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Froggin'--I meant to add that your husband should also consider looking into teaching firefighting at local high school vocational programs. My dad was a fire chief and when he retired he started doing that and teaching fire science at several universities. Keeps him out of trouble and all that, and he also used to do it part-time back before he retired. Something to look into!
So I am CO and selling my 5bedroom 2bath home for 155K and moving to VA for job reasons. I am completely floored at what the cost of living is where I am going- Williamsburg. Our salary isn't increasing at all. What I want to know is will I ever get over how expensive it is to live there? DH and I make around 100K annually and can't afford to buy a home there- which is ridculous. I can't believe that if I wanted to own a home there I would have to buy something around 300K. That's insane. I will be a renter forever! Will I ever get over the home prices emotionally? Am I just nuts? I can't fathom spending that much on a house. When I visit with my friend from OK, she is still swallowing our CO home prices compared to homes in Lawton, OK.
Do people eventually suck it up and purchase a house?
Sorry about DH and his hearing problem preventing him from being a firefighter any longer, though I think others have given you some good advice for options. Possibly before the move have him check for other job alternatives where his years of experience are needed (maybe a combo of existing, with say teaching a couple of night classes etc.) OR look at a longer commute to find a home that you two can afford. I know when I lived in ski country way back when a lot of the workers at the resorts lived in neighboring counties because that is where the more affordable housing was. I'm sure the commute sucked, especially over the passes in the winter, but even a couple of the court clerks commuted from a neighboring county.
The other is not just crossing off the rental option - especially if you can find a nice one until you find a house you can afford. You never know when something is going to pop up and at least if you're there, have jobs and have someone keeping a close eye on what's hitting the market in various areas, especially any foreclosures, etc. then you're there and can go for it, you know? A lot of people, especially ones who have gone through a divorce need to rent while they recoup their losses and the positive to renting is that if anything breaks down, your landlord has to pay for it - not you. So that's a positive. You will get over the sticker shock and just because right now there's nothing in your price range available, doesn't mean after say 6 months something won't hit the market thats perfect for you two - even a fixer upper if your DH is handy at stuff like that. The move and selling/buying is all a very emotional experience so just try to step back and look at things from a more detatched viewpoint (I know, easier said than done). You've just got a lot on your plate right now.
I live on the VA side of DC and agree it's brutal here.
And no, to some degree the sticker shock never goes away. I always think about how these houses would cost 1/4 of their VA prices in my little hometown. And then I watch "House Hunters" Cincinnati or Atlanta, ugh! Or you, having a house 1.5 times your income.
And then friends from NYC come down and can't imagine being able to afford this house, since it's even worse up there.
On the plus side, houses are way more reasonable here than they were a couple years ago and there are some signs of a stabilizing market.
Definitely rent a year, decide if you like the job/area before committing. I sense that a lot of VA salaries are higher than those elsewhere, so being here will give you a better sense of your job market options.
This site gives you a ballpark to compare the cost of living between places as well as how a place compares to the national average cost of living.
Be aware that the cost of living can and does vary within destinations. In otherwords, if you choose to live 25 miles out from Williamsburg, the cost of living may be substantially more or less.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Do you have an equity in your home so when you sell you will have a sizable down payment? My DH and I make around 75k and are building a 280k home--but we have 20% in cash without even selling our existing home which we have around 70% equity in--so a 300k home is totally do able if you have enough down payment etc.
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