Talk to me of relocation and warmth and living near GRM

I don't know if I ever mentioned it but I have a great dislike for the northeast. Which is heightened by my distaste for the cold.

Things at the job...eh, haven't been so good. I'm still employed but the work environment is slipping and long term stability is dwindling. I don't have an immediate need to jump ship but if the right thing comes along....

The right thing would be a job in the southeast, which utilizes my bizarre hodge podge of skills, offering compensation similar (with regional variance of course) to my current salary and icing on the cake would be relocation assistance.

Last month I was offered a slot in Atlanta, except they wanted me to pay my own relocation and start as a temp employee (so when it comes time to go perm all your negotiation power is gone). No thanks. If I didn't have a good job maybe.

So now a new opportunity has come up, near Orlando, very good compensation, and relocation. I'm kind of excited but its also in the early stages.

Here's where I need the reassurances and ideas of the collective. I've never done a long distance relocation with a family. We have 7 dogs, no one will rent us a place with 7 dogs. We can't sell in NJ until we get the 7 dogs out and do some work to the house (to repair what 7 dogs will do) I think any plan involves me going down solo for at least a few months to sort things out. The idea Im trying to sell to the wife is since we have rentals in FL already (sadly not close enough to live in temporarily) buy another fixer upper, something I could crash in for 3 months and reno on nights and weekends and buy for under 100k (and hopefully be able to get a partial loan on). Something we could live in for 1-2 years when she comes down. Then I can have the work done on the NJ house and sell it. Once NJ is sold she can start shopping for the house she wants.

If it was me I'd already be packing, I could live out of my car and be happy, but I have to plan around everything else. Right now I'm just trying to have some viable plans to present to the wife in case this goes further. So other interesting options are welcomed.

And while were at it tell me about the Orlando area. The job is in the Doctor Phillips area but going up toward Deland and commuting isn't out of the question, I'm used to commuting.

If you own the rentals move the family into one of those, you live in the motor home closer to work area?

Open a few windows. She should be packed in an hour.

Florida is flat and all the roads are straight. Orlando is the epicenter of mouth-breathing first time travelers and their snot-nosed brood. And dentist's conventions. And dog shows.

I'm not sure it is an improvement over the northeast - it just re-directs your hatred from retina shattering cold to everything else.

Does the relocation package include help dealing with the NJ real estate? Could this be negotiated in?

Wow! 7 dogs!

I love Florida but I hate the Orlando area for its traffic, theme park BS, and distance to the beaches.

Orlando aint bad if you're not afraid to base your residence around a shorter commute, and I think this is the case for most of Florida's larger cities. You can't say "we want this type of house, in this type of neighborhood, and we'll pay this" because you'll easily find your dream home, but it'll be a 90 minute artery busting commute.

I've always been interested in the panhandle cities of Tallahassee and Pensacola for this reason. Smaller cities, less commute, still Florida.

I lived in Florida and always felt that it was a better vacation spot rather then living quarters. The traffic is always horrible, you deal with vacationers non stop, crime was horrible, and the summer ( I lived in South FL) can be unbearable. Although today, I could probably be talked into moving at -23 degrees (my wife would start packing now). At the same time 9 out of 12 months are bearable in the Northeast and living expenses are super low.

PHeller wrote: Orlando aint bad if you're not afraid to base your residence around a shorter commute, and I think this is the case for most of Florida's larger cities. You can't say "we want this type of house, in this type of neighborhood, and we'll pay this" because you'll easily find your dream home, but it'll be a 90 minute artery busting commute. I've always been interested in the panhandle cities of Tallahassee and Pensacola for this reason. Smaller cities, less commute, still Florida.

Our rentals are in Pensacola and I quite love it. I call it eastern alabama, not FL. Orlando would put me in a position that I could buy more places in p-cola because I could drive out on weekends to rehab them before selling. Right now it's too cost prohibitive to fly down on a weekend for house work.

For other comments/questions. The fact that they are offering relocation at all is a plus, I don't think they can do anything with the NJ house other than offer me 30 days rental down in FL (which they are doing but I cant really use with the dogs) I've found a few reno jobs I could probably get and live in while rehabbing for a month or two. Not the wife's dream home but it gets me here.

trigun, you live in a different northeast than I do my friend. Here in South Jersey the living expenses are terribly high. The traffic is always horrible, you deal with vacationers in the warmer months, crime is horrible, and the winter can be unbearable. So SSDD. Not to mention a tax rate that is so high that for what I pay all in on my house I could buy a REALLY nice hous in FL (not that Im gonna, I want to downsize)

Lof8 7 dogs, 4 cats. If it helps 3 of the dogs are under 7lbs so they dont take up much space. My goal will be to avoid the theme park areas as much as possible and get north east (or west) of the job site so I'm not driving through the mouseland area.

