Anyone planning to move out of state?

If so how did you begin your searches?

We are looking for info about cost of living, salaries, neighborhoods, house developments, etc.

Thank you!

we are just begining to look into things now

we are still about 2 years away

my DH needs to figure out what he wants to do-he might open an office down there as well-

I think we are settled on Palm Beach County, FL- but I need to do reserch on neighborhoods and schools- I want to aviod private school if I can

next year we will probably start going down and looking at homes

I need to see if there is anything for me to do in my field close by once we decide

I google things- plus I am kind of lucky that my brother lives there now- so he can get info for me as we get closer

maybe you should start looking for jobs in other places and see where you guys get the best offers

you are lucky that you can both work in your fields- my DH can- but I am really limited outside of NY

but I am not too upset about it- b/c I would like to be a stay at home mom

I did a bunch of 'find the best place for you' type of quizzes and looked at msn's best places to live lists. I did research for months and settled on Atlanta since my family was already here. The below is an FM I sent out to 2 girls looking to move. I figured I'd post it...hope it helps!!

OK...so how did I do it? I made a thousand and one lists!! 'House musts' lists, 'neighborhood musts' lists, 'schools musts' lists. I check out www.greatschools.net regularly once I found a house that I liked since they tell you what school it's zoned for. My sister is a RE agent and I had access to her MLS site, so I did my own research and had her show me the houses I liked. I checked www.realtor.com as well as Metro Brokers-GMAC regularly. My sister is an agent for GMAC, so I was very lucky. I searched MSN.com for 'best places to live', I searched wikipedia.com regularly for info on cities and towns. I searched city crime rates by county, city and state. I did cost of living comparisons on monster.com and searched salary info on salary.com. Basically, I did every kind of research imaginable. I made 'pros' and 'cons' lists - leaving was NOT easy and I had to be sure since my husband left his entire family behind. But ultimately, NY was not worth it for us. We decided how long of a commute we wanted and narrowed my neighborhood search that way (I knew I wanted to live close to I20 since my family lives near that highway, so I excluded neighborhoods that weren't close).

With all that said, we were both very blessed in that we got jobs before moving here making a great living. We found the house of our dreams and live close to each other so we don't have the need for a second car right now. I started doing research in September of 05 and visited GA 4 times before we moved. It was long and tedious...but totally worth it!!

Before we moved, we came down for a week of intense interviews and house hunting. It was then that we both landed jobs and put an offer on our house. It can happen. You have to be relentless and keep that NY mentality (non-stop) going. Save the slow pace for once you're here!

I hope this helps you!! Definitely look at maps so that you could become familiarized with the counties and the cities. GA is HUGE!!

I used to live in Palm Beach County nice but expensive

ive thought about it - but my family only lives on LI (with the exception of my sister who lives in Richmond, but its boring there) so it would be hard for us to move.

any time I research somewhere, its not cheap enough for me to pick up and move far away from everyone. we may change our minds, but i think we are staying put. I work in finance and love the company i work for, and they are only in NY, NJ, and PA.

we aren't moving b/c it's cheaper- b/c it really isn't we are moving to get out of the 'Matrix' as my DH calls it- but what he really means is we feel that we could have a better quality of life outside of NY-

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Posted by Beth1210

we aren't moving b/c it's cheaper- b/c it really isn't we are moving to get out of the 'Matrix' as my DH calls it- but what he really means is we feel that we could have a better quality of life outside of NY-

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And take it from someone who moved. The quality of life is insane!! You work to live and actually get to enjoy your hard work. It pays off! You get out and it's bright and sunny and your weekends are not consumed by stress or random borning crap because there's always something fun to do. At least that's the case for us. We love it!! We actually get to see our money now even though our expenses went up!

this is a great tool from CNN Money - it shows you how far your money will go in other states

linky

i would really love to move out of state! NY is just getting so expensive but FH is still a bit scared. both of our familiies are here and we're sooooo close with them. his parents don't ever get on the highway/parkway so i dont think they'd come to visit us if we moved.

i'm looking into atlanta because the home market is hot right now. as a realtor i'm already licensed in GA since NY has reciprocity with them but i'm concerned for FH. he works for LIRR and is reluctant to leave his benefits and pension.

i'd have to say that i would definitely miss the seasons changing though. i love watching the leaves change and the snow fall. i DONT love the property taxes!

alnem...your decision is unique to ours so I can't really comment on it. Again, if DH and I could have afforded a house in LI we would have probably stayed. With that said...who said the season's change isn't noticed in Georgia? There's GORGEOUS foliage in the Fall, an amazing Spring, a hot Summer (yes, it is hot) and a Winter with flurries...not huge accumulation but it's snowed the past 7 years my family has been here...just flurries though. The weather is pretty much the same as NY except it's almost always 10-20 degrees warmer. This is all info that can be easily found should you do research.

Good luck to all those in the hunt!! Hardest decision ever!!

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Posted by Meaghan729

you are right- people move to places just as expensive, and Ive seen you post before that you have family in FLA (or going there?) and If i were in that boat I would think about it too - from my standpoint, what would my quality of life be if I moved far away from my entire family?? If i had family elsewhere and it would be a place I would like to live I would definitely look into it.

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My Dad is moving there and my Brother lives there- while I am close with my Fam- I am used to not seeing them all the time- my sister will be in Maryland-

even if my Dad didn't move there- we were panning on it- but it makes it easier to think that I will have family so close by

My DH's life will be easier away from his fam- they drive him nuts and expect us to drive an hour each way just to 'stop by'

I considered it briefly....if we ever did decide to move it would be in New England area or PA, NJ. Family is toooo important to us to move so far away from them. They're all in NY either LI or upstate and one family in PA.
Sure quality of life...blah blah blah, but our quality comes from our families. There are affordable homes outside of LI, NYC area. Not all NY is highway robbery.

Unfortunately I can't help you with your questions. Good luck in your decisions. Sasha did a LOT of investigation before moving...she's who I would look to for guidance should we ever proceed.

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Posted by 103005FallBride

I considered it briefly....if we ever did decide to move it would be in New England area or PA, NJ. Family is toooo important to us to move so far away from them. They're all in NY either LI or upstate and one family in PA.
Sure quality of life...blah blah blah, but our quality comes from our families. There are affordable homes outside of LI, NYC area. Not all NY is highway robbery.

Unfortunately I can't help you with your questions. Good luck in your decisions. Sasha did a LOT of investigation before moving...she's who I would look to for guidance should we ever proceed.

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I really wish you didn't love your family so much!!

But yes, quality of life is all about comfort...and what makes you happy. We took a gamble hoping that my DH's fam would follow and we hope it pays off.

And Lori - please know that I am DYING for you & Rich to visit me!!

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Posted by 103005FallBride

I considered it briefly....if we ever did decide to move it would be in New England area or PA, NJ. Family is toooo important to us to move so far away from them. They're all in NY either LI or upstate and one family in PA.
Sure quality of life...blah blah blah, but our quality comes from our families. There are affordable homes outside of LI, NYC area. Not all NY is highway robbery.

Unfortunately I can't help you with your questions. Good luck in your decisions. Sasha did a LOT of investigation before moving...she's who I would look to for guidance should we ever proceed.

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same here. Family is too important to me and 98% of mine is here (within 10 minutes) and I'm too much of a daddy's girl to move even 30 minutes away, let alone states away. It stinks b/c I feel our life would be easier in a less expensive area.