https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:12:34 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812375 Tue, 27 Mar 2018 16:13:42 +0000 JCCovi 2812375@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We moved from NC to CA last year, but we moved for my husband to take a job, so we didn’t have to find anything.</p> <p>If it were me, I’d have both of you apply for jobs starting now, do some basic cost-of-living comparisons and mock budgets, and get an idea of school districts. I would definitely recommend renting for 6 months-1 year before buying. During that time, try to go smaller than you usually would so you can keep a lot of stuff in storage (moving sucks!) </p> <p>When the real move happens, I strongly recommend an adults-only home hunting trip. This was our only trip to the area before we moved, but it was great. It gave us an opportunity to look at a lot of the area quickly and spend time talking about our hopes and expectations for the move. We found an apartment and a church on that trip.</p> <p>We had really wanted to max out our corporate housing allowance, but it wasn’t in the cards. We flew out on a Friday and moved into our apartment on Monday. Having a couple days in a hotel to not have to worry about unpacking was especially nice since we all go sick that weekend! At the same time, being pretty much settled within a week of moving really helped with the adjustment process. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812332 Tue, 27 Mar 2018 14:43:02 +0000 smocks 2812332@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@peaches1038: that is tremendously helpful! If I think of anything else, I'll let you know! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812326 Tue, 27 Mar 2018 14:34:23 +0000 peaches1038 2812326@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@smocks: hey! We drove over 4 days (about 8-9 hours of driving per day) and stayed at la Quintas along the way. They allow pets for free. Our vet gave us some kitty Prozac to give them for a few days before, during and after the trip. We kept them in their carriers the whole time while in the car. I put a puppy pee pad in their carriers just in case but they never needed them. We had their litter boxes for the hotel room each night. We bought a soft roof carrier for our luggage so we could have some room in the car so that one of us could sit in the back with lo if needed. We also bought an iPad holder for the backseat and brought a bunch of sticker books, magnadoodle, those color wonder markers and Melissa and Doug water wow books for LO. We also brought some small toys and lots of books. Everyone did surprisingly well in the car. Would you be able to have someone drive with you and then fly back? I think I could’ve done it alone, but I’m glad I didn’t have to. Let me know if you have any other questions! Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812317 Tue, 27 Mar 2018 14:09:07 +0000 Mrsbells 2812317@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@starchild: We did something similar. I highly recommend renting first. And then once you are in the new area take your time to find a forever home. We nearly bought a home when we werent even in this state and we are so glad we didnt because theres only so much you can get from the internet. Its better to see things in person for a forever home purchase </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812263 Tue, 27 Mar 2018 12:12:38 +0000 smocks 2812263@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@peaches1038: not to sidetrack the thread, but how did you move with the cats? We're moving 1300 miles away next month and I have no idea how I'm going to manage that with my 2 kids and the cat by myself (DH is coming later)... have any advice? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812234 Tue, 27 Mar 2018 11:19:10 +0000 mrswilson2012 2812234@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Right before DD was born my DH and I started seriously thinking about moving to GA to be near his family (we lived in Portland OR). I gave birth to DD in April 2017 and he started applying for jobs in May 2017. He got a generous offer with a full relocation package in July 2017 and we decided to accept the offer. We put our house up for sale in August (sold in 3 days) and we moved to GA in September. Everything happened SO fast and it was very stressful moving across the country with a 5 month old but everything worked out in the end and we are both REALLY glad we made the move. I was actually able to keep my job and work remotely, but I had planned to job hunt as soon as we got to GA if that didn't work.</p> <p>My advice is once your DH lands a job, definitely negotiate a relocation package and hire out as much as your can. We had our cars shipped, we had movers &amp; packers and we flew with DD and our cat to GA. It made things A LOT easier for us to not have to worry about our stuff. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812070 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 19:54:54 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 2812070@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@starchild: it was hard on him. He would look hard for a few months, then get discouraged, then look hard again. He absolutely loves his new job though, so the timing worked out in the end. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812066 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 19:52:50 +0000 starchild 2812066@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pickle: 2 years :shocked: hoping it doesn't take us that long!</p> <p>Thanks everyone. He had relocation moving from that area to here the first time around, so definitely hoping to get the same from his next company! Time to buckle down and get looking! