Should I relocate for more money or stay and pay off my house?

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset I faced the same decision, also in IT, I loved my house, it was ideal. I took the job in the other city which was very far away, and came back about every second weekend to the house I loved. Once I knew the new job was good, I rented out the house I loved, so that I could return to it later. I made friends in the new place, dated, got married, still rented out the house I loved. After 12 years of one or two visits per year to the house I loved to check on tenants, I realized I'd never live there again, as I had changed. I'm still renting it out, but will sell it soon. Renting out the house I loved while away, meant it cost nothing or made $$$ , which made the new place cheap to live. By the way the salary increase I got was easily banked and 12 years of that increase ended up being a big pile of $$$$. I vote go for the new job, meet new people, since you don't mention dating, I'm guessing the change would be good for you.

Thanks for sharing your story. Did you rent the house yourself or go through a property mgmt company? Did you ever rent to family? I have a family member who said he would be willing to rent or buy my house if I ever were to move. Not sure if renting to family is a good idea though.

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by l8_apex Actual salary and housing dollar amounts would make it easier to provide an answer with some meat to it. Without that, I'd say if you're willing to move, you should cast your net farther and engage some recruiters to see what kind of salary is possible. I wouldn't limit yourself to something so close as long as you're willing to relocate.

I would like to remain within weekend driving distance from family...although sometimes I wish I were in a warmer climate lol.

Not sure about the numbers for the rent. The rent at the new location could range from 600-1200, depending on the size of the apartment (or house) and location. I could either rent in the small town I would be working in or the nearby big city approx 25 min away or somewhere in between.

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman Go for the new job. But keep the house for a while until your life style works out. You'll know when it's time to rent it--or sell it--or keep it.

That makes sense, I thought I would maybe hold onto it from 6 months to a year and then reevaluate.

[Closet_Gamer]

A couple of opinions:

1). Life is too short to sign up for long commutes on a sustained basis.

2). Net worth development isn't about what you earn, it's about what you keep. Do the detailed work including taxes, COL, and simple things like cost of lunch. The 40% increase may yield a lot less in terms of real gains. Doing a big move that nets you basically a car payment isn't worth it.

3). View this strategically regarding your skills. You're young. If your skills are atrophying then run, don't walk, to the new opportunity.

4). You're young...mistakes can be undone...risk is good. All else being equal, take a risk and then work hard to make sure it pays off.

Good luck.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Darsow I have a family member who said he would be willing to rent or buy my house if I ever were to move. Not sure if renting to family is a good idea though.

Probably not, as it could put you in the position of having to evict him/her if things went sour in their financial world. If that happened, could you do it?

Even if they're of good character and in a stable job like government they can still get sick or injured and be unable to work.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Darsow Thanks for sharing your story. Did you rent the house yourself or go through a property mgmt company? Did you ever rent to family? I have a family member who said he would be willing to rent or buy my house if I ever were to move. Not sure if renting to family is a good idea though.

I had a friend post ads, set show times, and show it, as I was already gone by that time. I also knew a landlord who rented a couple of dozen places and he could run the credit check (NEVER rent a place to anybody without a credit check).
I'm going to emphasize the credit check and credit history, as it showed me, folks who were nicely dressed, talked well, drove new cars, sometimes didn't pay their bills
Some of the slobs who looked at the place had better credit history.

Renting to family would be ok (with credit history report and a lease), because it really is a multi-thousand dollar deal you are doing.

[daylatedollarshort]

I've always liked living in big cities with a multitude of job openings. As others have posted, companies' raise policies often force people to change jobs every few years in IT to get market wages. I would not really be thinking so much about your next job as where do you see yourself in ten or twenty years and work back from there.

There is also nothing wrong with staying put as an option if you are happy where you are at. The Onion has a cute satirical article mocking people who have lives focused solely on their careers:

"Former classmates also confirmed that the underachiever is apparently resigned to going to his little small-time, stable, extremely fulfilling job in town each day and has zero ambitions to leave his position and pursue a more prestigious and soul-crushing career path in a real city."

[RobbieB]

That's kinda what I was getting at.

