Would love advice from those who made a move to another state (And anyone from Arizona)...

Well, first thing, I hope that you get admission to vet school. Have you been to Phoenix in the summer? Some hate it - others love it.

Good luck at whatever you choose.

 

Hey, I just moved to Texas four days ago. We would not have been able to make the move this early if a friend had not offered to rent out half her home, and welcome all of our many pets to boot. We had researched this area thuroughly, and had taken a road trip earlier this year to scope it out in real life. Another thing that helped is my husband took on a job that he can do from any location. I was then able to just quit my job, and now I can start looking for work here at a more relaxed pace. If that hadn't happened, I would have liked at least one of us to have secured a job in TX before moving (make SURE you can make your interviews if gong that route). If that hadn't happened, well, it would have been nerve wracking, but the job market is good enough in this area that we probably would have been alright. With a secured job, and a secured home, we saved up $4,000 for this move. That is probably way more than what we needed to save, and have not used nearly that much, so still have plenty of emergency funds. We moved with a moving van, which is not something we've done in the past, but we have furniture we actually want to keep now. Moving everything in your car costs a lot less. That money is completely separate from our 'save up for a future place of our own' account. If we were planning to buy immediately, that would not have been anywhere near enough. You will need to factor in security deposits (sometimes two months rent up front) and the length of your drive.

We are blissfully out in the cows-in-the-road country right now, but just 12 minutes away is a magnificent, huge selection, one stop grocery shop for our hipster foodie needs, and we have a major city just an hour away. I adore the country life, but I also love that we don't have to jump in immediately on providing all food for ourselves and that we still have the city life close by to go to concerts, drink coffee out of ridiculously tiny cups, join clubs covering topics only people with too much time on their hands could think of, and so forth. Rent can be quite high in some areas. I love this area, because rent and cost of living is low, but it is so close to things like good job opportunities. What is important to you? What can you live with and without?

My husband and I are both double majors from private colleges. We have moved and found jobs with our degrees before, but you often have to work in unrelated fields and/or well under your degree level and pay level. We have faced the challenge before of being "too qualified" for job A and "not qualified enough" for job B, leaving us with Option C (no employment). Also, the longer a gap between jobs...the uglier it gets trying to find a new one. It is much easier to find a new job if you are recently, or especially currently, employed. Community college and certifications have actually started serving us much better than our degrees ever did.

Am I happy we made the move? You have no idea. I love the people and culture out here, found out many of our friends have moved to this state, and have never lived on an acre til now. I've been having the time of my life clearing out saplings and weeds, planning a garden, converting an old horse shed to a chicken coop, replacing an old fence section, etc. we moved to the last state we lived in for school reasons and hated it. I finally feel inspired to work on my projects again, where as the last state we lived in drained us both. A move based on what you know you want can do wonders!

Sounds like you are ready and well prepared to me. Good luck with school, and your possible move!

 

I love AZ...have lived here about 50 years now. The valley is basically one big town with several different city names, lol. There's a mix of great, good, and bad areas in each town. Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Glendale are convenient to most things and areas. Commuting back and forth from those towns to outer towns like Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, etc., can be a real bear, but 30-60 minute commutes to work are fairly typical from any valley town. A lot of people choose to commute to the "bedroom communities" in the smaller burbs of the far north areas of Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Glendale and some of the far north-westerly burbs.

In the valley cities, rents of $700-$800 for 2 bedrooms will typically be located in not so great areas. $900-$1000 rents will typically either be in not so great areas or will be in the farther out areas. There's pockets of nice blocks even in the worst areas, so finding a decent place can be quite a challenge without knowing the areas. One of my friends rents a 2nd story 450sf 1 bd/1 ba apartment in a decent far north-east Phoenix area for $725. Another rents a nice 1100sf 2 bd/2 ba apartment for $680 but in a really bad area. Another rents a 1200sf in a decent area for $1100. ...My family has rental properties scattered around the valley and we rent those out from $950 and up...I think you should be able to find a decent rental in a decent area within your budget.

Good luck whatever you decide to do...moving to a new place and exploring all new things is exciting! Plus, as you said, just in case you've got a safety net that many never have, so I say go for it!

 

Hi,
My husband and I moved from Southern California to an isolated area in AZ. We live on 40 acres of sand and trees. We are both retirement age and didn't have to worry about looking for jobs. We live near the NM border at an elevation of about 6500 ft. We do get some snow in the winter but basically the winters are mild. If we get 6" of snow it could be gone in 3 or 4 days.

You can buy acreage out here pretty cheap but there are draw backs. We have no city services and live off the grid. The nearest gas station to us is 30 miles away and the nearest WalMart is 75 miles away. We have to make our own power and haul our water, cook and heat with propane, use a clothesline to dry the laundry, go to the PO for our mail, and take our trash to the landfill. Our TV and internet are both via satellite and our phone is a cell phone.

If you don't want a big city area, check out Concho, AZ. It isn't far from Show Low, AZ where the jobs would be. Or even Show Low or Snowflake, AZ if interested in the area around here. Both areas aren't far from interstate highway 40.

I'm not sure what city in AZ you were thinking of, but I would never live in the Valley, also called the Phoenix area. In our area the air quality is better and we don't even need to have our cars smog tested. Car tags and insurance is cheaper here also. And it is much cooler than the Valley.

We love our place out here in the middle of nowhere. The stars at night, the peace and quiet, no visible neighbors. I grow a veggie garden and have chickens. (Used to have horses).

You could check The White Mountain Independent newspaper on line to find jobs and rentals in this area if you're interested.

If you want more info on this area just let me know.

Good luck,
Cheryl the offgridhermit