Moving out of state/job out of state

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Pew

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Hi folks,

I currently live in a townhouse with a friend in Illinois and work in Chicago but I've been kind of playing around with the idea to move out west towards the mountains or around Calgary and I was wondering what I should be looking at or planning when it comes to this type of move. I really don't know what to be looking for since I would be a first time home buyer and I never really had any experience with moving except moving out of my old house into my friend's place. I'm also single and active so I don't believe I'd need anything bigger than a 2 bed/2 bath place.

Some things I'd prefer I listed below but I don't know what else to look for:

1.) Having central air
2.) I would strongly prefer to have a garage for car work/storage
3.) I know how divided this forum is about HOAs. I personally don't mind them if they keep the outside nice.
4.) Most likely won't be a 'forever home'. I'm still a single guy and I'm not sure if actually buying a house when I haven't settled down yet is a smart long-term decision.
 
For how long? I'm wondering if it's worth buying at all, if it's not long term.

At the very least, maybe move to the area and rent for at least a year? Then you could decide if you want to buy, and if so, where. Lots goes into home buying, and you really should know the area first.
 
Would you really need central air in Calgary? I told myself that when I find my dream home, lack of a/c would not be a deal breaker. I found my dream home, and it does not have, nor does it need central air.

If you move, it may be wise to first rent a place to get acclimated to the area, get a feel for the housing market, and take your time looking for your first home. You'd probably be in there longer than you expect.
 
I rented the cheapest apartment I could find when I relocated for 3 years, until I was SURE I was staying, then bought.
 
As a real estate broker, the standard thing that most people do is rent first to see if they like the area and then buy. Normally you want to figure out the area that you want to live in and a real estate broker can only do so much. Normally you would get advice from friends or co-workers or neighbors about what neighborhood you want to live in. Real estate brokers are limited by federal laws as to what they can say and can't say. If you buy, it's usually worth it if you stay for 7-10 years, otherwise it might not be worth it if you're only going to be in the area for a couple years. But you could always buy something and rent it out later if you move, just depends on the rental prices for the area and how much you paid for the place. Some places the price are so high it only makes sense if you live in it and renting it out doesn't work.
 
Do you have paperwork/approval to work in Calgary? When I lived in New York, the Canadian border inspection agents would freak out when I had a medium size bag of tools in my car, they thought I was going to go and work in Canada illegally.
 
When my wife and I did this 15 years ago, we signed a year's lease on an apartment and then got a feel for where we wanted to live in our new city. We bought when the lease was up. *


*Despite our plan, we still managed to buy in the wrong part of town by buying the most house we could afford in a cheap neighborhood. We learned it was cheap for a reason and we had a 'For Sale' sign up in 6 months. We then turned around bought the cheapest house in the nicest neighborhood we could afford.

Whatever you do, good luck. The world is big and fascinating . Go see it.
 
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I suppose central air isn't needed if I stay up in the northern regions - I'm just used to how humid Chicago weather can be and I hate humidity. Somewhere up north in Calgary I believe I could do without (or get a window AC unit if need be.)

I wouldn't be opposed to renting. I do like your ideas of renting in the area first then buying in the area if I do end up staying around the area.

I don't have authorization to work in Canada but it was an idea that if I could get proper authority, I'd totally accept it a job offer up there.
 
Originally Posted by Ws6
I rented the cheapest apartment I could find when I relocated for 3 years, until I was SURE I was staying, then bought.


This.

Don't buy unless you are sure you want to stay there, especially being single. You can find apartments that have access to a garage that aren't that much more. They might not want you hammering on stuff or using impact tools at 11pm at night, but you could still change oil and stuff. This is a much better short term option for a single guy compared to buying a house and essentially getting tied down.

I'm in a similar situation, as my area has gotten very expensive to live. Many are moving out due to the state's government, jobs moving out, etc, so buying a house seems like a bad idea anyway due to values going down. I hate renting as much as the next guy, but I also hate paying on (and maintaining) something I would be losing a ton of value on + taxes. A friend of mine bought a house 2 years ago and has paid a lot in upkeep, repairs and maintenance. His home was recently assessed for lower than he paid. Luckily he rents to a few friends so he isn't hurting, but it kind of sucks if he met someone and wanted to sell it and move. If you are set on staying in that area, it's a buyer's market, but if not I would rent for now until you are sure, especially going to another state where you are unfamiliar with the area.
 
Don't do an hoa lol.
Find a girl friend with nice house, money and a boat. Live happily ever after!
 
Originally Posted by P10crew
Don't do an hoa lol.
Find a girl friend with nice house, money and a boat. Live happily ever after!

Or a girl with a boathouse.
 
Originally Posted by nickaluch
Rent in town first see if you like it. Do your homework while there for desirable areas and recent sold prices. At that point you can purchase if you like.


This is good advice. If you buy, and don't like the house or the city or the location of the house in the city, you will lose money on the resale. Typically, you need to stay in a house at least three years to break even after realtor fees. Plus you will probably do some fixing up of the property yourself, which costs money, and if you don't stay you will have fixed up the place for someone else.
 
