Moving To Texas... need some advice (Houston, Dallas: fit in, apartments, city hall)

[urbanlegend16]

Hi everyone! This is my first post so bear with me...
My boyfriend and i currently live in Michigan in the metro Detroit area, are working 2 dead end jobs, hate the weather and the people. One day he text me while i was at work and asked "Texas?" and that was very intriguing to me. (we're looking in the la porte area) I have family that live in Tennessee and have lived in Mississippi myself for 2 years in a previous marriage. I loved the heat, the atmosphere and the people. I have been doing research online and talking with his mom's friend that lives in La Porte to try to get an idea of how things go down there (everything has been very enlightening ). I know the only true way to experience a place is to actually visit it, unfortunately we are on a budget and 2 round trip plane tickets and lodging just isn't an option. I have looked some apartments and have narrowed it down to 3 (which his mom's friend has graciously offered to look at for us and give insight on). We are getting close to picking our move date and honestly it is a bit scary. We will be bringing a ferret (checking local laws for ferrets), 2 cats and a miniature dachshund. The only difficult part is actually getting our stuff down to our new home. We came up with a few options: 1) rent a moving truck and dolly one of our cars. 2) pack as much as we can fit in our cars and drive down. With #1 its quite expensive (obviously) and with #2 we will lose our larger belongings such as beds and furniture. i know with either choice we will be spending some money. I guess what I'm trying to find out is if other people have had to do this and what route did they take? i dont want this move to be too much of a headache although i know moving itself is one.

If anyone needs more clarity i will be more than happy to clear up any questions to possibly get more descriptive answers

[crone]

DO NOT move here without a job.

[plaidfrogg]

Originally Posted by crone

DO NOT move here without a job.

This. And, make sure your moving budget includes costs for possible deposits (apartment, utilities, etc).

You'll want to weight out the cost of renting and fueling a truck vs. replacement cost of the large items you'd forego using just your cars.

[JLB001]

Be sure if you are renting an apartment that they will allow 2 cats, a dog and the ferret. You'll also need to consider pet fees/deposits and if there is a pet rent per pet where you find a place. You might want to consider finding a house with 4 pets.

[bwicca]

my grandparents used to live in oklahoma, and when papa came home from work one evening, grandy said, "i'm ready for a change of scenery, how about we move?" --- grandy and papa sat down at the table, both having maps of Texas, papa wrote down 20 city names, as did grandy... they wrote the names of the cities on index cards, tacked them to the wall, and then when the 5 related kids and 5 adopted kids came home from school, they asked the kids (my mom and her brothers and sisters) to look up 2 cities tacked up on the wall, what's the population, and some how find out phone numbers of city halls, chamber of commerce, etc... - they had a week to do so... and back then, there wasn't internet, but, there was library books. so it became a family learning experience to study about 20 cities from libraries in oklahoma. Houston ended up being the top chosen pick, because back then, job hiring was quite successful, go apply and find out what your work hours were before you headed home.

They got to Houston, and realized it was more of a culture change than they had bargained for... they checked out humble, spring, porter, new caney, conroe, splendora, and cleveland seemed to catch their fancy the most, because there were almost no neighbors, the city was just beginning to be a speck on the map.

well, papa got a job in houston working for baker hughes oil company, grandy didn't have to work, she didn't want to, she was too busy creating "property association of Countrywood" and we had meetings, committees, etc...

i was born in Humble, but raised here in cleveland my whole life... (except for 8 months in magnolia), crime is getting to be as normal as it is in houston, infact, my first post to this website was my panic of trying to find a better place to live... and after i realized i'm better off staying here, i have to admit, i am...

cleveland is just over an hour's drive from houston... i know you wanted suggestions, but i thought i'd give a true story, to share --- maybe it'll help in your choice making...

