Renting a house.

[Tyche]

The only reason i've ever really wanted to leave NJ was to find somewhere flat to run Q_Q

My wife has been bugging me for about 2 years now to move out to the desert SW. 80-90 degrees year round and little humidity. It'd be nice, but there damn education system there is apprently beyond terrible.

[Cephius]

I'm sure houses have dipped since the market crash, but still. Cost of living here is a good 2-3 times as much as it is in the South. It's not to be taken lightly and saying "oh just go buy a house its so e-z!"

[Serif]

Depends on what you call "the south" and where. Also depends on exactly what the OP does. His expertise may require hm to live where he lives, as there may be no demand at all for that job in the south. For instance, we have no use for the best crab fishermen in the world in KY.

Haha you watching The Deadliest Catch now too?

I am not saying live in Podunk, GA but you can easily live near a large city such as Atlanta/Louisville/Nashville and pay nothing compared to living near Chi Town and have the same job. There are exceptions though but usually nothing that a quick airplane ride can't handle.

[Ksandra]

I'm sure houses have dipped since the market crash, but still. Cost of living here is a good 2-3 times as much as it is in the South. It's not to be taken lightly and saying "oh just go buy a house its so e-z!"

I agree that it isn't easy and is some want to make it seem, but even in NNJ if you buy a 400k house with 200k down that's a pretty awesome deal.

[Atreides]

for the record Wayne NJ is a pretty nice town, at least parts of it are. Not all of passaic county is that terrible, rly

[Stumblingdrunk]

for the record Wayne NJ is a pretty nice town, at least parts of it are. Not all of passaic county is that terrible, rly

there are definitely some very nice areas of wayne, but no child of mine will go to a wayne public school

[Atreides]

I never understood how NJ spent more per child than any other state in the US on education, and still have bad schools. Is it just that there's more bad schools as well as more good schools?

And yea, I can think of like at least 5 really good high schools in bergen county, all public.

[Cephius]

I never understood how NJ spent more per child than any other state in the US on education, and still have bad schools. Is it just that there's more bad schools as well as more good schools?

And yea, I can think of like at least 5 really good high schools in bergen county, all public.

Some of the best private schools are here too. IHA, Don Bosco Prep, Paramus Catholic are all high-ranked private schools that attract a lot of athletes looking to get scholarships for college. They're also insanely expensive which probably helps to inflate that $/child number.

[Ace-o-fire]

Since I'm a male nurse (lol i know) i have a bit of freedom to move around, but I'm working on my masters atm so i need to live in northern nj for at least 2 more years then i will move.

But i more the less need to figure out what i should look out for when renting, but damn i think i'll move out west after seeing some postings

[Atreides]

Mmm I remember when I was in high school, Don Bosco had loads of hot guys >_>

But yeah, there's Dwight Englewood too, which I always thought was the best private school in the county but who knows.

I went to one of the Bergen Academies, AAST, which at the time was probably one of the better schools in the county as well.

[ertyu]

Since I'm a male nurse (lol i know) i have a bit of freedom to move around, but I'm working on my masters atm so i need to live in northern nj for at least 2 more years then i will move.

But i more the less need to figure out what i should look out for when renting, but damn i think i'll move out west after seeing some postings

If you're going to graduate in 2 years and you aren't tied down to NJ. If I was you here's what I'd do: Find an apartment to live in for the next 2 years that is cheap (but not holy shit you live in worst part of harlem and in a cardboard box). Try to save up as much money as you can and when you graduate, find a job in a location that you want to live in, then see about home ownership.

[Tyche]

Since I'm a male nurse (lol i know) i have a bit of freedom to move around, but I'm working on my masters atm so i need to live in northern nj for at least 2 more years then i will move.

But i more the less need to figure out what i should look out for when renting, but damn i think i'll move out west after seeing some postings

That's not lol at all. I'm a bit shocked at the wages you're pulling though. Do you make much more than females of equal educational stature? Friend's mom makes about $32/hr as a female nurse here in KY if that gives you some wage perspective. On a plus side, male nurses are always in extremely high demand just about everywhere in the country.