Originally Posted by nickaluch
Rent in town first see if you like it. Do your homework while there for desirable areas and recent sold prices. At that point you can purchase if you like.


Agreed. Rent for at least. 6 months to see if area viable for you AND the best places to buy even within the same town.
 
1.) Having central air

In the grand scheme of things it is simple. If you really insist you can pay 8k to install a mini split across the whole house (assuming it is a small starter home).

2.) I would strongly prefer to have a garage for car work/storage

You can always look for that unless you are in an urban condo / apartment.

3.) I know how divided this forum is about HOAs. I personally don't mind them if they keep the outside nice.

HOA can go from $60 to $600 depends on what is included and not (i.e. exterior structure insurance, private road maintenance, landscape water usage, unlimited water with no individual unit's meter). You have to see what it means when it say HOA. I don't mind them because they keep my neighbor from doing cool things that annoys me, and I don't do cool things that annoy my neighbor, but YMMV.

4.) Most likely won't be a 'forever home'. I'm still a single guy and I'm not sure if actually buying a house when I haven't settled down yet is a smart long-term decision.

I'd not buy if I'm planning to stay for only less than 3 years.
 
Originally Posted by Pew
I don't have authorization to work in Canada but it was an idea that if I could get proper authority, I'd totally accept it a job offer up there.

I'd check into this before thinking of moving to Canada. Unless you're a Canadian citizen (and just not telling us) It's not as easy as you seem to think.

Do you think I could just decide to look for work in Chicago? You don't think so? Well it's the same story here.

You could apply and be assessed as a potential immigrant. There are special classes of potential immigrants - people fleeing oppression in their home country, very rich people who want to come to Canada to start a business, and workers who are eligible for licensing or trade certification in high demand positions in Canada. The first step would be to talk to someone at a Canadian embassy or legation.

PS You wouldn't need central air in Calgary. Houses are cheaper than usual in Alberta at the moment but still quite expensive by US standards.
 
Originally Posted by P10crew
Don't do an hoa lol.
Find a girl friend with nice house, money and a boat. Live happily ever after!



You nailed itðŸ‘ðŸ»ðŸ¤—🤗. In the meantime get a 1 bedroom apartment until you know the lay of the land .
As for working there if it's in Canada you have to square away a work permit or some sort of legal status unless you're an indian. In that case you get a pass on just about everything. Dual citizen US/CA is fine as well. Also that out of region car tag will get everyone's attention, " just what are you REALLY doing 1/3 of way across the country anyways🤨?
I just looked the border is 3 hours from Calgary.. Unless you're dual citizen or an indian you better plan on living in the US. till you sort things out. That 3 hrs seems a logistics issue possibly. If you aren't one of those two status's and you show up at the border with everything you own and so much as breathe you might stay there you're SCREWED. If they see a whole lot of moving in gear it's the same deal, REFUSED ENTRY. Ok once that happens you'll pop up , car too in any Canada Border Services computer and they are gonna ask you "have you ever been refused entry into Canada". If you lie THEY CAN TAKE YOUR CAR. Now you're walking and even getting work status or any form of permanent residency is going to be pure 💸💸💸💸 [censored]. FYI anywhere you come in contact with border services . They will be able to easily see where and when you entered canada. They can also dial up NCIC to see if you are excludable for a criminal record in the US. They as well as CBP often check this when something seem fishy to them.
Aside from that you need an Enhanced State Drivers license to even visit Canada. No biggy where you are just make sure you have one . It helps in your case if you have friends there you can stay with 💰💰💰wise. They are going to wonder/ check if you have a permanent address back in IL or enough 💰 to cover your visit, motels ect while in Canada. They do this stuff for a living so to bull💩 them goes South very fast. I know all this as I did it on the US side for decades. I hope I didn't rain on your parade but I hate to see folks get jammed up in these things. So just keep all that in mind if you head out there. Good Luck
Now if you were an Illegal Alien fleeing the Bad Orange Man you could just sneak across and make sure that the police catch you, might take a while🙄. Then they immediately set up up on welfare until they get around to adjudicating your case. I rather doubt that it works for US citizens though. Just sayin. 🙄.
 
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I used to do project based consulting work. The gigs were 3 months to longer term. We were on a gig that was in its infancy and planned for another 3 years. Worked with a know it all guy as a fellow consultant. He bought a house a block away from the company and said he'd flip it make a profit when the project was over. The company was aware he was doing this but that didn't stop them from letting his contract expire without renewal about a week after he closed.

That said, if the area is booming, buying a house and flipping in a few years could build you a lot of wealth. If it's a depressed area or static, you want to stay nimble and rent.

If you can live with the constraints of an HOA, nothing wrong with that.
 
Rent first. Get the feel of the area, traffic, stores, entertainment, women. Then after 6 mo to a year you can decide if you want to rent another place or buy.

Got to know the lay of the land.
 
+1 on renting first. We did that when we moved counties. Luckily we knew the guy we were renting from and we were under nothing more than a handshake deal. We loved the area and closed on a house 7 months later.
 
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