now, my suggestions, now that there's internet! pick 5 cities to check out, then go to google maps, and try to do some walk thru's by using the arrow keys... if you see a city you like the looks of, then try to find the wiki on the city, see what the census says, check out the local papers, sometimes there's online papers... (clevelandadvocate.com for my area)

if you still like the area and the latest stats... then find some phone numbers... remember what your qualified for, and ask for any knowledge of jobs hiring that fit your skills... it might be smart, to start with an apartment hunt too... some places let you fill out applications... while your in an apartment, you can save up some cash to get a house again... alot of apartments here in my area only let in cats n dogs --- unless you have a fish or caged pet like a bird, hamster, etc --- and some apartments only let in pets according to apartment size...

like, when i lived in a zero bedroom, i could only have 1 pet... now i live in a 1 bedroom, i can have 2 pets... etc. (and if you get friendly with the landlords - not sleep with them, but become their friend, sometimes they'll allow in 1 more and not say anything as long as you stick to the other rules.)

as i've seen others suggest, way the costs of moving with movers, or pack light and travel yourselves.

might want to spend a few months cutting back on usual luxuries (comfy foods, late night snacks, drives that aren't urgent errands, etc) to help save some money so you can work at funding the move, either way you travel.

sometimes it's cheaper to pack a few boxes and use fedex or ups to ship for you while your moving. (done it myself once)

don't forget, if you leave things behind, there are resale shops nearby, and yard sales. (one resale shop i shop at, delivers and sets things up for you.)

i've got no more ideas, hope it helps...

[bwicca]

oh, just had a brainstorm --- apply online at some jobs in texas, then plan a vacation if they wish to interview you... even in this economy, some jobs will front you the money to move sooner, or will wait until you do move, to hire you. that way you can see what it's like here, pick up a few local newspapers, talk to the locals, visit the libraries, so you can experience a bit more than you can with online searches. if it's possible, apply online for both, jobs and apartments - then if you get a job, you get a home --- then send for the rest of the family (if that's possible, or go back grab family and pets n return to start work)

okay - brainstorm over...

[testmo]

you definitely need a job first. texas is not the employment mecca the country is making it out to be unless you fit a certain skill set or lack any skills whatsoever. then you will simply have a hard time scrapping by a living

i would drive your own vehicle with everything you can fit in it. if you have a nice friend or family member willing to drive round trip to texas with an extra load that is even better. if you are serious about moving, furniture you lose can be easily replaced for cheap. for apartment living probably much cheaper and less stressful then renting a truck/moving van in MI

[David Dollar]

My advice:
1. Leave the stuff.
2. Save double the money you think you will need.
3. Be prepared for much hotter weather than MS or TN.

[wclanton423]

I didn't move states but I did the move from Dallas to Houston. Came down for a weekend and never went back. I did have family to live with for a while until I had a job but I left everything behind, including my pets, and once I was settled in somewhere brought all my stuff down when I was able to afford it, and my animals. If you don't have that much stuff look into storage for the time being until you can afford to bring it down. For renting trucks to haul your stuff, it won't be so much to cost to rent but the gas to get it down here.

[oldfashionedcountrygirl]

I am currently doing the same thing. I was going to go over there first, get everything set up, and come back. Only problem...my SUV got stolen two days ago (when it rains it pours) and we don't have that option now. I was going to just buy my vehicle here and put what I can in it, but then I'd have to redo the plates and all when we move. So anyway, I've found it cheaper to take what I can with me in the moving truck and dolly the vehicle (if I still had it) like last time (from CA to AZ). I'd suggest what BWICCA said, as I've been checking the cities/towns out that I'm trying to narrow it down to as well. It is hard though if you are like me, as I'll be putting stuff in storage, staying in a hotel, with only one dog, but still not my ideal, renting a car, to find a house/apt, deposits for everything, rents, etc. Although it is going to cost a little less on the moving end immediately (I take money off the u-haul price as I don't need the car dolly this time) but it is still going to end up more buying a car there, rather than having that room to pack stuff in.