There is a constant barrage of vitriol wrt "MegaCorps" here and hey if you go for the bucks they are at MegaCorp.

Do what you want to do and what makes you happy.

[aaronc879]

Do you have a formal offer(the job is yours if you want it) for 40% more money? If you do, then I would tell your boss. Tell him you will stay with a 20% raise otherwise you will be leaving. See what happens.

I personally would likely stay put. You seem happy as is, why risk that? You don't need the extra money. The extra money would require moving to a place that is away from family, more expensive, and you would probably have to give up the house you really like.

[gasman]

One thing I would not recommend is to go to your current employer and ask them to match any offer. If that happens it will never be the same. Whatever you do don't second guess yourself after yo make your decision. Your young and have a lot of years to see what happens. I think he bigger question is does the new job give you the opportunity to grow in your skills. A lot of developers found out the hard way when tech passed them by.

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gasman One thing I would not recommend is to go to your current employer and ask them to match any offer. If that happens it will never be the same.

It depends. I know it doesn't work in the vast majority of cases but I know two people for whom it worked very well and they're still with that employer 10+ years later. Both were superstars, though, one with a unique set of skills the employer realized they were under-valuing. Only the OP knows if that's a possibility. And, if current job has less of a future for advancement and learning, don't even bother trying to get more money to stay.

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krotoole A couple of opinions: 1). Life is too short to sign up for long commutes on a sustained basis. 2). Net worth development isn't about what you earn, it's about what you keep. Do the detailed work including taxes, COL, and simple things like cost of lunch. The 40% increase may yield a lot less in terms of real gains. Doing a big move that nets you basically a car payment isn't worth it. 3). View this strategically regarding your skills. You're young. If your skills are atrophying then run, don't walk, to the new opportunity. 4). You're young...mistakes can be undone...risk is good. All else being equal, take a risk and then work hard to make sure it pays off. Good luck.

1) I commute nearly 100 miles a day currently, have been doing this commute for almost 10 years, and kinda tired of it. It is usually 45-50 minutes each way, sometimes an hour if there is construction, or 90 min plus if there is a bad snow storm. That is about 8 hours of driving in a normal week.

I could take this job, find a place near work to stay, and go home every weekend, and that would be about the same amount of driving. I really want to cut down on the driving though. If the job were 90 minutes or 2 hours away (there is another big city within this distance) or if I could find a job where I can telecommute some of the time, that would be ideal.

2) The increased housing costs would eat up some of the gains but the cost of living is not much if any higher there. I expect to pay about 300/mo more for an apartment than my current mortgage.

3) I wouldn't say my skills are atrophying but stagnant. I am not learning anything new, other than company specific stuff and pretty much have to teach myself. could work on a side project or do sone self study to deal with that however.

4) True.. although if I were to move back, I would likely not be able to find another job in the area utilizing my skillset.

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Probably not, as it could put you in the position of having to evict him/her if things went sour in their financial world. If that happened, could you do it?

No, this is a parent

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset Renting to family would be ok (with credit history report and a lease), because it really is a multi-thousand dollar deal you are doing.

At least they would take care of it, the main concern is either not being paid down the line (not likely but possible) or perhaps I would want to move back. Either situation would be difficult

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort I've always liked living in big cities with a multitude of job openings. As others have posted, companies' raise policies often force people to change jobs every few years in IT to get market wages.

Sadly that is the truth. A 2% raise has been the norm in recent years and there were some years there was no raise due to financial difficulties.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort I would not really be thinking so much about your next job as where do you see yourself in ten or twenty years and work back from there.

I would like to be out of the corp world and self employed. That is the long term goal. Another option is to stick with this job which is not super stressful (the new job could be) and get something started on the side. Depending on the workload at the new place, I may not have the energy to do something on the side

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort There is also nothing wrong with staying put as an option if you are happy where you are at. The Onion has a cute satirical article mocking people who have lives focused solely on their careers: "Former classmates also confirmed that the underachiever is apparently resigned to going to his little small-time, stable, extremely fulfilling job in town each day and has zero ambitions to leave his position and pursue a more prestigious and soul-crushing career path in a real city."

