I can’t get to Florida fast enough!! (Tampa, Orlando: spring break, sales)

[ZaraZoteBuccaneer]

My wife and I are struggling to move out of Minnesota. It has been the hardest thing we have ever done together. We intend to leave the Twin Cities and relocate to Sarasota permanently. Unfortunately this intention has already alienated us from several friends and family which has the added bonus of even more stress. To make light of it in this thread, I think they're just jealous. I sometimes wonder how anyone ever transitions successfully without becoming an unstable wreak.

I have lived in 6 other states myself including Georgia so I can handle whatever Florida has to throw at me. I personally will not have the luxury of a company-funded transfer and I have not found a job down there either; please understand I will not start looking until our existing house sells. That then paints a picture of of no home, no new job and school starting again soon.

My wife has been born and raised in MN but she has never liked it. She intended to leave this area around the time we first met but then our own family started unexpectedly and now we’ve only remained up here because of grandparents. Now I’m making it up to her and finally leaving this place. We’ve fallen in love with Sarasota and we have made getting there our only ambition right now…. for good.

Thousands of dollars have been spent getting our current house ready for the market, months and months of finishing my basement off have caused my kids to be neglected, increased pressures at work to save the company money like never before and holding my wife up emotionally have all been terribly difficult. I’ve been saving my PTO to travel for job interviews. Can you start to picture what we’re going through?!?

I have been following the threads on this website on my lunch-breaks at work for nearly 9 months without being a member. I feel like I know so many of you already. I could really use some advice about the job market and housing issues to stay aware of, even if it’s only moral support.

I need a job in Purchasing and I can work in either the medical manufacturing field or aerospace. I want to find a home only within a few miles of University Pkwy and 75. I’ve done so much research already on property elevations, insurance, proximity to the beach and the daily commute, good schools, the latest on that drywall catastrophe and even understanding soil types for growing my own food. We’re very conservative and I like the track record that the county is still holding. Figuring this much out has been a chore in and of itself.

We may need to rent once we’re down there so it’s one less thing to stress over. I want to take my time finding the home that I will retire in but time is running out. I don’t want to be caught moving during the school season or when the snow flies.

[RMD3819]

I'm not in Sarasota but here goes.....

Jobs-The first thing that came to my mind was a purchasing position in a hospital. I don't think there is an aerospace presence in Sarasota, but I could be wrong. Do not come here without a job or a huge wad of cash.

Does your wife need to work?

Housing. Rent first. When looking to purchase check HOA, taxes and insurance.

Family-Don't worry about what they think. Do what is best for your family. Are they all staying in MN just because you are there?

[JennySquirrel]

All I can say is we have been here for 6 months and we have never looked back. Come down, rent a house and get comfy and then you can look for the area you want to move to and then you can buy. There is so much to learn.

Jobs? Well it depends on what you and your wife are looking for. We came down and jobs were not a problem. I always say if there is a will there is a way.

You live one life and that is all you got. Live it for you and don't worry about what other people think is best for you.

Just do it. You will not regret moving to Florida.

I smile everytime I look at a pay stub and don't see state or city tax being taken out

Come on down

[gypsychic]

If people are giving you a hard time then YES, I believe they are jealous! And no wonder, we live here in Sarasota and I feel it is one of THE nicest cities in Florida. The areas around University Parkway are absolutely beautiful, you will love it around there and you should be able to find a nice place for rent.

Now the bad news - job situation is rough here, but maybe with your specialties you can find something. At least you are doing the smart thing and not trying to move before you get things in order. Since you say you have lived in many different states, how did you choose Sarasota? If you can work it all out, I believe you will be very happy here, this area has a lot to offer.

[Ladywithafan]

You sound like you've got everything under control.

Only pressing issue I see is the "job" card.

I like what the OP said about looking in the hospital sector for work.

[SoFLGal]

Sounds like you've done your homework. Like everyone has mentioned, the only issue I see is finding a job. If you aren't that familiar with the area I think it is a good idea to rent first. That way you can search for a home and relax.

Sarasota is a wonderful town with great schools, close to the beaches and a great vibe.

Good luck with your move

[paradiddle]

I just got an aerospace job but.... it's in Orlando. I commute and stay in Orlando during the week and come home on weekends to Venice. ( 2 hours). Only reason I regret living in Venice is because it put me out of range of most of Tampa (1 hour +).

I see that you want University & 75 and thats a good choice for commuting to the other side of the bay. We live on the "good" side of the bay !!! Its not close to water but you are never far away down here. There are more jobs in Tampa/ St. Pete than Sarasota/Bradenton area. That being said I have had a Career-Builder and Monster search setup and there are NOT many jobs here. Some companies, like the BIG aerospace company I work for have there own job search sites and don't post on Monster. My company has 50-100 jobs posted at the moment and they do have a facility in Pinellas Park near St. Pete.

as far as back home, you will get jeolousy and they will miss ya. after 2-3 years here the tourist feel will go away, you'll complain about "seasonal snowbirds" , but I have to catch myself at least once a week admiring my choice to be here. I never have to think much about what to wear. I don't get as sick as I used to.

[ZaraZoteBuccaneer]

Thank you for the comments. Keep 'em coming please.

I'll fill you in a bit more on the job situation. I work for a company that builds instruments for testing diseases. We are doing very well in spite of the economy and I am accelerating through the company. With all that in mind, it's hard to leave but our reasons for leaving are enough to overshadow this good fortune. I'm not worried. I have a large amount of faith in God and know I am following his direction in my life. Since we're meant to go a door will open for us.

