The Hunt

When you live in a hotel with no clear plans on when you’re leaving, your life ends up in this weird limbo.

The most obvious is not having an address. Sure, we can use the address for our hotel, but without knowing how long we’re going to be here, it’s not the best choice. Another option is having my mail sent to the office. That would be great if my job wasn’t moving to another location in a couple of weeks.

Home sweet home...hopefully.

Chuck and I went hunting for a permanent address yesterday. We had a handful of properties that we planned on checking out, but in the end, we only toured three. One was out of our price range, but one month free put it below. The other two were below our budget but when you threw in all utilities and pet rent all three became the same price.

It came down to which one we liked more. There was the woodsy place with the big bedrooms, big bathrooms and big kitchens, but was more than we could afford. The place next door was so small-town I felt like I was entering a commune for a cult. The last – off a busy street – was great, but our prospective unit lacked a fireplace and outdoor space.

We went with the woodsy place and decided to put our first month’s rent in the bank to put towards the rest of the year. It was the right fit.

I wish the application process was as easy.

The problem with applying for an apartment when you’re broke is, you’re broke. With only one income right now we have to rely on our savings to help pay the bills. The property managers seemed okay with this since they were willing to take proof our savings to supplement our meager income. It hasn’t been an easy process and despite getting a “welcome letter” I’m still worried that we’ll be without a home.

Chuck spent all day looking up tutoring services and scouring North Raleigh for Help Wanted signs in windows.

All we want is a chance and a place to come home to.

Finding Our Humble Abode

The hardest part about deciding to move out of state is finding a place to hang your hat.

Sure, there’s that whole employment issue, but with the cost of living so low, a minimum wage job could pay the rent. Finding a place to rent is where the problem lies.

Chuck and I are still deciding where in North Carolina we want to move. Raleigh was at the top of our list until the school district imposed a hiring freeze. It would be the best place to find a minimum wage gig, but with no chances of even finding work as a substitute teacher, what’s the point?

The plus side of Raleigh is that I know people in the area who can tell us what areas are great and which are the ghetto. My friend Jess in Durham ended up in a nasty apartment complex and ended up calling the police on multiple occasions, three of those times was because her place was broken into.

We haven’t done much legwork for Winston-Salem, but with Chuck’s cousin living in the area and her husband being a local cop, finding a good place to live will be pretty easy. Jobs are an issue since the unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent, whereas in Raleigh and Asheville it’s a couple points lower.

Asheville was one of our favorite towns, but it’s also the one we spend the least amount of time in. We also don’t know anyone that lives in the area. While we plan to visit again in June for an extended weekend, there isn’t much we can go on when it comes to finding a safe place to call home.

Apartment listings on websites don’t exactly have an “Avoid places that will require me to have the cops on speed dial” option. Apartments may also look great on paper and then a quick search for reviews leads you to some disappointing information.

Take The Meadows for example. Sure it’s pretty and reasonably priced. A quick Google search leads me to this awesome review.

Now, most of the reviews on this site are a few years old and you can’t take everything you read on the internet as fact so where does that leave Chuck and me when we try to find a place to live?

I guess we’ll just have to wing it and hope for the best.

No…well, some…regrets

I generally live my life with no regrets. I know that all the mistakes I’ve made and paths I’ve chosen helped me become the person I am today; A person that, inside, I’m generally pretty happy with. But, I am lying when I say I have no regrets, because I do.

My first regret is taking my high school figure for granted and not doing all that I could to stay as trim as I was (Ehh, maybe plus a few pounds, I was pretty frail). I was given a second chance when I was 10 pounds away from my goal weight after graduating Manhattanville. Instead of hitting the gym, I hit McDonalds and have been watching my waistband slowly increase since. Sounds pretty vain, but in the end, I’m unhappy with the way I look, I’m self-conscious and instead of having 10 extra pounds to lose I have….much more.

My next regret was only taking my mother’s financial advice half to heart. My mother used her powers of Italian Catholic guilt to make me feel bad about using my credit card without the means to pay the balance in full when the bill came due. Too bad for Capital One, since they didn’t make a dime of interest off me until two years ago.

That’s not to say that I didn’t spend my money. I did. I really couldn’t tell you what it was on either. I didn’t party in college so I didn’t really drink it away and I’m not much of a shopaholic so my closet wasn’t exactly overflowing. I made a few, and paid for, a few trips to and from Virginia when I was in a long distance relationship, but one year of flying SouthWest doesn’t account for the thousands of dollars I can’t account for.