I keep having these thoughts of moving back and then think "if I keep thinking that then why move in the first place?" I am still on the fence but that is one reason why I haven't pulled the trigger on this

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB That's kinda what I was getting at. There is a constant barrage of vitriol wrt "MegaCorps" here and hey if you go for the bucks they are at MegaCorp. Do what you want to do and what makes you happy.

I am really trying to cut to dig deep and figure out what my motivations are for wanting to make this move. I could do this moving around and then think "why the h*** didn't I just stay".

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 Do you have a formal offer(the job is yours if you want it) for 40% more money? If you do, then I would tell your boss. Tell him you will stay with a 20% raise otherwise you will be leaving. See what happens.

Yes but could I be playing with fire?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 I personally would likely stay put. You seem happy as is, why risk that? You don't need the extra money. The extra money would require moving to a place that is away from family, more expensive, and you would probably have to give up the house you really like.

Good point, I keep going back and forth. If I decline this offer, another may come along closer to home. If this job were within commuting distance, I would have already accepted. If I accept the offer and it doesn't work out, there is no going back - my current job (and likely house) would be filled. It is not that the current job is all that great as there are issues, but it could be difficult finding another job that is a decent match for my skillset and I would lose my seniority, vacation time, etc.

This job I am considering was offering two weeks LESS vacation than I get now. I would have to stay there 10 years to match what I have now. They said they would compromise and give me another week if I were to accept.

[Barry Darsow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 It depends. I know it doesn't work in the vast majority of cases but I know two people for whom it worked very well and they're still with that employer 10+ years later. Both were superstars, though, one with a unique set of skills the employer realized they were under-valuing. Only the OP knows if that's a possibility. And, if current job has less of a future for advancement and learning, don't even bother trying to get more money to stay.

There is nobody else in my group with my skillset...although I feel like I am being marginalized. The company does not want anything new to be developed or innovation, just maintain the status quo.

It is possible but could be risky. They could possibly give me a raise and then try to manage me out. Or they might try to transfer me to their corporate office which is halfway across the country . There isn't much opportunity to advance or learn (unless things change) so I would still need to work on finding something else whether I accept this offer or not.

[Bamaman]

As others have posted, companies' raise policies often force people to change jobs every few years in IT to get market wages.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Darsow Sadly that is the truth. A 2% raise has been the norm in recent years and there were some years there was no raise due to financial difficulties.

I have no desire to work for any company in true financial difficulties. Life is not worth worrying about the next paycheck--and lack of keeping up with the cost of living.

I would not really be thinking so much about your next job as where do you see yourself in ten or twenty years and work back from there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Darsow I would like to be out of the corp world and self employed. That is the long term goal. Another option is to stick with this job which is not super stressful (the new job could be) and get something started on the side. Depending on the workload at the new place, I may not have the energy to do something on the side

You're in an industry where some people are very talented in their field--but they're not talented at marketing their skills. I've seen high level IT professionals that should have worked harder at finding better companies to work for.

"Former classmates also confirmed that the underachiever is apparently resigned to going to his little small-time, stable, extremely fulfilling job in town each day and has zero ambitions to leave his position and pursue a more prestigious and soul-crushing career path in a real city."
[QUOTE=Barry Darsow;1793559I keep having these thoughts of moving back and then think "if I keep thinking that then why move in the first place?" I am still on the fence but that is one reason why I haven't pulled the trigger on this[/QUOTE] Don't sell yourself short. But sometimes it's time to step up and go for more out of life.

[Aerides]

You seem conflicted, rightfully so.

The stagnation you mention in your current role means your marketability could decrease a LOT over the next few years, and doing this hop at 45 vs. 35 will be much harder, and likely you'll find many doors closed that are open now.

You mention you live close to family now - do you have young kids? Are schools good? If yes, a vote for the stay column.

If not, I'd map out your financial picture for stay vs. go with a 10 year lookout. Factor in the new salary and increased 401k match, minus the vacation, increased COL, everything, and see if there's a significant difference in 10 years.

If the move puts you markedly ahead, there you go.