My wife and I are planning to move in the near future to alocation about 90 minutes away from our current home. This distance would make it nearly impossible to continue to work where we do now which would mean a 2hour commute one way.
We are both self employed (Carpenter/Massage Therapist). The idea of moving is both exciting and at times very frightening as this move is for the purpose of purchasing our first home. We hope to keep our payments lower than our current rent but the area we will be moving to does not seem to have quite the same economic opportunities as where we are now. We are moving to Columbia County, NY from Putnam County. Most of our clientele is in Westchester. There is a element here that we are trying to escape but also many elements that are good to have.
Would any of you be kind enough to relate any experiences you have had along the same lines or just offer some words of wisdom? We are not recieving many good words of encouragement from some of the people we talk to about this, perhaps soley because they wish to she us stay in the area.
Thanks,
Eric
Replies
Firebird,
I have moved and changed careers a number of times. Career changes amount to 5 and moves of a significant distance amount to 3. I believe that anyone that is truly industrious and wants to succeed/work can and will no matter where they go. I left the Army in 1978 during a recession and everyone said "you're nuts there are no jobs" and found one in 3 days. A month later I got a better one.
I always think of a line in a Kenny Loggins song that goes "everyones got a boat out on the ocean, not everyones sailing off to sea". I think thats true. No risk no reward. You may have to charge less, go through some lean times, make the commute once in awhile to keep money coming in but if you keep after it it will happen for you. I am living proof. DanT
"everyones got a boat out on the ocean, not everyones sailing off to sea".
That's good wisdom. One of the reasons for this whole thing is to invest (sail) ouselves out of the rent trap. We're both middle age and not getting any younger.
No risk no reward. You may have to charge less, go through some lean times, make the commute once in awhile to keep money coming in but if you keep after it it will happen for you. I am living proof.
That pretty much sums up my feelings. My wife is a little less gutsy and in turn starts me to thinking. I've told her that she absolutely must not expect this to happen without some sacrifice. I already plan to join the local COC, Volunteer Fire Dept. etc. in order to get out there and be seen.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Eric
Since you mentioned middle age and wanting to get out of the rent trap, you'd be best off buying a small house and investing the savings over rent, rather than upping your payments to eat up all the tax savings. Especially being self employed you should be taking advantage of the retirement savings plans (IRAs and such). There's hardly a better deal anywhere than tax-advantaged plans like these.
You should take on a mortage for much less than the bank will lend you. Their estimates of how much debt you can take on are higher than would be wise.
yeah, the one broker we have spoken to so far pre-qulified us for more than we want to spend. We are pretty easy to please in a simple way. We like nice stuff but we aren't willing to hab=ng ourselves out to dry to get something of little practical use.
Thus a small simple home would please us well. We are considering building as well.
Thanks,
Eric
I worked in St. Lawrence County, NY at the same place for 18 years. Last summer my whole department was broken up and eliminated and my job was gone. Those first few weeks were the hardest I've ever gone through. It hit me harder than I thought this type of thing would.
I had just been three years in my dream home, that I built after planning and waiting 13 years for the land to become available. I put a lot of myself into the home, building the front door, garage doors with stained glass, all the kitchen cabinets of cherry, hand-made ceramic tile, and so forth. The house even had a 600 square foot workshop with radiant floor heat, built in dust collection, . . . . There were nice neighbors and a great location. There were no other jobs in the area, so I had to look elsewhere and lost the house.
I've been in a new job 3 months now downstate. The job is awesome. Before the job cut, when thinking about what I'd like to do next in my career, I had certain things in mind. What I found was different -- same career but a step "backwards" into a lower classification job. I love it. It has all the fun parts of the field without most of the parts I like less well. If I was offered a big raise to go back I wouldn't.