GPS New Jersey is flat and all the roads are straight. Philadelphia and NYC are the epicenter of mouth-breathing first time travelers and their snot-nosed brood (and Im dead between em). And "dentist's" conventions (ahem, sanitation experts and such).

In reply to JThw8: Only half of NJ is flat with straight roads. I take it you are somewhere between the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway around exit 7? You can find plenty of country roads with twists NW of Trenton but there is nowhere in NJ to hide from the tax man.

I have a 100 mile round trip commute from Daytona to east Orlando (Altamonte Springs) for when I am in the office about 3-4 days a week. You will get backup once you hit Lake Mary/ Altamonte every day in the morning. Up until then it's usually pretty smooth and only gets worse the closer to downtown you get.

On the way home its usually backed up to Deltona. That being said its about 1-1.5 hours to each way and rarely worse.

Once you get off I-4 or one of the toll roads the surface streets are not alternatives. Its a pretty crappy roadway system compared to Jacksonville or DC which are the only other two venues I've regularly commuted in. They are starting a 6 year project on I-4 now so its going to get worse before it gets better.

Housing is pretty inexpensive and varied so I'd recommend taking your time and getting a place near work that fits your needs rather than commuting.

The nature of my job has me traveling the area to include so I sometimes work from home or go directly to or from an inspection home. That and I'd much rather deal with a commute that varies than take the wife from a 5 mile commute to a 25+ by splitting the difference.

The Orlando area was so bad 25 years ago when I worked in Sanford, I don't think you could get me there now.

Greg, thanks for the input. I do 75 miles each way right now and its the same hour to an hour and a half or more depending on time of day. I work a flex schedule now (6:30-3:00) and miss most traffic. So if I have to commute to be where I want then that will be what I negotiate with the new company.

Wife would like to be as close to the beach as possible which is a definite commute. I'd like to go a little northwest which seems like it would set me up for a good commute to the Doctor Phillips area.

Either way I want to be as far out of the city as I can be commute be damned.

Wife is a remote worker so her commute will be determined by the distance from the bedroom to whatever we set up as an office in the new house, no problem for her :)

It sounds like you want to get out of the cold. More power to you. I did, and so far no regrets. That said, I have not done a summer here yet.

When the wife and I decided to move we picked a location, and then started looking for jobs rather than looking for a job anywhere warm.

Factors we considered: (1) weather (2) political climate (3) frequency of natural disasters (4) proximety to mountains and ocean (5) job market (incase the first job didn't work out)

There are things that I miss. Chief among them is family on account of our 1.5 year old. Also little things like parks, sidewalks, street lights, etc. There were more of them and they were nicer in the cold climate.

In the end we did not rule out the possibility that we would move back some day, but after going for a motorcycle ride on Christmas day it doesn't look likely.

Traffic bad near Orlando? Well yes...I suppose, if you've never been to L.A., Atlanta, D.C., Chicago, NY, or any other metropolitan area. Does it suck--- well yes, yes it does, but it's suckitude is far less than larger cities.

Also, not all the roads here are straight. You can find nice (speed unlimited) turns at Sebring, Roebling Rd, Daytona, The Firm, and Homestead---- and they are open all year round! Seriously though, there are some nice roads in the center of the state. We even have a few hills. (near Mt. Dora)

Orlando is 45 minutes from the Ocean. (Cocoa Beach)

There's plenty of inexpensive housing available outside of Orlando. Deland is a nice little town that is worth looking into. There is a small college there, so the town has more of a artsy, quaint feel than many other small Florida towns. Lakeland is also a nice town worth looking into.

and there's this---- on Sunday I spent the entire day on my boat fishing.....it was near 80....I got a sunburn.

To be honest I didn't start job hunting. The job hunted me. It just happens that FL is on my short list of places to move, granted I prefer the panhandle but Orlando puts us driving distance to Key West which we love.

My wife will miss family more than I will. The frequency with which I see my family probably won't change all that much but then again we live near her family not mine.

The significant cost of living/tax difference will allow her to fly home more and see them.

