tanks (terrible hobby, sucks the money out of your wallet) and no ambition to spend any more of our good years here. The one year plan is to shift westward, but the job market (especially in commercial construction, not sure about real estate) doesn't seem strong enough yet.

Realistically, is this an obtainable pursuit? Is the employment outlook still bleak there like it is most everywhere else? Anyone know any contacts in the glazing industry

Mostly just wanted to introduce myself to the board, been lurking for a while and definitely serious about the move... jealous of you all.

Thanks for any input or advice you can give!

Rob in NH

Employment outlook not bleak per se; it depends on the field. Have you checked job listings for your area of work? You can also do a salary estimate through indeed dot com and other sites.

Real estate: the market is picking up again for sure, after a down cycle a few years back [though even then, people were nabbing great deals]. My impression is that the area is saturated with agents, but I'm sure anyone with ambition and a niche to focus on can probably find or carve out a place.

Are you interested in owning or renting a home? NH has high taxes for real estate, true, plus winter costs...But you have more choices in the NE, with 'towns'. In so cal, it's largely just metro area after metro area with their corresponding suburbs. And not as many middle of the road to excellent school districts. Just a few top and they are in higher priced suburbs. There is a large public charter school system in SD, though, open to anyone in the state/district, if that is of interest to you.

If you just want to rent while you get situated, it sounds do able, provided you can downsize some of your 'stuff' and enjoy the great outdoors lifestyle that SD offers. Some options for futher research:

• Lower priced [relative!] suburbs with good schools are: Eastlake and San Marcos.
• Best school districts by ranking: Poway, Carmel Valley, Carlsbad
• Other good family/school areas: Scripp's Ranch, Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo.
• Further north, bordering SD county, technically in Riverside county [not a good commute to SD, though, job wise]: Temecula and Murietta have good schools and lower priced real estate.

You could also check the Phoenix metro, if the heat is okay with you. I think their industry is up again....last I heard.

Good luck!