need advice please help...

[daveyedgar]

Greetings,
My wife and I are in a bit of a quandary. We are in NYC and jobless with about 10k of savings. I was just approved for a permit to be an armed guard which will most likely mean a $25/hr job. That, with my wife working a retail job coming up, would allow us to work for a year or two to save up some seed money. My wife also has some savings in Japan, approx $50k.

We want out of the rat race, and would like to move to the Orlando Florida araa, buy a house, get jobs, and start working towards real estate investment for cash flow properties. We plan to buy a small starter house for around $30k cash to avoid a mortgage - at least for our personal home.

Our question is, should we stay in NYC for another couple years to save up? Or should we just go for it and head to FL?
David

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by daveyedgar

We plan to buy a small starter house for around $30k cash to avoid a mortgage - at least for our personal home.

Please tell me that was a typo.

What job prospects do you have in Florida? How about jobs for your wife?
What do you mean by 'get out of the rat race'? What would that look like for you?

Essentially, what would life look like in Florida vs what would life look like in NY?

[photo]

Originally Posted by daveyedgar

buy a house, get jobs,

Switch those two things around. Otherwise, you could eat up much of your savings just trying to stay afloat.

Do you know anyone who lives in Orlando? I wouldn't blindly move just because of housing prices.

[maat55]

If you do not like NYC, this may be as good as anytime to get out. I would likely sell all my stuff I could not carry by car or truck. If you have numerous things you plan to take it will raise the cost of your travel.

I would not buy a house until you have jobs. You should be able to find cheap rent for 6 months first. I would spend a month or two researching the area you plan to move to.

Whatever you do, live on a very tight budget until you are settled in, starting now. Good luck.

[daveyedgar]

Thanks for all the replies Here is more info...

no typo - just google and you'll find several starter houses in the $30,000 to $50,000 range; i've been browsing these the past few days.

jobs - i'm x military with 10+ years experience in security so am betting a good chance of landing a security guard job. Wife is fluent Japanese/English so since Orlando is #1 visited city in u.s. + major tourist industry am betting a good chance of getting job at Disney/airline/tour guide etc.

rat race = being an employee hoping for social security

I have a sister in Ocala

If we pay cash for a house ergo no mortgage or rent we can meet our budget on min. wage jobs. As you may know housing prices tanked in Fl among other places in the crash; foreclosed houses are selling at 90% market value avg. Many sights predict prices to stay like this through 2012. Its all we can afford. We pay $1,500/mo rent in NYC west harlem. Small 1 bed condos in Manhattan start selling at 1.5 million.

Why Orlando? No winter, prefer east coast, I like shooting sports so need somewhat free gun laws, want to be within 1 hour of coast, and would like to be near Disney for fun.

Life; Would like to have a home with a garden and enough passive cash flow to not be an employee and enjoy sunny warm weather and bbq's. I'm a retired performer and really don't need to be in NYC any more. Wouldn't mind seeing trees and sky outside my window.

It's just a matter of time before we move. I guess my question is - is there any good reason why I should wait?

[disneysteve]

I'll give you the same advice I give everyone else.

Don't let market conditions determine when or if you buy a house. That decision should be based on personal needs and personal financial conditions. You should put down at least 20% and still have at least a 6-month emergency fund. You also need to account for moving expenses. And if you plan to move before getting jobs, which I wouldn't recommend, you also need to have plenty of money set aside for living expenses until you do find jobs.

I appreciate that you are paying $1,500/month for rent now so 20 months worth of rent would buy a 30K home outright in Florida. That said, why spend 50% of your savings in a lump sum to pay cash for the house? Interest rates are super low and you're mortgage would be tiny. Put down maybe 10K and borrow 20K on maybe a 5-year loan. That gives you a lot more flexibility with your savings. If you both find jobs quickly, you can always decide to pay off the loan. If not, you'll have a low monthly payment and have it paid off in no time at all.

[cschin4]

If you don't like it, get out. Move. What better time? Why start to set down roots in a place you don't care for? I start making plans to leave ASAP.

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by daveyedgar

Greetings,
My wife and I are in a bit of a quandary. We are in NYC and jobless with about 10k of savings. I was just approved for a permit to be an armed guard which will most likely mean a $25/hr job. That, with my wife working a retail job coming up, would allow us to work for a year or two to save up some seed money. My wife also has some savings in Japan, approx $50k.