It's not a bad time to move. Housing prices are generally down. They were down a lot here, 40% off the prices for the same homes 3 or 4 years ago. Mortgage rates are down, too, to near historic lows, so it's a very good time financially to buy. Also, remember that your mortage interest and property taxes are deductable on both your federal and New York State taxes. Early in a mortgage over 90% of the payments are interest. For every $1000 you pay for mortgage interest and taxes, you'd reduce your income taxes by roughly $250 to $300 dollars (assuming your combined federal and state marginal tax rate was about 25 to 30%). So you could afford higher payments for a house than you could in rent, or you could put more away in savings and investments. Of course, there will be maintenance and utility costs you may not have as renters.
You don't need to hurry to buy a house. You could rent in your new area until you learned where you'd want to live. It's likely that housing prices and mortgage rates would be on a rise now, but they likely won't skyrocket in the next year.
If you intend to take clients at home for the massage therapy, you have to check the zoning to see if that type of business activity is allowed on any property you are considering.
I could go on for pages about moving advice and tips. But, let me say, I'm very happy in my new job and town. I keep in touch with old friends by telephone, email, and online chat. Some have visited. I'm making new friends, exploring new stores and neighborhoods, trying new restaraunts. I've been enjoying trying out a different church every Sunday, 'till I settle in and join one. I'm hours closer to my parents and brother. Moving can be a rejuvenating experience; I feel younger again.
tho I have little first hand experience with moving, I do have an observation or two - it would appear that you are moving from a 'midscale' area adjacent to an 'upscale' area where you had employment - if Columbia county qualifies as the 'hinterlands' the massage therapist may have trouble finding clientel - disposable income is at a premium - for that matter, the carpenter will problably find that the work is of a different nature, and higher end jobs/designs/materials are non-existant -
so, i guess my words of 'wisdom' are, if you're moving to the hinterlands, be prepared for a lifestyle change, be very conservative (in the old fashioned sense) with your resources/assets, and be careful as you enter the community - I'm guessing the population is smaller than where you're at - and a small community can be rather insular - personal relationship faux paus (sp?) can haunt you for a long time...get involved in a community organization right away - something like the 'friends of the library' is a safe, low key way to get into the local society and will help you get the lay of the land -
DOUD, hinterland resident...
We are going from mid to upper(very) to a mid/low mixed with some very upper as well. The county is bordered on one side by the Berkshire Mountains (Mass) Great Barrington, Lenox etc., on one side and the Hudson River on the other. Most parts of the county are 30 mins. or so south of Albany and the area is slowly undergoing a change (revival?) of sorts. It is also becoming popular with people migrating north(us) who are escaping VERY high home prices.
You can still by a decent home with some land for 150-200k.
I hear what you are saying about the closed society and can certainley understand how some folks resent outsiders.
Thanks,
Eric
firebird
How long have you been in your current location? Moving can be stressful, but also rewarding if you do your homework. I grew up as a military brat (father in Navy 30 yrs) so moving every 1-2 yrs was a normal way of life for me.
One word of caution though, IMHO...find a short term rental first. Like a month to month or 6 month max. The reason: after my father retired, we ended up on the east coast. I missed the west coast so much that after 10 yrs and my getting married, I moved back. Settled in NW Phoenix,{not Calif :-( but close}and bought our dream house.
BIG MISTAKE......should have rented. After a few months, I realized my DW was not happy and the job I had was not what it was presented to be. So, after about 6 months we packed up and moved back east. I couldn't sell the house...89'90 was a buyers not sellers market...so it sat vacant for 6 months. Finally able to rent it The next 7 yrs was filled with typical grief from tenants. The same couple rented it the whole time and even expressed an interest to buy, but you know the saying.....money talks and bullsh$t walks. Sold it in 97 and got a decent return, but not worth the hassles.
So the moral here is find a rental first, even though you want to exit the rental world. Find out FIRST if this area is where you want to put down your roots, by living and working there.
my .02
Good luck and go for it!!!
Thanks Bob,
I've been in the same general locale (30-35 mi. radius) all my life. DW has made one or two LD Relo's but always with a job offer. We would be moving about 75 miles north of where we are now.
I think that is HER biggest fear although she has been successful at locating potential jobs and contacts in the new area already. I'm fairly confident I could find something to do, I'm capable of many things.