Joe, definitely been looking at Deland and Lakeland, even as far out as Titusville (closer to the beach the better for my wife) The key is going to be finding something cheap that I can live in and have rehabbed in 3-4 months of nights and weekends so I can move the wife down. Its the only way to make it work. Luckily it seems there are plenty of properites which fit the bill.

Plenty of properties--- that's for sure. I'd look at the New Smyrna Beach area before Titusville. NSB is a nice / surfer town with plenty of upside. It's like Daytona without the special events, and seediness. Titusville has seediness in spades, but is cheap....real cheap!

Merritt Island / Melbourne area is also nice---but pretty far away from the Panhandle. I'm not all that familiar with the West side of Florida--- as I've spent most of my time on the Ocean side. Hopefully someone with more experience of that side can chime in.

trigun7469 wrote: At the same time 9 out of 12 months are bearable in the Northeast and living expenses are super low.

Define "super low" living expenses in the Northeast. Maybe if you backpack in the Poconos... I just moved out of the Philly area down to Atlanta. Spent my entire life there. It ain't cheap.

Jim, I think I mentioned this when you were considering moving to Atlanta. If you're really committed to the idea, you'll find a way to make it happen logistically. It may not be fun or easy, but you'll get through it. We found our way into moving down here, and we lucked out and had things break our way (hell, even my car which wouldn't have been useful here in Atlanta got totaled 3 weeks before we moved...talk about lucky). First, be sure it's what you and the family really want to do. The grass isn't always greener... Though it does get green here much earlier than where you are.

In reply to Klayfish: I live in Erie, where a house that is $500k in Philly or Atlanta is 250k in Erie. It is cheap to live here, everything is within 10 minutes. The winters are brutal. Spring, Summer, and Fall are nice though.

I went from Syracuse NY to Greenville SC and have not had a single regret, so I get the drift. My company was quite generous with relocation. Are you sure there isn't more that they can do for you?

I am sure we GRM folks can provide some temporary housing for the dogs if it comes down to it.

Klayfish. I agree we can find a way just looking at options for that way. Hell I don't want to but I could cash out my 401k and buy a place cash in FL. Then when the NJ house sells I'd be living mortgage free.

Also looking at the fact that the wife is not on our current home loan so she might be able to mortgage a small place in FL.

Tuna. We are still at interview not negotiate so anything is possible but usually they offer to put you in a rental longer. A rental won't work for us.

Today was a particularly bad one at work so I'm ready to make this happen if things go well.

If she likes the beach I would look into Ormond, Port Orange or New Smyrna as Joe mentioned.

If you do south port orange or new smyrna you can take 44 to I-4. Depending on where you are in deland it wouldn't add much if any commute time and she would be real close to the beach.

My only point being is to stay near the highways because the surface streets are a pain around the rush hours.

trigun7469 wrote: In reply to Klayfish: I live in Erie, where a house that is $500k in Philly or Atlanta is 250k in Erie. It is cheap to live here, everything is within 10 minutes. The winters are brutal. Spring, Summer, and Fall are nice though.

Ah ha, that explains it. If you're anywhere within 100 miles of the Atlantic ocean anywhere from Baltimore to Boston, it's ridiculously expensive. It's one of the reasons we came to Atlanta. A $250k house here with $2k/year property taxes is $450k with $8k+/year in taxes in the suburbs of Philly. Granted, our last house in PA had 3.5 acres, but we lived 60 miles from Philly and still paid $11k/year in taxes alone.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1235-E-Minnesota-Ave-2-Deland-FL-32724/2103856389_zpid/

Here is a place in deland a friend of mine looked at that should suit your automotive needs, is fenced and has a pool. He said it looked pretty good, I did a drive by and it seemed decent in an OK area.

He couldn't get an FHA loan on it due to some weirdness about it being a duplex but being classified as a triplex an the breakers need to be changed so they are looking for someone with cash or financing arranged.

We were watching the local news while eating dinner tonight. They're predicting a maximum of 2-3" of snow here tomorrow afternoon. They had no less than 5 reporters covering all kinds of "angles" to the potential snow, schools are cancelled already. They cancelled them today because we got literally 1/2" of snow last night. They were showing local emergency management teams having disaster plans in place, etc... I heard it was -6 in downtown Philly this morning. So there's a good side to coming down south, you'll like winter much more and can laugh at people freaking over a nuisance snow.