We are thinking of re-locating

[beth6395]

Ok this is the story and I know the economy isn't that great for anyone right now but if we are going to do this we have to do it now.

My hubby is self-employed in Michigan he does carpentry/remodling houses and condos fire restoration yada yada. Well it is dead here we are just getting by. I told hubby lets use the checks that are coming in to pay off (Maybe $5,000-$6,000 in credit card debt) get a bit for a down payment on something in another state and let our house go. I have always loved Florida but I do not want to have my hubby dying working in the heat either we have visited Tenessee and North Carolina a lot and I love them both. We have heard good things about Arizona so where exactly is there any type of carpentry work out there that hubby could stay busy Is anyone here in the construction/carpentry field that could help me out. I am a stay at home mom with experience it doctors offices but by the time I get back to work it will have been 10 years since I have worked and the doctors are gone. So it will be like starting over for me. I only did front desk, billing and I had just started training to be a medical assistant.

What advice or information could you all give me I want to do this while the kids are still young enough that if it goes terribly bad it wouldn't effect them to much. My hubby just purchased a camper from friends I told him we could even pull that to a camper ground and live in it till we get settled I am very flexible I just want to get out of Michigan and live where I can breathe fresh air and steady temps and be able to enjoy the outdoors without freezing and dealing with the snowy winters anymore.

Thank you for any help. Sorry if I am blabbering on and on but just frustrated.

beth6395

"You didn't pause your dvd and go make popcorn did ya"
-Cathe Friedrich

http://www.picturetrail.com/juicyfruities2002

 

[Sunshine 1528]

I would think you would need to do a lot of investigating due to the nature of his business, which, is typically very slow everywhere when the economy is down.

ITA that moving at this time in your family's life may be the easiest. Perhaps you could check on past trends in the construction industry (because things will pick up eventually) and also see what housing prices were relatively speaking in the past few years before the downturn.

Your line of work should make it easy to find something, especially in the clerical/medical field. Both will never go away.

As far as steady temps, not thinking Arizona would be the state for that ! Many people who live there go north for the summer.

 

[MSJ]

My husband is an electrician in Oregon and here, at least for his company, business is booming. I don't know about carpenters. Oregon is a beautiful and geographically diverse state, but we do tend towards rainy weather at times.

I hope you find a state that works for you.

Maggie

 

[JT]

Hello Beth.

I'm in MI too and my neighbours are thinking seriously of relocating to AZ too. He might be in US Security/Homeland and has passed his required testing. She's a schoolteacher but not currently employed cause they have 2 young preschool aged children.
They picked AZ for the weather, economic climate and the major increase in population there and not just retirees.

Although the whole country is dealing with inflation, weaker US dollar, higher gas and food prices, our state just might be worse off than many others. MI (and especially the Detroit area, where I grew up) tops many lists of many negatives. The latest and greatest is that Detroit was rated as the most toxic city in the US as far as stress, polution, crime, etc...Then, Flint area came in second.

Keep us posted on your decision.

 

[hiitdogs]

Beth,

I live in Arizona and LOVE it!!! Moved here from Germany 12 years ago and there is no other place I would want to live. Granted it is a leeettle hot here between June and September - up to 115 degrees but at least it is a dry heat Spring and winter is gorgeous though, it more than makes up for the 4 hot months. But no "steady" temperature in AZ.

Overall, Arizona's economy is doing well, unemployment is fairly low due to a lot of large companies like Google, Amazon.com, Wells Fargo, etc. moving to AZ as well as the large amount of semiconductor and other high tech companies. Of course, we have also been hit hard by the real estate slow down and mortgage crunch. But it is by far less than some other states. So on the construction side of carpentry it may be a little challenging to find a job right away. However, the more high-end builders like TW Lewis, Toll Brothers, Fulton Homes and some local custom builders are still doing well, at least here in AZ.

If your DH can do custom carpentry, there are quite a few people who want to remodel their homes or put additions on and good, reliable carpenters who actually show up when they say they will, are hard to find here.

Commercial real estate construction (offices, retail stores, medical buildings etc) is still doing extremely well in AZ.

He may want to also try and get on a list of vendors for mortgage companies to do repairs and trash outs on their foreclosed properties.

There are many jobs in the medical field. You may want to check out www.monster.com, www.careerbuilder.com, www.jobbing.com.

When you say "let our house go", are you planning to let it be foreclosed on? If that is what you are planning, I would be REALLY careful with that. Not only can this ruin your credit for years to come, the mortgage company can still go after you for their loss. There are ways to negotiate with your mortgage company.

A common instrument to not go into foreclosure, stop your foreclosure and not damaging your credit too much is a Deed in Lieu to the bank. It will be a negative strike on your credit rating but not as bad as foreclosure.

A Deed in Lieu transfers the property voluntarily to the lender and your debt and/or deficiency can be forgiven.

Typically your Mortgage Company will require that your home has been listed for sale with a Real Estate Agent for at least 30 - 60 days without offers/sale and there are no other liens on the property for them to approve. Be prepared, you may have to submit a lot of paperwork, including disclosures of your financial situation. Some mortgage companies may require a broker price opinion (BPO)or an appraisal (the bank will typically get 2 or 3 BPOs from real estate agents, they will hire the agents on their vendor list, you will need to give the agents access to your house)

Another option is to negotiate a Short Sale with your bank. This also involves a lot of paperwork, you will need to submit a hardship letter, disclose your finances, etc. You can use your own real estate agent but I would strongly suggest to hire someone who really knows the ins and outs of shortsales, and your agent can be of tremendous help in dealing with your lender.

Short sales are tricky and your agent needs to be extremely persistent and a good negotiator. I am a real estate agent and in dealing with the bank on shortsales I had times where I just wanted to rip my hair out or strangle the Asset Manager at the bank x(, it's not for the overly sensitive or faint of heart.

In both cases, Deed in Lieu or Short Sale, don't sign anything before you get legal and tax advise. The debt that is forgiven by the bank may be subject to you paying taxes to the IRS. Most people don't know this and are all over sudden hit with a huge tax liability. No free lunches, the IRS tries to get their hand on our money whereever they can.

Feel free to PM me if you need any further info that you don't want to discuss on an open forum.

Yeeeeah, a fellow Catheite AND OAL friend in AZ how cool would that be!!! Whereever you will end up, I hope it works out for the best for you and your family. It's a tough decision, that's for sure. If you want to get more information about Arizona, let me know. But I am biased, I absolutely LOVE Arizona because of the quality of life.

I hope this helps.

 

[Mikkia]

Beth,
Have you all thought about Texas? Yes, the recession is still affecting the housing industry here to a certain extent, but where I live you should see the building (outside San Antonio). Just a thought. ITA with above post, that is alot of information she gave you!