Perhaps we should rethink the rent first thing. That would mean that if we stay we would have to move twice. The R E Market is quite healthy and I would not anticipate a problem selling after a year or two if things did'nt work out. We would actually still be close enought to commute to where we work now but it would probably kill us quickly.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Eric
This thread is very interesting to me because we ( my wife and I )will most likely be moving in a year or two. I've lived in the same geographic area my entire life ( 50 yrs. ), so I know that a move will be unsettling, but I'm also hoping it will be a chance to develop new connections and friendships.
The part I'm dreading the most is packing and moving all our belongings. I've already suggested burning the house down and buying all new stuff, but my wife is being a bit more practical by telling me that insurance most likely won't cover replacement costs.
If your thinking of moving your stuff yourself........get a truck ALOT bigger than you think you need. And don't use UHAUL. They left me scrambling for a truck at the last minute once......it's a wonder I didn't kill someone!
Better yet, have someone else do it.
It's a little scary..why ya moving?
Eric
My wife is in her final year at seminary. Once she graduates, she'll be looking for a church somewhere.
When we married, I dragged her from Michigan to NJ. Now I figure its time to follow her somewhere.
Shep
unload all you can...yard sale, classified, etc
start fresh, its worth it
BTDT :>)
"Most of our clientele is in Westchester"
Eric,
Lots of money too be made in Westchester/NYC area. You move to the boonies...good luck. If I were in your shoes, and I really wanted to live there, I'd save my money so I had at least 50% of the price of the home.
If you are in "the rent trap" as you call it, you may be living in too nice a place for your means to achieve your goals. It wouldn't surprise me if you could make triple where you are now, IF your good, vs the type of work and competition you'll face up there.
Jon
BTW, How'd ya' come up with the screen name firebird?
DW and I have "lifestyle issues". There are alot of thing we'd rather be doing than working so we try to maintain a delicate balance. That and we can't see spendind (if we could afford it) 3-400k on a house with no land. Most of what we MIGHT be able to afford around here are old shacks with tiny lots and polluted ground water systems. Not much of an investment there.
Sure' I could do a lot better IF I wanted to hire some guys and chase work like a madman. I had a small crew once, it's just not for me. Right now it's me and my son. semi relaxed, good times and once in a while we actually make some money:).
Columbia County is changing from being the Boonies slowly. It is very nice up there and as i stated it is very close to Mass. Berk$hires and to Albany. Heck, when I moved to Putnam 15 years ago it was the boonies up here.
The screen name I should loose......I feel like a baccy spittin redneck.
When I was younger I was a big fan of Pontiacs. Firebirds, GTO's, big engines and lots of carbuerators. I often used parts and peices of various old cars as pw and such, (don't tell anyone)
Eric
"When I was younger I was a big fan of Pontiacs. Firebirds, GTO's, big engines and lots of carburetors"
Firebird,
Actually, I had a feeling. My first car was a red '70 GTO. Then a red '68 GTO, Then a '71 SS454 that I, for about a week, put a HUGE cam and tunnel bog on (think that was '81) I still have that one,...with still only 21K miles on it. BTW, it ran like $hit. In LS6 configuration w/t nitrous it was a mid to low 11 second car. The list goes on.
Back to your thread. Any reason to limiting your self to NY? One of the reasons I moved to WI was, for the cost of living vs incomes, the upper midwest can't be beat. Winters can be cold, but so can upstate NY. In Milwaukee, you can still buy a house (in the 'hood) for $20K, live in it for a while, save your money, and move on to something nice for $70K. Our maintenance guy at work did just that. A newbie apprentice carp starts at ~$12hr. I think good ones can make close to thirty plus overtime. And there is lots of work here.
Think about that. Very easy for a working couple to have an easy six figure income. Pay off a house in a few years. Save more, then decide where you want to go. ie bigger house, retire early.
I did it.
Jon
I just wanted to thank all of you for your thoughts; and puff a last life into the thread for those whom it might have Prosperoized before they saw it!
Thanks again,
Eric