Despite talk of saving money for a new car all through college, I never actually did and when my Escort died I had to borrow money from my parents for the down payment. I never really made that much, but I should have been able to put away a decent amount of my paycheck.

Sorry, I’m getting to my point.

Now I’m here at 27 years old, itching to head out of state, but my modest savings isn’t enough to make the trip without being employed. I ignored my mother all those times she talked about my IRA and how I could use it to buy a house one day and now that times are ripe to purchase a new home, I’m pretty short the required amount to actually use that investment.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20 and had I known I’d be in the this position 10 years ago I would have thought twice about making all those purchases I can’t remember. Maybe I needed to be irresponsible to learn the value of being responsible, but had I just been responsible in the first place, I’d be writing this blog from an apartment in North Carolina.

Real Estate Reality TV Junkie

I’ve been an HGTV junkie since October.

When my friend Katie bought her co-op in Mamaroneck, she said she used the network’s design shows as inspiration to transform her fixer upper into the amazing place it is today.  Being that I’ve been thinking about having my own place around the clock for about a year now, I decided to turn the network on as background while getting ready at my hotel in Hershey Park.

And I became hooked.

Now, I watch episode after episode of House Hunters, Property Virgins, My First Place and What You Get For the Money. I also get inspiration from the design shows, but being that I don’t actually have a place to decorate, I find myself more emotionally invested in the shows geared toward real estate.

Between the personal experiences of my friends and watching this network non-stop, I’ve learned more in six months about home ownership than I have my entire life. I think most of this zest for property comes from my burning desire to own – or at least rent – some of my own.

We could buy one of these historic homes that are for sale, but I'm afraid if I buy an old house it'll be haunted.

Through some chatting between myself and a friend and then my friend with her Realtor, I was contacted by a Realtor in North Carolina offering her services when Chuck and I finally make a move. (HOLY CRAP this is getting so serious I’m talking to Realtors [insert freak out here]) Initially, we figured we’d rent for a year or two so we’re not tied down in case we decide we absolutely hate southern living (not likely and worse case scenario we could rent said house to pay for rent here on LI).

I brought up the topic with my parents, who have finally decided to keep their thoughts about moving in before marriage to themselves. I told my mother we planned on saving the money by renting. Fiscally minded before traditionally Catholic, she said we would be stupid not to buy a place immediately, if we could afford it. She pointed out that with home prices being at a low and financial assistance being available, if we wait, prices will rise and assistance might not be there. In the end it becomes a wash and we save nothing.

Maybe something a little smaller for our starter home.

The idea of purchasing our first place within a few months of moving shot to the forefront of my mind and fueled my desire to DVR every episode of My First Place. Before making the decision to head south as soon as possible, even talking about home ownership was a depressing thought.

How much for a three bedroom?

$12,000 a year for taxes?

Electric is going up again?

While my friends have been able to purchase their own homes on Long Island, the option just isn’t there for Chuck and me. We’re both okay with that and now with newly restored hope and optimism we’re thinking about the new place we’re ready to call home.

North Carolina or Bust

The purpose of heading down to North Carolina instead of sunny Orlando for our first major vacation was to find out if it was a place that Chuck and I could find ourselves living. I had never set foot in the state and Chuck had been to Asheville once on a school trip. I had big dreams and fantasies about how amazing it would be to live there and I wanted to make sure I was right.

Irregardless Cafe in Raleigh is a great place to eat despite lack of parking an a nearby prison.

After six days in four cities and 36 hours of collective driving, Chuck and I decided that we want North Carolina to be our home. Now we just have to decide where exactly.

We decided on Cary/Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Asheville. Charlotte didn’t impress us.

We found that southern hospitality goes a long way in making you feel relaxed on your vacation. Even driving during rush hour in an area we weren’t familiar with wasn’t nearly as stress inducing. If you linger at a light a little too long or accidentally cut someone off (like I did) no one lays a firm hand on their horn to let you know how pissed they are.

Everyone we met – from cashiers to waiters – were incredibly nice. One waitress in Winston-Salem took the time to write down all the great places she told us to visit. People in New York may be nice enough to tell you where the hot spots are, but I can’t imagine anyone would take the time to write it down on a card. And if you think she was just looking for a good tip, I should mention that she wasn’t our actual waitress so the tip wasn’t even going her way.

