Another s/o...how do you decide if it's beneficial to move?

[CAMom]

The economy has caught up with us.:tongue_smilie:

 

Dh and I are really discussing whether or not it's time to move out of So. CA. As of now, we still have our own business and he can work remotely.

 

We currently live in Orange County which is ridiculously expensive. But how do you decide if it makes sense to move or not? I've lived in the same house since I was 10 years old and dh grew up in one of the bordering cities. When we got married, we just moved into this house.

 

Since we have no experience with moving and no experience living in other places, we're trying to figure out how to count the costs of leaving the state. What kind of things do we need to consider?

 

For example, one place we are considering is outside of Portland, OR. Some pros: it's within a few hours drive of my mom, it's within about 5 hours drive from two of our employees (we employee 6), there is access to good medical care, etc. How do you decide if an area will work for you financially?

 

We don't want to end up making the decision to move and then regret it later.

[Ali in OR]

Could you rent out your house for a year while you try out a different location? Then if it didn't work you'd still have a house you could return to.

 

We left California 20 years ago for Oregon--we would never have been able to afford a house where our jobs were in the Bay Area. We have a much better lifestyle here--nice house, no drought (I don't mind rain), beautiful place to live, healthy people (lots of biking, hiking, etc.), I get to be home with the kids. We still have family in CA, and the one hard thing is that we don't get to see them as often as we would like. But even some of them talk about leaving CA--the state is having so many problems that it's just not the same as it was when I was a kid.

[JumpyTheFrog]

If you decide to move, I recommend renting for the first 6-12 months. Then if you hate the area, you don't have a house to sell. If you like it and want to stay, you are more familiar with traffic patterns, etc and have a better idea of which area of the city you'd prefer.

[Laura Corin]

Another idea is for one of you to go to see how it works.

 

We currently are living split: Husband is in London looking for work. The rest of us are still in Scotland. In our case, because the boys are in school, we are unlikely to move to London. Otherwise, we would have followed once the job was found.

 

Laura

[CAMom]

Could you rent out your house for a year while you try out a different location? Then if it didn't work you'd still have a house you could return to.

 

 

We've thought about that. I don't know how financially possible it is, though.

 

If you decide to move, I recommend renting for the first 6-12 months. Then if you hate the area, you don't have a house to sell. If you like it and want to stay, you are more familiar with traffic patterns, etc and have a better idea of which area of the city you'd prefer.

 

Renting is a good idea.

 

Another idea is for one of you to go to see how it works.

 

We currently are living split: Husband is in London looking for work. The rest of us are still in Scotland. In our case, because the boys are in school, we are unlikely to move to London. Otherwise, we would have followed once the job was found.

 

Laura

 

I don't know if I could do it unless it was 100% necessary. Plus, economically, I don't think there's any way we could afford two households at this point.

[PhotoGal]

I'm wondering the same thing! :bigear:

[CAMom]

I will say it took money to move. We are still basically paying for it. We also had to move away from family and friends. I'm not sorry for the decision though. I think overall it was a good move for us.

 

I guess that's kind of what I'm wondering. How much will it really cost us to move? Would it be worth it?

 

So many people say, just move if you can't afford where you live. But, what will it cost people to move? :o

[Parrothead]

I guess that's kind of what I'm wondering. How much will it really cost us to move? Would it be worth it?

 

So many people say, just move if you can't afford where you live. But, what will it cost people to move? :o

As in the cost of renting a truck and packing up as opposed to having movers come in?

 

Or the costs associated with selling up, buying something else, developing new contacts, other emotional and mental costs?

 

The move renting the truck part is minimal.

 

The other costs will have to be decided by you. You might want to do the old "pros and cons" lists.

