Housing/Jobs/Quality of life

[LI Teacher]

I teach on Long Island and I am considering leaving because of the price of housing. A fixer upper/starter house (small bungalow or cottage) in the community where I grew up costs more than $300,000. I am thinking about relocating. Can you tell me about the housing and job situation in your community. I would like to know about the availability of jobs, the salaries and the costs of housing. What kind of quality of life do you have? Can you live on what you earn in your community?

 

[M.]

Re

I would love to help, but I don't like to give out personal information online, so I'll help, but I would rather not give away my location. I find that houses in our area is very reasonable. The public schools are WONDERFUL, too, which is a real plus!

Do you have an area in mind that you are thinking about living in? One of the best resources in terms of houses is homes.com. You can search for homes in a certain city. You can then see the cost of a home. Not only does it show you the cost of the home, but it will also figure out your monthly payment based on how long you want to pay (you can choose 30 years or 15 years) and also based on interest rates. I find that a great resource. Some have pictures and virtual tours as well, so you could see what you will be getting for your money. I wish you luck...I agree with you that some areas are ridiculous for housing! My husband and I were watching Laguna Beach when nothing good was on one night and we thought it would be funny to see what the cost of homes were in that area. We went on to homes.com and there was a 6 bedroom 1 bath house in Laguna Beach for over 31,000,000...and no there's not a typo- it was over 31 million dollars! Ouch! I wish you luck in finding reasonable housing!

 

[LI Teacher]

Housing

I am not looking for specifics about your life, such as what district you teach in or what neighborhood you live in. What I am more interested in is what general information. For example, I interviewed in two different districts in North Carolina. What is it like to be a teacher in North Carolina? Can you survive on a teacher's salary in North Carolina?

 

[Ima Teacher]

That varies WIDELY depending on what area of our state you're talking about.

Rural Area
45 miles from "big city"
15 miles from "mid-sized city"
teaching is in the top 5 highest paying jobs in town--$25,000 to $65,000, depending on years with the system and certification
House--1600 square feet on 1.5 acre lot $80,000-$150,000

Big City
teaching pays about the same
House--1600 square feet on a HALF acre lot $175,000-$350,000 depending on neighborhood

 

[jvn]

Atlanta

We just moved from the west coast to Peachtree City, Georgia. We are about 33 miles from Atl. You could buy a beautiful house on an acre of land for $300,000. We are a golf cart community so you see everyone traveling around town on them. Of course you could buy a perfectly lovely house for 200,000. With experience and great references, you will be able to find a job. The pay scale was much better than my old job (I got a $17,000 raise). The weather here is wonderful, too! Sometimes i feel like I am always on a vacation here. I would recommend it!!!

 

[kyteacher1]

Louisville KY

I know some people have many misconceptions about Kentucky but Louisville is a very nice city to live in - so is Lexington. I live in Louisville and I just started teaching so I dont make very much with only a bachelors and no masters (low 30's) but my good friend just got her masters and it really increased her salary. I know yrs experience count for something. most school districts post salary schedules somewhere on their website.
Housing options are exploding around here - new neighborhooods everywhere - averg price for a nice moderate sized home is about 130,000 to 175,000, maybe a little more. Most have basements. quality of life is wonderful - Yes, I could live on my salary but I'd have to do so rather cheaply because I just started teaching. Good luck

 

[Josie]

Florida

Hi, I recently relocated from LI to central Florida. I was finding the same as you- I could never afford a house on my own there! There are plenty of jobs here so that shouldn't be a problem. I bought my first house on my own for $130,000- it is a two story, two bed, two and half bath townhome. The prices of houses have gone up, but they are still more affordable than LI. However, your salary will be lower, but you can still make it.

Florida is a lot different than NY. I miss it so much, but am happy I made the move. Good Luck!

 

[teachfla]

housing

I'm in North Florida, and the job market is okay. Master's starting salary is about $29K, houses run for $100-150K for a decent starter. Quality of life for teachers is great -- beautiful weather, lots to do, nice people. I live comfortably on what I make as a single gal.

 

[SC]

Probably not

I'm in Baton Rouge. It's not extremely difficult to get a job here, unless you want to be choosy. We just bought a 1600 sq. ft. house for about $165,000, which is a pretty good buy around here; property is expensive as you move into different areas. I couldn't live the way I do on just my salary. In fact, if you think about it, my salary is spent on our mortgage and putting some money into savings. Starting salary for a public school teacher is in the upper $20,000's, I believe, but I'm not sure because I work in a private school.

 

[karrie]

South Florida/Texas

I live in south florida and we have the same problem! Starting salary for teachers is low-mid 30's, but the cost of living has skyrocketed in the past 5 years. For a 3 bed/2 bath 2000 sq ft house you can pay close to $250,000 or more.
We are planning a move to Texas at the end of the school year. They have similar salaries and better housing prices. We are looking at a 5 bed/3 bath 3000 sq ft house for $180,000.

I love living in South Florida, climate is great except those damn hurricanes. People are nice, lots to do, suburb feel but close to the city. But with 3 kids and one more on the way we need a bigger house and we cannot afford it here in South Florida.

Where on LI do you live/teach? I grew up in Levittown.