low income young family moving to UT in a month (Salt Lake City: apartment complex, rental)

[TheKracken]

Hi! My wife and I currently live in the seattle area and our lease ends october 1st. We also have our baby due any day now.

We are low income and young (21&19).

Staying in seattle is not an option, it is way too expensive. We are not very familiar with utah but we did visit and loved it, especially SLC and provo.

My wife is a Nanny full time at the moment and I was going to school full time and no job.

Anyone have any advice on where to live and job hunting in these areas? We are moving october 1st and have 3 vehicles and a cat. Budget is probably 1k a month max. We have over 6k in savings and no secured jobs in utah.

[Lraien]

Where are you going to go to school? I'd say get on the wait list for family student housing. Where we can advise you to live is going to vary depending on where you plan to go to school.

Are you just going to live off your student loans and grants? I suppose you can - I did it for a brief time and regret the hell out of it - still paying for money I don't even remember spending. I will even preach to random people on the street that accumulating debt for school is a very poor decision - outside of a select few professions like MD, etc. where you know you'll get payback in spades.

Need more information about your plan. As it stands, I feel like I may start spouting about things that really don't apply to you...

[TheKracken]

I will be taking a semester to a year off school to work and make a little bit extra money. I will apply to BYU Provo, BYU Idaho and the University of Utah in SLC.

[justducky2]

SLC is NOT cheap. My college kid just graduated from Westminster, down the road from U of U. She couldn't stand the roommates in the dorms, and so got her own housing. One year in a duplex south of Sugar House (WAY too expensive!) in Mill Creek, but then the landlords divorced and she had to leave.

She ended up moving up to Farmington (north of SLC) and taking the train into the city - nice apartments there in Farmington and walk to the rail station and grocery shopping, restaurants, etc. Nice newer apartment complex. But it wasn't cheap. I think they were paying $1100/month for a one bedroom.

Lots of basement apartments in the greater SLC area. You might find something like that.

[Geo-Aggie]

Midvale is pretty central (Mid..val..ley) and inexpensive. There has been a minor revitalization to the area over the last 5ish years as lots of people who would've previously considered it undesirable now find themselves unable to afford the more expensive city or the south valley suburbs. West Valley City and Taylorsville also tend to be affordable in parts, but if you ended up working in Lehi or something, I wouldn't want to make that commute from the west side. "Downtown" West Valley (3500 S and 2700 W) has a lot of apartment development around the "Trax" (train) station, and it's surprisingly nice given the area's former reputation.

Don't bother with Davis County (Farmington, Bountiful, etc.) as it's going to be more expensive than places like Midvale or Taylorsville and really limit where you work as Davis County is comprised almost entirely of soulless bedroom communities with big box stores and lots of chain restaurants.

KSL's Online Classifieds should be your friend if you want to find a less formal rental agreement and save a few bucks.

Also, if I may offer some unsolicited advice, apply at Utah State University as well. Logan, Utah is so incredibly inexpensive and a fantastic place to raise a family while attending university. Plus, in my largely biased opinion, the university simply offers a better university experience than you'll find at the BYU schools, and a more affordable and non-trad-friendly experience than what you'll find at the U. You can probably still rent a 2BR basement apartment walking distance from USU for $800 a month. Plus, your post set my "Mo-Dar" (Mormon Radar) off and I can promise you that short of Rexburg and Ephraim there are no more shamelessly-Mormon communities on the planet, than Logan. That is, if that's what you're into. Personally I'd never move back to Logan because of it, but if I were still Mormon that'd be a draw to me. In fact, based on the limited budget and the strong student-economy of Logan, I'd maybe even suggest looking there right now?

Good luck!

[Montygirl]

I think you will be shocked at the cost of living in SLC. Not as cheap as people think. Obviously not Seattle standards but still pricey especially on rents and property prices climbing as lots of people moving in especially from West coast. Lots of job opportunities but personally I don't feel that these are necessarily in pace wage wise with the cost of living

[Coffeequeen]

What are you studying, and how far through are you?

[Katzpur]

Married student housing (University Village) is probably the least expensive housing worth living in that you'll be able to find in Salt Lake City. You do have to be a full-time student at the "U" in order to qualify, though. Just saying that in case you decide you want to get right back into school.

[Philippe Renaud]

Hate to break it to you but you will have to consider renting. Sounds like you would like around 2 bedrooms minimum (so 2 bed 1 bath also a 2 car garage) And the way Utah is growing with 1000 a month you won't be able to afford a home priced at 200k. If you were looking at homes at around 200k here it would have to be off-market to make sure an investor hasn't snatched it up.

It's not that there are not homes for under 200k it's just that someone has probably already bought it and will either flip and rent or flip and sell within the year.

If you were able to increase your budget, around 1300 a month, along with programs for first time home buyers like Utah housing, then it is POSSIBLE. you just have to move quick!

If not then renting near the Universities in Provo, or the U may be your only options, gives you the city feel and environment you want, and it's fair given the amount of action in those areas.

[easternerDC]

The hard part about utah is that wages are LOW, and housing is comparatively high cost when compared to income. You may find it relatively hard to find good paying jobs with less than a college degree.

Yes, Utah is a lower cost of living compared to Seattle, especially when it comes to housing, but wages are much much lower.

I am sure this could be refuted based on others personal experience, but this has been my experience as well as that of others that I have met.