We want out of the rat race, and would like to move to the Orlando Florida araa, buy a house, get jobs, and start working towards real estate investment for cash flow properties. We plan to buy a small starter house for around $30k cash to avoid a mortgage - at least for our personal home.

Our question is, should we stay in NYC for another couple years to save up? Or should we just go for it and head to FL?
David

I probably wouldn't move unless I had jobs waiting for me in Orlando. You have a total of $60K, so that could serve as a house downpayment and an EF. Do you have any other debts? If not, then the only thing that you need are jobs in Florida.

[disneysteve]

I also wonder if you have spent any time surveying the neighborhoods where those 30K houses are located. Just like any other city, Orlando has nice neighborhoods and not so nice neighborhoods. Those dirt cheap houses might not be in places you actually want to live. Of course, I'm pretty familiar with that area and some places are in pretty decent areas. A few months ago, I saw a 1-bedroom condo in a very nice area selling for $19,000! I briefly considered buying it to use as a vacation home and renting out the rest of the time. I figured for the cost of a car, we could own a condo. Wasn't worth the hassle for us though.

I would definitely check out the job market, though. As the economy has been depressed, the tourism industry has also been depressed and jobs aren't as plentiful as they once were. I'm not sure if Disney is currently under a hiring freeze but I know they were for quite some time. Legoland is about to open so I'm sure they're hiring and Disney may be hiring when they open the Fantasyland expansion next year.

I'd start scanning the Orlando Sentinel's classified listings as well as Monster, craigslist and other job sites to see what is out there.

[LMA]

Originally Posted by daveyedgar

no typo - just google and you'll find several starter houses in the $30,000 to $50,000 range; i've been browsing these the past few days.

DANGER...be very cautious about this. A house on the internet and a house on real life can be very different things. Ask me how I know...

I am a real estate investor here in Atlanta and have looked at hundreds of houses off of the internet. Believe me that many times what you see in real life is very different from what you see on the net.

Other than that, I agree that making the move if you feel like Florida would be better for you is the way to go. It's a given the cost of living will be much lower and heck if you don't like it then you can always move back life is too short to live with "what if's"...

I agree with others that the job should come first then the house purchase. But like you probably know it's a great time to buy, specially in Florida and even better if you can buy cash.

[artwest]

I would move now, HOWEVER, before I move I would be sure that I have everything in place.

That means research the area, see what the cost of living would be, the climate, the job situation, housing. It appears that you have done some of that, I would just do as much as possible before the move. I would also rent for at least 6 months before buying a house to be sure that I like the area and I know the good and bad areas to buy a house.

I would also sell everything possible, as maat55 suggested.

[terces]

Definitely don't hold your breath on that $30,000 house. I had a friend trying to do the same thing. She eventually bought a foreclosure around $110,000 in the Orlando area. And it was no easy deal. Super hassle trying to bid on houses only to be constantly outbidded. Closing was not easy either. Every day she felt something was going to fall through. The banks are defintely not giving those houses away.

[daveyedgar]

Wow thanks a million this is all great stuff I can't thank you all enough

Ya we are thinking it might be a good idea for us to hang in NYC another year since best case scenario we should be able to save up another $30-$40k to help with e-fund and expenses in case we have a hard time finding jobs if FL. But it seems that lining up a job out of state is difficult yes? Like how would we go on interviews? Any advice on that?

I think we will also plan a vacation there to see for ourselves. We are almost settled on Davenport or Four Corners. I checked out Celebration but it has too many strict ordinances and prices are higher there. We wanted something outside the city limits that is quiet with very little crime. I'm not in the mood to hear gun shots go off every other night anymore. Plus we would like a house as far away from neighbors as possible. Of coarse that won't make commuting easy - our theory being; once we have enough positive cash flow, commuting to work won't be an issue.

[mcfroggin]

I'd get out of NYC asap. The south is so much prettier.

[krantcents]

First, get a job in Florida and then your wife and stabilize before you any spending.

[97guns]

i have to agree with get work first. im also looking to possibly pick up a house for under 50K, the area im looking in is very bad for work, most likely all area's where houses are this cheap will not have abundant work.

i would rent untill you get steady income, in my research rent will be no more $600 in these kinds of area's.