[Ace-o-fire]

That's not lol at all. I'm a bit shocked at the wages you're pulling though. Do you make much more than females of equal educational stature? Friend's mom makes about $32/hr as a female nurse here in KY if that gives you some wage perspective. On a plus side, male nurses are always in extremely high demand just about everywhere in the country.

well i make $55 an hour in nyc (work 36 hours a week) at about 90k a year as a trauma nurse
and in philly i make $40.50 an hour (again 36 hours a week) in philly as a plain old male nurse at about 65k a year

but yea i kind of talked my way to making that amount since i was one of 4 male nurses in the hospital in philly . though i'll be stopping in philly come January

[Tyche]

Guessing you work the 3 day weekend in New York and 3 day week in Philly? It makes sense that your able to save $200,000 working 2 full time jobs at about $47/hr. It's really good bank for a 4 year (and in some cases, a 2yr) degree. Getting a masters for job advancement opportunities? I ask these questions for very selfish reasons...I went back to school a year and a half ago for high school teaching, but enrolled into a nursing school in the fall because of the saturated teaching market in the field I was pursuing. Maybe I was a bit biased when I said it wasn't a "lol" job.

[Ace-o-fire]

Guessing you work the 3 day weekend in New York and 3 day week in Philly? It makes sense that your able to save $200,000 working 2 full time jobs at about $47/hr. It's really good bank for a 4 year (and in some cases, a 2yr) degree. Getting a masters for job advancement opportunities? I ask these questions for very selfish reasons...I went back to school a year and a half ago for high school teaching, but enrolled into a nursing school in the fall. Maybe I was a bit biased when I said it wasn't a "lol" job.

Thursday - Friday -Saturday nyc (drunk accidents are always plentiful) and Sunday Monday and Tuesday in Philly for a cool down.

but masters for Nurse anesthetist so i can still make about 150k (if not more in privet practice) while working less and having more vacation time.

its a great field to get into since i read some where over 20% of nurses will be retiring out of major hospitals within the next 5-10 years and they are demand for them asap to get them trained.

[Absolutely Virtue]

Not to mention that this is a very good time to buy a house. Plenty of people are wanting to sell right now and house prices are the lowest they've been in ages.

This is fantastic advice, especially when you consider that every single credible source of information argues exactly the opposite. The only people who think it is a good idea to buy a house right now are realtors, and people with absolutely no understanding of how economics works.

The last thing on earth you should give a shit about right now is where prices were a few years ago. What you should care about is where they will be in the future. And every indicator imaginable says they will be down. Don't trust me, ask Google:

From the WSJ:

July 9, 2009, 10:54 AM ET

Expect More Home Price Declines Almost Everywhere

Nearly 85% of the country’s housing markets are facing an increased risk of home price declines over the next two years, and prices are likely to slide in half of the largest 50 U.S. markets through the beginning of 2011, according to a report from mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. (Read full report.)

Rising unemployment is accelerating foreclosures and home price declines in a diverse group of markets that are likely to spread the reach of housing pain beyond the hardest hit four states–California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona.

Outside of the Sunbelt, the markets that showed the greatest risk of future price declines included Bend, Ore.; Winchester, Va.; Honolulu and Atlantic City, N.J. “Probabilities of lower house prices in two years have risen significantly in MSAs as diverse as Kennewick, Wash., and Kokomo, Ind.,” the report says. The report doesn’t estimate the severity of those price declines.

Among the nation’s 50 largest housing markets, 28 are now in the highest risk category with at least a 75% of price declines. The probability of declines over the next two years rose to 92% in Nassau County, N.Y., in the first quarter of 2009, up from 78% at the end of 2008. The mortgage insurer pegged an 88% probability for declines in the New York City area, up from 68% in the fourth quarter.

The risk of future declines declined in just five of the top 50 markets, including Houston, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. Overall, risk scores declined in just 57 (or 15%) of all 381 housing markets tracked by PMI.

Expect More Home Price Declines Almost Everywhere - Developments - WSJ

[Ryany]

As someone that will likely buy a home within the next year, I'm most concerned about interest rates. (granted I don't know much about predicting future rates, but I'd guess the market crashing even more would help keep rates low to help rebound the markets) Prices have only dropped where I am about 20% since 2006, so even if they dropped 20% more, I could potentially be worse off even with the lower purchase price if interest rates jumped up to 10% or so.

[Melchiah]

Housing prices are NOT lower across the board. Markets vary by region. Every house built in the last 10 years in Jefferson County, AL was built at an overpriced rate, and the foreclosed/distressed sellers aren't coming off the prices in the slightest.

You can expect to pay about 100K per bedroom in my area right now, and about the same up north in St. Clair County.

[Fyrie]

Oh wow, my dad is about to sign a contract for a house for $422,000 and it's nothing compared to these.

http://mlsli.com/unidetailsredo_test...start=1&rpp=10

2 bedroom, attached house, lol.