Sold my house, ready to move.....now I get a job offer with a short commute, what to do now??? (Seattle: rent, mortgage)

[Tony1790]

Well,

I got tired of the 5 hour a day Seattle commute from Kitsap county and retired from my military job and sold my house while waiting for the youngest to finish school in June.

Meanwhile, I've been applying for jobs here in WA, also in TN/NC/GA/SC (cheaper locales).

So wouldn't you know if, I finally get a job offer, starting out at $16 hour, moving up to $18.50 an hour, it's a govt job with the Navy and at the most a 20 min commute. Less if I move up next to the base.

Good paying job with little to no real commute, should I take it and stay here or continue with the plan to move?

I hated the traffic, the cloudy skies and other things here. But now it's getting to be nicer weather, I don't have a commute and am getting a decent paying job. I don't have a high mortgage anymore, now that I'll be a renter, I can rent for less than my house payment was, so I'd be pocketing the diff.

Should I stay or go, what would you do?? I know it's my decision, I'm just asking for advice, advice is free and worth just that sometimes.

Thanks for your input, I'm flying down to GA for a last leg of a job interview with a train company, if that works out I'll need to make the decision about staying or going pretty quickly. The govt job won't start until next month, but I have to decide to take it within the next week.

Tony in Kitsap county

How old are you?

[Tony1790]

Originally Posted by ShadowXOR

How old are you?

I'm 40 yo, not old yet, but not young anymore either.

[magrack]

Run, Tony, run.

LOL, just kidding.

That's how WA trapped me. I got out of the military and found a good job and in the blink of an eye, decades had passed.

Here's a way to look at it.

You're starting a second career. Looks like your starting wages aren't too bad. If you have a decent retirement plan and benefits it may be worth spending time building equity in a second retirement, so that when you do end up moving to a different area, you'll really be able to retire.

As you said you aren't old but you aren't young either. If you're going to be happy somewhere else and can make comparable money I would go. If you can't make comparable money I say stay and save up.

[escapetacoma]

Originally Posted by Tony1790

I'm 40 yo, not old yet, but not young anymore either.

It would seem to depend largely upon how much you hate the "...cloudy skies and other things." since *most* of the traffic woes go away with the shortened commute. Not all of them, mind you - you might still need to go to the other side of Puget Sound once in a while.

Are you certain that you'll be comfortable down south? Can you be sure that you won't have a wicked commute? If you answer yes to both of these I'd say it's probably best to leave - while the grey skies are slowly receding they'll be back....

[Tony1790]

So here are my options so far, I've been mainly applying for government jobs as that's what I know and they seem to have the best pay benefits, plus some of them are easy to apply for long distance.

Dept Navy: Job offer in WA state start $16 hr, after 6 months $18.50.
I also Interviewed awaiting for news on job offer for Navy job in GA, starting out at approx $18hr

County Jailer in Asheville, NC, I know some people, should be able to get me on, starting pay should be just over $16 hr, then just over $17 after 6 months.

Norfolk Southern Railroad, final interview process next week, if accepted I'll be assigned where they need me, I asked for Knoxville, but it could be anywhere. Pay is good, starting out $51,000 annually plus 10% bonus.

So my question is this, most of these jobs pay pretty well, but as you can see they ain't in TN, should I take one of these jobs if offered. So far one is a definite offer, the others are 90-95% chance of getting an offer.

What I'm thinking is best is to take one of the following options:

1. Take the local Govt job, work for 1 year and then try to transfer to a closer govt job either in TN/NC/SC.

2. Take the GA job if offered, as it is closer and I can weekend it in TN looking for work, etc. I can't do this from WA state, where I'm currently located.

3. Take the Asheville job if offered, it's county and close to TN and I could in theory commute from TN, but that's not likely. At least I'm only an hour away from Johnson city and I could search for housing and jobs from Asheville.

4. Take the Train manager job (hopefully in TN) a) it's high pay with high potential for moving up the ladder. b) Even if I don't get TN at first I can hope to transfer to TN later and still have a good paying job.

5. Last option is to move to TN, live in my travel trailer (where I'm living now) and hope for the best and try to find something locally.

What are your educated guesses/opinions on the best for me and the family.

We are debt free currently with savings in the bank, wife works for the local grocery for $17.50 hour, she'll make half that (maybe) down south. Lots to consider, cost of living, wages, lifestyle, etc.

Thanks

Tony

[magrack]

Take the train manager job, build seniority and transfer to Knoxville (if you're not offered it initially) at first opportunity.

[Tony1790]

Originally Posted by magrack

Take the train manager job, build seniority and transfer to Knoxville (if you're not offered it initially) at first opportunity.

Thanks,

That seems like one of the best choices, I'm also leaning toward staying here for a year while saving up the cash that I'm not spending on a mortgage. I love the idea of moving, but it's scary to actually do it. Not so much the change of location, but the not having steady income part, this is my first time in 20 years having to worry about where I'll be working and it's no fun.

Steady work is great and I miss it, financially I should have stayed in the military, but that was driving me crazy. Now I'm saner, but unemployed and stressed trying to find a job

This nice weather that we've been having with clear skies makes it hard to want to leave WA, but I know those clouds will be back.....

Tony

If you like TN I would say the railroad job since with $51,000/yr. plus your wifes income you would make a comparable amount to both of you working in WA for roughly $16/hr. but you would be in a place you enjoy more (probably).