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812045 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 19:17:00 +0000 lamariniere 2812045@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pickle: agree about the relocation package. Our last 3 moves have all been employer sponsored with a generous relocation package, and they were all international. We have never been in a situation where we wanted to buy, but I would definitely plan on renting for 6-12 months before buying. We have been in our new location for about 6 months and there is still so much that we haven’t seen. I wouldn’t want to rush into buying, especially if this is going to be long term. </p> <p>As for the move itself, and depending on the package you get, I would outsource as much as possible to professionals as far as packing and moving. Also, donate or sell as much as you can before the move. I did a moving sale and also donated a bunch of stuff before the move and when we got here and unpacked, I was really pleased that we only had about 2 boxes worth of stuff that we still needed to get rid of. </p> <p>Before we moved, I also spent some time on real estate websites to get a feel for apartment prices and sizes (we had no idea what to expect since we moved from Europe to Asia). What I had initially staked out matched up well with the offers on the market when we arrived. We also have one LO in school and one we needed to register for preschool. We basically had 3 days because we found out we were moving the last day of the school year, so we had to hurry to unregistered our older LO from his old school and reregister him plus pay all the school fees very quickly before the new school closed for summer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812026 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 18:29:18 +0000 JMOM 2812026@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did that but my husband flew out weekly to work so he had evenings to look at houses and explore neighborhoods. He started working in our new town in March or April and we all relocated in July once our house sold. We stayed in a furnished apartment until we closed on our house the end of August. Luckily my husband got a relocation package and they stored our stuff until we closed on the house. I think if he wasn't able to do all the searching from Mar/Apr till July we might have considered renting. We had one starting Kindergarten so we needed to find someplace quickly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2812008 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 17:15:58 +0000 peaches1038 2812008@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just moved 2000 Miles last summer with an almost 2 year old and 2 cats. It was stressful but totally doable. We decided to rent for a year before buying so we could be sure that we wanted to stay and to help narrow down neighborhoods. You can do it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2811982 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 15:38:58 +0000 MrsSCB 2811982@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would definitely plan to rent for a bit, especially if you want to buy a forever home. This may differ based on location, but we moved across country just after my son turned one last September. We are still looking for a house, though we live in a very expensive and competitive market. It's slightly less stressful for us, because we're living with my parents, but I'm SO ready to get out and have our own place! I think if you rent to give yourself time to look, it'll be waaaaay less stressful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2811972 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 14:51:43 +0000 merriment 2811972@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We rented in our new area for a year before buying. It was really helpful in figuring out precisely which area we wanted to buy into. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2811971 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 14:44:56 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 2811971@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’m currently doing it. I have a 2.5 year old and a 7 month old. My suggestion would be try to negotiate a relocation package with your DH’s new job. We are moving 13 hours away and the relo company has made everything fairly easy for us. We got a lump sum to travel while we look for a new home. They are paying closings costs for our home sale and purchase. They also hired movers to pack, load, and deliver our stuff. We get a bonus for having sold our house within a certain time frame. There are a lot of benefits. </p> <p>We decided where we wanted to move based on the distance it would put us to our families. Job hunting from afar and only being willing to move to a certain location was very hard. It took my DH two years of looking off and on to find his new job. When he looked before he was willing to go anywhere are found a job quickly. </p> <p>We live in an area that is currently a seller’s market. We got multiple offers the day our house hit the market. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to find a new home. We are also looking for a “forever” home. We are going to have to rent an apartment for a little while. We thought we had something, but negotiations fell through after we thought we had it all settled. That’s been frustrating. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2811968 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 14:37:28 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2811968@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Exciting! </p> <p>Here would be my rough order for a to do list: </p> <p>1. Look for companies and jobs and have him start applying.<br /> 2. Start researching any areas with potential interviews etc. Start cleaning and purging things from your current house. Start a list of house fixes/repairs to be completed.<br /> 3. Look at housing markets (rent versus buy).</p> <p>If possible, renting for a short term can make a lot of sense and take a lot of the pressure off from trying to sell your house and buy another house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/big-move#post-2811964 Mon, 26 Mar 2018 14:16:39 +0000 starchild 2811964@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Has anyone ever planned a big move remotely? We are looking to move 6-11 hours from where we are now depending on which of the three metro areas we’re considering we end up choosing, so we can’t just go back and forth as we prepare. We only have second hand familiarity with these areas, so we are just starting the process of researching jobs and neighborhoods. This will put us within a 3.5 hour radius of DH’s family; we’re currently almost 9 hours away if you’re wondering why we’d pick somewhere semi random for such an upheaval. We will both ultimately look for work, and we won’t move till DH has an offer. I am hoping to take my current role with me remotely at first if I can, though I’m nervous about that or being unemployed. Plus we’ll be moving with a baby (15 weeks old right now) and a Rottweiler, so we’re are trying to decide if we should try to rent in the short term while we get to know our new area before buying a “forever” home. We’ll also have to sell our current house then too. It’s exciting but so overwhelming! Any tips or ideas? </p>