[lavender's green]

We moved from a HCOL to LCOL area last year, about 800 miles. It cost several thousand dollars, and included a full pack/unpack, shipping two cars, renting a minivan, and a few nights in hotels. DH's company paid for it, so I don't remember the exact cost. Even if we had paid for it all ourselves, it would have been worth it to move to the LCOL area, since his salary remained the same and we can save so much more money now. I've never looked back. :001_smile:

 

A couple of things to think consider, just off the top of my head, are flights to the new area to find housing, how you're going to move your vehicles (if I could do it over again I'd sell my cars, given their age and the cost of shipping), hotels and meals during the transition, costs of car registration, insurance, and licenses (that can really add up!), cost of incidentals for the new place (drapes, furniture that fits the rooms, rugs, shower curtains, cleaning supplies, appliances that don't come with the place, whatever), not to mention the costs of buying/selling homes.

[LostSurprise]

Moving costs what you allow it to cost.

 

There are people who move every day. Not all of them hire trucks or packers. Many of them just throw a bunch of stuff in their car and go, or ask a friend with a truck and trailer to help.

 

I moved a lot as a child. It rarely cost my parents more than the rental on a truck and money to eat out afterward. It all depends. If you don't have money for new stuff, you don't buy new stuff. ;)

[regentrude]

Moving costs what you allow it to cost.

 

There are people who move every day. Not all of them hire trucks or packers. Many of them just throw a bunch of stuff in their car and go, or ask a friend with a truck and trailer to help.

 

:iagree:

 

OP: are you just talking about the cost of a move, or about the overall financial picture?

 

I would approach it as follows:

If you wanted to sell your house, how's the market? What can you realistically expect? How quickly do houses move?

If you wanted to purchase in the new location: how is the market? What would you have to pay for a house?

How is the cost of living? Find data about property taxes, average utility costs, length and expense of commute.

I assume with your situation as business owners, your income would not change due to the relocation.

So, I'd weigh the above factors and see if you can sell your house for more than it would cost you to buy a house there AND offset any increase in cost of living (which I assume would not exist if you move from CA).

 

As the very last thing, I'd figure how much money I could spend on the actual act of moving. As the poster I quoted said: it costs what you allow it to cost. I have moved with a backpack and a suitcase on a plane and repurchased minimal possessions at garage sales - you probably don't need to do that because you can drive and bring stuff. We have also moved once with a car load full of possessions, and also by loading and driving a rented truck. And of course, one can hire movers and have them do all the work.

I would get an estimate for movers and see how expensive it would be and whether you can, and want to, do that. You can save money if you pack on your own, if you drive your own truck, if you eliminate possessions.

I would probably just drive the cars up. When I lived in Santa Barbara, my DH lived in Eugene, OR, and it was one very long day (or night) of driving. Yours would be a bit farther; doable in one stretch, easier by spending one night - but not as bad as driving from coast to coast.

 

 

Whatever I'd do, I would rent at the new location first for 6-12 months.

Edited October 22, 2012 by regentrude

[MooCow]

Well, dh and I both grew up in So Cal.......married, rented for a year, then could. not. wait. to get out. :D We packed up our stuff in a u-haul, and our friends in the state we were moving too came out to help us.

 

18 months later, we moved again. To the South. To a state we had never been too. Where dh's besties had both moved to. Where I told my dh when he told me so&so were moving there, I responded with He** No! Don't even ask. Never!

 

We sold just about everything, shipping what we wanted, including the second car, loaded up the minivan, and drove as fast we could with the kids.

 

Best thing we ever did. :)

 

Although, we really miss So Cal fruit.

[CAMom]

There are so many costs I don't think most people really think of. Even dumb stuff like curtains or shades for the windows. Everything adds up. We rented right away, but the place had no shades or curtains. Nothing we had fit the windows. Seems silly, but it was one of many little things few people think about or mention.

 

Hiring movers, moving trucks, etc. That is expensive. When we got here we tried to make sure we had a land line or something. Well it didn't work when we got here for an unforeseen issue so we had to go out and buy a prepaid phone so we had something.

 

If you move to a new state you need to get a new license, new insurance, follow different regulations that cost money, etc. Again, not stuff we necessarily knew about. But it's not free. So it adds up.