Each place has its upsides and downsides.

Cary/Raleigh

Cary is a nice area near lots of shopping. Places like Target and Home Depot are nearby so if I need some milk, or a bottle of wine, I’m not too far from anything. Despite being developed it still has a rural feel. Both areas have done well during the recession and are on an upswing as they have always been ahead of the game in terms of industry.

Raleigh is full of historic homes, some of which are for sale

A lot of construction leads me to believe there is some urban revitalization, which is positive. There are about five major universities in the area plus NHL hockey team, the Carolina Hurricanes. Raleigh/Durham airport has a Southwest hub, which would make coming home cheap and easy.

Nearby is Durham and Chapel Hill, which give us more options as far as jobs are concerned.

The minimum-security prison on the outskirts of downtown Raleigh is a little bit concerning. There isn’t much in the area near it aside from a really great café and some apartment buildings that Chuck and I wouldn’t be living in anyway, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.

While there is a lot of construction there also seemed to be many vacant storefronts, which is to be expected during the recession. A little research would be needed to find out what the status of these storefronts is. Downtown has an urban feel to it, but I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw.

Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem seemed well-kept and developed. A major mall is in the area along with a nice downtown. We were 3 for 3 with the amazing restaurants that we dined in the two days we were there (check out my reviews here). Like Cary, Winston-Salem has urban and rural living so Chuck and I could live on the outskirts of town, but still be 10 minutes away from anything we might need.

The bungalow of tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds, Reynolda House, is now a museum and art gallery.

Chuck’s cousin, Dawn, and husband, Matt, live in the area so we would have a built in support system, which is a plus when moving to an area you are unfamiliar with.

Winston-Salem is part of the “triangle” that includes High Point and Greensboro, which also gives us more options as far as employment opportunities.

While the area is developed, Winton-Salem is a two-industry town with tobacco and furniture leading the charge. Both industries are on a downswing as people quit smoking and furniture being outsourced to China. Matt admitted that W-S has been trying to bring in more industry, but it has been a slow process.

Asheville

Asheville was the most visually pleasing of all the areas we saw. Nestled right against the Blue Ridge Mountains this small town had a great feel to it. An incredibly artsy and progressive town signs in storefront windows urged shoppers to buy local. Many restaurants and cafes use organic or sustainable cooking and many people walk to where they need to go.

Asheville, a progressive mountain town, has an amazing business district.

A gay bar on Broadway and a “tobacco” shop leads me to believe the area is incredibly open-minded, in a state that is traditionally less so. The town seemed full of imports, with few being Asheville natives.

Unlike Raleigh or Winton-Salem, Asheville has no large towns nearby that could offer additional employment unless I wanted to work on a cow farm. The cost of living is slightly more expensive and while the people were nice, I got this feeling that the town was full of people that would burn you at the stake for using a plastic water bottle or driving a large SUV.

If Asheville had the opportunities that the other two areas have it would be the clear winner, but I’m concerned with the lack of industry. It’s also incredibly rural, which is something that appeals to Chuck, but not me. I don’t like feeling trapped between cow pastures and mountains.

I’m also unsure how to tackle the idea of moving.

Do we apply for jobs in all three areas that we like to broaden our chances of finding employment (Chuck’s idea) or, do we focus our efforts on one area (my idea). We don’t plan on permanently settling anywhere until we have children old enough to attend school, so the option to move from one area to another is there.

I guess we’ll have to work those details out, but for now, I’m excited that sometime next year, I hope to call North Carolina my home.

Leave it all Behind?

I saw this Forbes.com article today on my Yahoo! home page.

Best Bang for Your Buck Cities

I’ll admit that at first I didn’t read the whole article all the way through. I skimmed down to the end where I saw the “Read full list” link and found that three of the places I’ll be visiting this week were pretty high up. (I’ve since read the whole thing) It’s the second time I’ve seen some good news out of North Carolina. The first one was this article about America’s fastest recovering cities. Raleigh was in the top 10.

I’ve been so obsessed with this trip and the possibilities that might come from it that I’ve all but forgotten the little mini-trips that Chuck and I planned on taking. We would still like to go to Maryland and North into New England. Places like Salisbury and Providence are on the physical list, but mentally, I had almost excluded them.

