Relocating to LA

[rgathrights]

Originally Posted by trappedinthebasement

This is really helpful. By "in the middle" - how long has this been going on? And since you say temporary, you're expecting these jobs to dry up at the 'end' of this project? Do you know the projection for that? (As I type I think I could just try to Google this - but like my image of Southerners, I guess I'm trying to strike up a conversation. Thanks for indulging me.)

...

Thank you very much for any help you are able to offer - I appreciate it.

The super project and housing squeeze in Calcasieu Parish has been ongoing since approximately January 2014.

I expect 70% of the jobs associated with the construction of petro-chemical facilities in Calcasieu Parish to dry up at the end of 2024. Many factors are involved with my estimate:

1. late construction starts (at least one project was over six months behind ground breaking).
2. the new industrial units are highly automated and only require small work forces to operate (less than 10% of people needed to build).
3. many of the large petrochemical units are being built outside of Louisiana to get cheaper labor rates. Once these projects are over, the contract and maintenance work will come from these facilities outside Louisiana.
4. Administrative and executive staff are based in Texas not at facilities in Louisiana.

After 2024, the housing market in Calcasieu Parish will continue to remain strong for another year. Mostly due to the time for delinquent mortgages to settle in our financial system.



I suggest looking for very affordable housing in our beautiful parish around 2025.


Just an estimate though.

[bpollen]

Originally Posted by cBach

There are plenty of "alternative" type of people in Lake Charles, less in Alexandria. If you want to be in the boonies, somewhere like Moss Bluff would be close enough to LC but far enough to be able to have a large wooded property for a cheap price.

I live in Moss Bluff area. They would not find kinship there, IMO. It's full of true bubbas. I'll leave it at that.

[bpollen]

Originally Posted by rgathrights

Sorry, but not happening in Calcasieu Parish (Lake Charles, Sulphur, Mossbluff, Vinton) at $600/month or less.

We are in the middle of multi-billion dollar, mega project, petrochemical construction boom (natural gas products) in Lake Charles and temporary construction workers have taken all available low budget housing.

Of course the other forum members are welcome to prove me wrong but you must provide a link and phone number for the listing of a trailer with a yard in the setting the OP requested.

True.

$600 rent? Not in the L.C. area. Take whatever you'd have to pay in SE Texas, and add 1/2 of that amount to it, and that's the start of about what you'd have to pay in L.C. The "median house" price is meaningless. The average rent, I think, is somewhere around $1,200 for a small dump, and $265k for a regular house with nothing special and not top of the line finishings (similar houses in Houston run about $245k). One reason for high rent is extremely high cost of property insurance because it's a natural disaster zone. And the workers that companies bring in temporarily and send somewhere else...they pay whatever for a house, because they don't care; they're not staying.

Flooding everywhere. Even where you wouldn't think.

Maybe it's better closer to Baton Rouge.

[sluggermatt15]

Originally Posted by rgathrights

The super project and housing squeeze in Calcasieu Parish has been ongoing since approximately January 2014.

I expect 70% of the jobs associated with the construction of petro-chemical facilities in Calcasieu Parish to dry up at the end of 2024. Many factors are involved with my estimate:

1. late construction starts (at least one project was over six months behind ground breaking).
2. the new industrial units are highly automated and only require small work forces to operate (less than 10% of people needed to build).
3. many of the large petrochemical units are being built outside of Louisiana to get cheaper labor rates. Once these projects are over, the contract and maintenance work will come from these facilities outside Louisiana.
4. Administrative and executive staff are based in Texas not at facilities in Louisiana.

After 2024, the housing market in Calcasieu Parish will continue to remain strong for another year. Mostly due to the time for delinquent mortgages to settle in our financial system.



I suggest looking for very affordable housing in our beautiful parish around 2025.


Just an estimate though.

I agree the housing market is going to decline in about 5-6 years once the projects in the area are completed and all the contractors leave.

With regards to your list, I'm not sure. Construction work is always temporary or seasonal. Of course once projects are completed, more workers will be leaving than full-time company employees staying to operate the unit. I work at one of the local plants and I can say there is still a decent size work force required to operate the new plants. The running of the units still created new jobs and increased the work force at these employers.

There are at least several petrochemical units being built inside Louisiana - Westlake Chemical, Indorama, Sasol, etc. Where I work, the contracted maintenance comes from a contractor(s) inside Louisiana.

Originally Posted by bpollen

True.

$600 rent? Not in the L.C. area. Take whatever you'd have to pay in SE Texas, and add 1/2 of that amount to it, and that's the start of about what you'd have to pay in L.C. The "median house" price is meaningless. The average rent, I think, is somewhere around $1,200 for a small dump, and $265k for a regular house with nothing special and not top of the line finishings (similar houses in Houston run about $245k). One reason for high rent is extremely high cost of property insurance because it's a natural disaster zone. And the workers that companies bring in temporarily and send somewhere else...they pay whatever for a house, because they don't care; they're not staying.

Flooding everywhere. Even where you wouldn't think.

Maybe it's better closer to Baton Rouge.

I rent in LC and do not have an issue with it. I don't see I'm "throwing my dollars away" because I have a place to stay and to live in. I really don't care for owning a home right now for the reasons you mentioned and I do not believe it is a great investment for 15-30 years from now because I doubt LC is going to experience the boom it is right now in that time. And I hate to say, it is only a matter of time before another hurricane strikes our area.