 

It's hard to say exactly how much it cost us.

 

These are some of the things I'm wondering about!

 

As in the cost of renting a truck and packing up as opposed to having movers come in?

 

Or the costs associated with selling up, buying something else, developing new contacts, other emotional and mental costs?

 

The move renting the truck part is minimal.

 

The other costs will have to be decided by you. You might want to do the old "pros and cons" lists.

 

All of that. :) My pro list is quite long. My con list is there but shorter. I'm trying to figure out what things may be cons that I haven't thought of.

 

We moved from a HCOL to LCOL area last year' date=' about 800 miles. It cost several thousand dollars, and included a full pack/unpack, shipping two cars, renting a minivan, and a few nights in hotels. DH's company paid for it, so I don't remember the exact cost. Even if we had paid for it all ourselves, it would have been worth it to move to the LCOL area, since his salary remained the same and we can save so much more money now. I've never looked back. :001_smile:

 

A couple of things to think consider, just off the top of my head, are flights to the new area to find housing, how you're going to move your vehicles (if I could do it over again I'd sell my cars, given their age and the cost of shipping), hotels and meals during the transition, costs of car registration, insurance, and licenses (that can really add up!), cost of incidentals for the new place (drapes, furniture that fits the rooms, rugs, shower curtains, cleaning supplies, appliances that don't come with the place, whatever), not to mention the costs of buying/selling homes.[/quote']

 

Thank you!! I know we would just drive our cars wherever we decided to move.

 

 

Real estate prices and property taxes are big factors. From what I remember, OR has little/no sales tax but high property tax, or did when my brother lived there. My parents evaluated many factors and moved out of CA for retirement; at the time they chose WA for its absence of state income tax and its sales tax being equal/only slightly higher than CA.

 

Do you want to stay on the West Coast? It's a lot pricier here than in the midwest or south. How close to a large city and its resources? Is there a state university system you'd find attractive for your kids? You usually have to be in-state for at least a year to qualify for resident tuition.

 

 

I don't really care about the West Coast. I do love Oregon and it's someplace we've considered moving for a long time but it's just one option we're thinking about.

 

You did give me some great things to think about!

[CAMom]

Moving costs what you allow it to cost.

 

There are people who move every day. Not all of them hire trucks or packers. Many of them just throw a bunch of stuff in their car and go, or ask a friend with a truck and trailer to help.

 

I moved a lot as a child. It rarely cost my parents more than the rental on a truck and money to eat out afterward. It all depends. If you don't have money for new stuff, you don't buy new stuff. ;)

 

Yeah. I guess it's kind of relative. We would definitely take our cars and most of our possessions so I guess that would mean a big UHaul or hiring movers.

 

Anywhere we'd go we'd be moving 1000 miles away or more.

 

:iagree:

 

OP: are you just talking about the cost of a move, or about the overall financial picture?

 

I would approach it as follows:

If you wanted to sell your house, how's the market? What can you realistically expect? How quickly do houses move?

If you wanted to purchase in the new location: how is the market? What would you have to pay for a house?

How is the cost of living? Find data about property taxes, average utility costs, length and expense of commute.

I assume with your situation as business owners, your income would not change due to the relocation.

So, I'd weigh the above factors and see if you can sell your house for more than it would cost you to buy a house there AND offset any increase in cost of living (which I assume would not exist if you move from CA).

 

As the very last thing, I'd figure how much money I could spend on the actual act of moving. As the poster I quoted said: it costs what you allow it to cost. I have moved with a backpack and a suitcase on a plane and repurchased minimal possessions at garage sales - you probably don't need to do that because you can drive and bring stuff. We have also moved once with a car load full of possessions, and also by loading and driving a rented truck. And of course, one can hire movers and have them do all the work.

I would get an estimate for movers and see how expensive it would be and whether you can, and want to, do that. You can save money if you pack on your own, if you drive your own truck, if you eliminate possessions.