In my current place of work, our hardware requirements are so tight already that I have been told by Engineers we operate much more like an aerospace manufacturer. So hence, I figured there has to be enough opportunties to support that new space shuttle project or something down there. Guess not. The job situation has been scary to look at. I mean, there's only about 2 applicable job postings commercially in a range of 20 sq miles, yikes! Paradiddle, I've been keeping a close eye on the place you're refering to. I have always had an interest in that company.

About my wife, since our youngest is finally starting school, she wants to go back to college possibly for the medical field. That should be easy enough to find! She has a bright future after dedicating herself to being a stay-at home mom. I am going to support her 500% in whatever she wants to do.

We will be on a plane to FL as soon as a purchase agreement is in on our home. I'll be job hunting and she'll be house hunting. We expect to be there within 4-8 weeks. I don't know if we will rent for sure and I know the market is saturated but renting is a last resort. I used to have a chance to rent in the Meadows and even stayed in it 2 April's in a row but last fall the owner found someone to rent for the next couple of years. Too bad - I kinda liked the place, not my type of home but it would have been fine for the transition. We just couldn't get out of MN in time. Oh well, guess we will see what my wife falls in love with during her hunting and go from there.

JennySquirrel, I will be smiling down there with you all soon and never look back either- and I will also love to see those pay stubs too.
Gypsychic, I have quite the story to tell about landing on Sarasota as our choice because it wasn't something I expected to find. But I'm going to end this post and will revisit the topic sometime soon.

[Big House]

Jennysquirrel is so smart!
You have one life to live, live it to the fullest, and have not regrets when its over!
Work Hard, Play Hard! Be . . (oh Oh!) don't wanta get deleted!
Welcome to the board! I have made many friends here, and they all have offered good advice.

The job market is really tough down here, maybe you could talk to your company and become a sales representative for them in this area. I'm sure they would like to get into this market, and could use someone with your knowledge and skill-sets to sell their equipment, and provide follow-up service for them as well. If not, then having those skill-sets and letting those that may hire you know you have them may help you get a nice job!

It's not like no one has a job down here - take your time and live within your means. You'll do fine! And if you don't feel like your doing well one day - head to the beach! You'll soon realize it could be a lot worse somewhere else!

[ZaraZoteBuccaneer]

OK so I’ll tell the story about how we’ve fallen in love with Sarasota but I am a novelist at heart and therefore typically write more than I need to.

My wife was pregnant with our second child and we found a small home in the Twin Cities suburbs. That is quite a story for another time…. We quickly realized within those first few years that we were outgrowing the place then our third child was on the way. Typical. Ultimately the basement needed to be finished off to remain comfortable and that wasn't going to be cheap for a broke newly-wed couple. Soon after and through much prayer I began to have the feeling that we should no longer stay in Minnesota. I began looking on the internet at many cities across the US. This research was kept somewhat secret until one day I brought it up with my wife and unknowingly she was also thinking the exact same thing for many months on her own. We did not question this impression on us only we didn’t know how to proceed and decided to keep looking/talking/praying.

We made the house work for us and started dreaming about building a new home. We tried to stick with staying in Minnesota for the grandparents and the dream came close to coming true. We almost signed on a new lot for a new 5 bedroom home…. almost that is, until we realized that there would be massive power cables installed near us and we backed out at the signing table for fear of cancer and other icky stuff. It was not meant to be for us. It took some time to grieve because we had it all planned out in our minds.

Weeks later I was speaking about our situation with a co-worker at a company function; I normally do not socialize with this person but was invited out for a beer by his regular aquaintances and decided to join them. He mentioned that a vacation for the family sounded in order. I described how for several years we have always traveled to Cozumel each spring and can no longer do that because of a lack of passports (You see, that’s about when new restrictions went into effect and.... oh, do any of you realize how expensive those things are for a family of 5?) This is when my co-worker told me he has a friend with a condo in Florida.

Long ago this friend had lost his entire family to a tragic fire. He received a huge sum of money from the life insurance. One summer he took a trip to the beach with his girlfriend and bought a duplex in The Meadows. He’s had it ever since. During his off-season he began renting it out. My co-worker had planned on using it during Spring break and knew it was available before his stay. So I contacted the owner and made a deal to rent for one week for a set price. Within a few more weeks we were all on a plane to Sarasota in April of 2007.

I could go on and on about our trip there and back but will reserve that story as well. It was an amazing trip and we were blessed to have the same opportunity all over again even at the same condo in April 2008. By that time I had a strategy… I wanted to drive down, scour the coastline for the best place to live from North Carolina to East-Central Florida and hit 5 or 6 key cities then spend a few days in Sarasota and drive back north. My wife was more interested in a true vacation and not house hunting or even seeing all of those areas for ourselves. I conceded for a true vacation and we quickly turned it into a chance at 10 more days based in Sarasota. I’m trying hard not to elaborate about our trips but in this last visit, I still managed to squeeze in about 2,000 miles of travel up and down the west coast from Naples to Clearwater laced with sightseeing and got us looking at houses. It took more effort convincing my wife than I thought and I don’t feel she was entirely on board with moving to Florida at all… until we had to leave. Our last three days were spent simply lying around on St Armand, Siesta Key and St Pete became really emotional. This final trip sealed the deal.

Now my story brings us to August of 2008. We looked around ourselves one day and saw a half finished basement, dozens more of incomplete projects, hundreds of homes going into foreclosure and 6 months of snow about to dump on us. It was extremely disappointing and it has taken so much sacrifice to overcome this past (again, another story) but we have pulled together and brought ourselves to within a mere couple of weeks before we can list our house! I will continue to update this thread as we approach closure. In the meantime, I could use your prayers and support to end this chapter in our lives and start finding the right job in or around Sarasota.