What brought them back to the forefront of my mind was visiting my friend Lex for her birthday this weekend. I’ll be missing her big birthday bash because of my vacation so I took her out to the Cheesecake Factory in White Plains. For the most part many of my friends are within a couple hour’s driving distance. I’ll admit that even though I graduated almost five years ago, I’m still having trouble adjusting to not having my friends around at all hours of the day like I did at Manhattanville.

If I move to North Carolina seeing them will become a once a year thing instead of once a month thing. As someone who is so dependent on her friends for emotional and physical support, I feel that it would make me even more sad to be so far away and know that I chose to be that far.

But, while all of my friends have moved on to the next stage in life I stumble behind. At one of the oldest I’m also the furthest back in life.

Do I struggle here so that I can have the comfort of knowing my friends are nearby?

Or,

Do I move away to a place that can offer me the life I want to live, with the man I want to live it with, but give up the physical closeness Long Island offers me now?

America’s Fastest Recovering Cities

For those like me looking to relocate, here’s a list to help you out.

Full List: America’s Fastest-Recovering Cities via Forbes.com

Makin’ a Move

Chuck and I began thinking of relocating before we even met.

I was laid-off from Four Seasons Sunrooms where I worked as an executive assistant in January 2008, one week before my one year anniversary. I took a week “vacation” then promptly started my job search. I often searched for positions in the Albany area since at the time, I had a slew of friends in that neck of the (literal) woods.

It wasn’t too long after I was laid off, I met Chuck and we began dating. Things were going to well that I kept my searches more local in the event that possibly, just maybe, I found something good.

Chuck had also been laid off in January. His graduate program at Adelphi University had been cut a week into the semester. Already going back to Adelphi under stressful circumstances, he considered moving to Tennessee where a friend was living in a cheap apartment with a decent job.

Moving was on hold until later that year when he decided to go back to Rochester University and we had loose plans to head up north. Knowing Rochester had a problem with unemployment even in good economic times, I was nervous, but I was sucked into a cheaper lifestyle of living.

Our best apartment find, was a two bedroom, 1.5 bath townhouse that was under $1,000 a month. That’s if we had the money to spurge. I could deal with the snow and ice and cold 10 months out of the year.

I was terrified, but excited.

Had our plans worked accordingly, I wouldn’t have started this blog because I would no longer be living in my parent’s house. I guess things happen for a reason.

So, almost a year later, we find ourselves in a similar position. Instead of moving north, we’re looking south.While we have a list of potential locales that we’d like to check out,  right now, North Carolina is leading the charge with its cheap living and lack of masters-to-teach requirement.

We’ll spend six days down below the Bible belt in good ‘ol country living.

A year later, I find myself terrified, but excited. We’ll see how I feel this time next year.

Long Beach housing prices aren’t so ‘cool’ – LIHerald.com – Nassau County’s source for local news, breaking news, sports, entertainment & shopping

Not for Nothing: My latest column on (Un)affordable housing on Long Island printed in this week’s Long Beach Herald.

Long Beach housing prices aren’t so ‘cool’ – LIHerald.com – Nassau County’s source for local news, breaking news, sports, entertainment & shopping.

To Live in Sin

At almost 27, I find myself in a serious relationship looking to make the next step that will eventually lead to the marriage step. It is very hard to take your relationship to the next level when you live with your parents.

Now, of course, I know plenty of couples that dated, got engaged and moved in after the wedding, but the difference is, whether they moved in before or after the wedding, they still had the funds necessary to move in together. No one gets engaged if they can’t afford to move out or in the case of many Long Island couples, have a basement apartment in their parent’s house they can move into.

My mother has offered to separate part of the house into an apartment, which would require the installation of a kitchen and possibly a bathroom. If not a bathroom, then it would require major construction to make the upstairs bedrooms larger to accommodate my parents and siblings. They would spend a butt-load of money and get nearly nothing on their return, because my parents would refuse to take rent from us. After Chuck and I spent a few years in this makeshift mother-daughter home, they would rent it out to a stranger, which would possibly help their investment.

The idea sounded great at first, but in the end I’ve put it on the bottom of the option list because I’d rather my parents not demolish my entire house just so Chuck and I can move in together.

Truth be told, it’s a bad time in general for young couples. While I am one of the lone few attached friends still living at home, those that have been able to settle on the Island acknowledged times are tough. In passing conversation I hear about taxes increasing and how the heat will be left off until the first snow falls.

A home should be your castle not your prison, but right now, my childhood bedroom is starting to feel like a prison.