I would probably just drive the cars up. When I lived in Santa Barbara, my DH lived in Eugene, OR, and it was one very long day (or night) of driving. Yours would be a bit farther; doable in one stretch, easier by spending one night - but not as bad as driving from coast to coast.

 

 

Whatever I'd do, I would rent at the new location first for 6-12 months.

 

Fantastic! Personally, these are the types of things I'm trying to think of. Thank you!

 

Although, we really miss So Cal fruit.

 

:lol: I'd probably miss that, too!

[CAMom]

Such great help!

 

Although I'm really excited to get some great advice for my personal situation, I was asking more as a general principle. :)

 

In the "poorer" thread, there was plenty of mention about moving to help out financially. I just want to try to figure out when moving actually results in a net gain? When does it make sense? KWIM?

[Bang!Zoom!]

Overall cost of living- taxes, gas, groceries, utilities, climate, culture.

[mommymilkies]

We have moved IL-NC before for about $1000. Moving truck, boxes, gas, food, supplies, tape, household items, hotel. That did not include a down payment for our duplex rental. I would recommend renting your current home and renting when you move. It would cushion you if it ends up being a bad move. :)

 

I am trying to talk dh into moving. It might not be for a pay raise, but we really need decent insurance and more proximity to a hs friendly environment. So once we find one, we have to weigh the risks & benefits, for sure.

[Samiam]

You really want to look at it long term though.

 

Sure, it's going to cost $1000-$2000 depending if you move yourself (and you have two teenagers if I remember your Signature correctly...so 4 people, frankly I don't see why you wouldn't move yourself), or choose to pay for someone else to do it.

 

Sure there's deposits, connection fees, etc...so yeah, some money out of pocket the first few months, but then......

 

if you are moving to a lower cost of living, lower taxes, lower food prices, lower gas prices, etc....it pays off in the end, in the day to day living knowing that your dollar goes farther.

[Sctigermom]

Our first move wasn't much of a choice. Hubby's layoff date was dec31 and dec 28 he got a job offer in another state. They gave us relocation and paid for our move plus his salary went up. 18 months later he was offered a higher position in his company several states away making $15k more, a very nice relocation package, and the cost of living was less than where we were living. We kinda go where his job takes us.

[Shellers]

We want to get out of California. We have lived in this house for over 17 years.

 

What I factor in is state income tax. I wouldn't move to Oregon, I love Oregon, but the income taxes are almost as bad as California. Why not move to Vancouver or Battle Ground in Washington State and avoid paying state income tax? You would be less than 15 minutes away from Portland.

 

I'd like to move to Washington State, but I worry about the weather and DD16's depression. My other choices are Nevada and Texas.

[Heather in Neverland]

Having done a big move, things that are important to me:

 

- is there a church of my denomination within driving distance?

 

-weather makes a big difference

 

-medical facilities

 

- extra curriculars (what are you and your kids involved in? Will you have easy access to it?)

 

 

I say go for it. Moving is such a fun adventure!!!

[mumto2]

We moved to the UK with our baggage allowance so a lot doesn't have to be spent. I am not recommending that type of a move for you but it is something that can be done. When we started planning we were planning to ship furniture etc. After pricing what the moving company was going to charge we decided our furniture was not worth that. We had been married for 20 years and the stuff needed replacing. We looked at IKEA and starter stuff was under $2000 when finished. Bought more when we found things we liked. I love pretty china-- found a lovely set that suits this kitchen for about £100. My wedding stuff would not have matched even if it had survived. It is stored still. But I did use IKEA cheap stuff for over 3 years while hunting for what I really loved. After 5 years we could use more space. Stuff accumulates quickly!:lol: We do have possessions in storage because of how odd our move was. Last year I brought the scrap books--things are pretty permanent now.

 

I would take a look at the cost of living in both places on a daily basis and go from that. It sounds like your dh would need to travel back frequently so storage could be emptied and moved by car. Much cheaper.