After 6 great years in the states i'm moving to Izmir Turkey. I leave behind 1 upside down rental property(Boston) with a crappy mortgage and my house that i'm going to rent in Seattle !!. Things are becoming to expensive and my little American dream has changed from all good times to being a penny pincher . I have also taken the huge step of applying to become a US citizen which i never thought i'd ever want to do.
I'm back working as a Expat a broad with the wife and son in tow!!
God bless America and let 's hope this good country takes a quick U-turn back to the good times
HH

You're a Brit right?

Sorry to hear that man..Hopefully things get better for you too..Times are rough here in the US but hopefully someone will bring things back to normal..

Hate to hear that....you are going to the land of hair and staches!

Good luck!

Man...look....when you come back, here is what you do......fix your first problem.....do NOT try to live up North....not when you are spread out with 2 pieces of property.

You could pull that off EASY in the South.

There is a MAJOR difference in cost of living between North and South. Anybody who has ever checked it out first hand will back me up on this. I have a buddy.....native Texan that has been in Manhattan and other North Eastern areas.....and he has been there for about 10 years and STILL cannot get used to the prices on rent, property and just everything in general.

If you are a Doctor/Lawyer type that is bringing down HUGE $$$$....you can live in the North easy....but if you are "joe six pack"...but want to own multiple property and get involved in business and whatnot..and average guy can pull that off here.

My buddy in Manhattan pays about $1000 per month on a 1BR, 1bath tiny hole in the wall.

I own 1200+sq foot home on 3 lots.....3BR, 2bath....and my mortgage is only $475 a month.

It's a HUGE difference man.....when you get back...come see for yourself.


All this housing BS....has not had an effect here....people are still buying and selling at a decent pace.

Hitman is a Tasmanian...aka Fake Aussie...aka pederass...aka wooly woofter...aka koala fucker



BG is right about cost of living in TX. I live in FL right now, but my property value has dropped dramatically in the last year(about 40k). When is rises up again, I'm probably moving to Austin to get a 4/2/2 for about 200k!

BUT....if you want an even sweeter deal....you will stay out of Austin. Everybody here stays away from Austin due to the higher cost of living as opposed to other regions. If you go closer to Houston you can most likely get that same set up for 125K.

Austin is a College town.....the taxes are insane and everything is higher because every business there KNOWS mommy and Daddy are footing the bill....plus due to it being a college town....every kid that graduates wants to stay.....so there is a HUGE shortage of decent jobs....or if you do get one...you get paid tons less as opposed to outside of Austin because whatever it is you do.....you can bet some recently degreed desperate kid that wants to stay there will do it for 5-10K less per year.

My cousin has been living there for about 6 years and is in terrible shape financially.....his brother moved back here about 2 years ago and has already saved more and earned more and accomplished more in those 2 years than he did the 4 in Austin.

THE ONLY reason to move there is if you are a musician or love music so much that you just have to be surrounded by it 24/7 and easy women....if that is the case...all of the above might be worth it still.

If not....consider Houston or San Antonio and the surrounding areas.

$1,000 rent in the city?

LOL...holy rent-control, because that is DIRT CHEAP.

no....this is a like a tiny rat in wall 1BR,1bath hole! lol

Cost of living is pretty cheap in the south compared to other places(except for maybe the midwest or some rural areas I'm sure), although where I'm from Katrina has got the cost of rent kind of jacked up. I remember before the storm you could get a 1br for like 350 and a 2 br for like 425-50 usually with utilities paid, shit was ridiculous, of course jobs don't pay as much where I am either...Now the cheapest places are around 600-700 a month and that's only for like 1 or 2 bedrooms...

Right...but even as a couple hundred square foot hole in the wall, a grand is dirt cheap.

I mean, insanely cheap.

LOL...crazy as it sounds, your buddy has a good deal, because a grand doesn't even get you something nice in a good area on Long Island. When I read your mortgage payment the first time, I had to re-read it 5 times again to make sure I was not seeing things.

I work in television...so the big Austin market will pay me more than a Po-dunk town in the middle of Texas. But, I'm really interested in Austin's film scene. I think it'd be a good place to make my transition.

The Houston and SA market will pay you better than Austin....I can say that with 100% without a doubt certanity. I'm not saying to move out in the middle of nowhere and commute 50+ miles.....what I'm saying is IF you live IN Austin as opposed to say 15 minutes outside of it....there will be a difference in prices.....but if you live in or around SA and Houston there is a HUGE difference between home prices anywhere near Austin.

BUT...if you are looking at the film scene...then yes...Austin beats the rest in that department.

There is no telling him that! lol The poor guy moans and complains to me about it every time we speak.

Yeah....I got an extreamly good deal....I bought exactly 4 years ago this Nov. when the market was AWESOME! Got a fixed 5.5 APR. I wanted something to where.....if I got sick of my job for ethical reasons or a crap boss or whatever......that no matter what happened I could flip a burger and afford my mortgage.

But I also put down a pretty big down payment too.

All in all I can't complain....it's more house than I know what to do with, and being single....it's like a castle! lol BUT....who knows maybe one day I will fill it with other little BGv's.....at least I will have the room if that ever occurs!

Seriously man....if you want a good deal....come down here. AND....with the market being lower than usual...as long as you have good credit....you could swing and even better deal right now!

Yeah my sister pays almost twice that for a studio in gramercy. A grand is dirt cheap to live in Manhattan, and to actually have a bedroom at that price is quite a luxury

my thoughts exactly.... cos i was paying $875 for less than that in 1992 (15 years ago)

Move to NC, its cheap, its a growing state, and its one of the few places where you can go to the mountains and beach and never leave the state.

Charlotte is the only market where the housing market is up in the whole USA! It reminds me of Atlanta 15 years ago!