What to do when considering a move?

Question

I am thinking of moving away from Cleveland, OH to Cincinnati (or possibly KY). When is the best time to start looking for jobs and housing? My lease is up at the end of April 2009, and I would like to have something lined up by then.

Answer 1

Well, it depends on what kind of job you are looking for.  They say to allow at least 1 month for every $10,000 in salary you will be looking for, as a general rule of thumb.  So if you want to move at the end of April, and you will be looking for a job that pays $40k a year, I'd suggest stating to look at the end of December/Early January.

As for housing, I'd get that lined up after I found a job.  If you do it the other way around, you risk having a long commute.  I'd rather get a job and then choose something not too far away if I could.  There will be plenty of houses and apartments available in the spring.  Heck, there are plenty now, many of them are steals in regards to price.  Winter months, while there arent as many houses on the market, are good months to buy houses- houses on the market in the winter are houses that you know someone needs to sell badly.

Answer 2

I would say that around April new listings for homes start to come out.  People usually want to wait until the summer to move because that is when the children are finished with school.  

There are a lot of houses on the market still right now so you should have a lot of choices still.  You can start thinking about what you are looking for in a home and look on-line at houses that are listed on the internet.  If you are looking at apartments, then you can start looking anytime.  

As for jobs, usually the last 3 months is really slow because companies are not hiring until they have their new budget.  Also it depends on how much experience you have for work.  If you are looking for entry-level positions, it is best to have a job lined up before May because many students graduate in May-June time frame.  Start seriously looking come January.  Now it would be a good idea just to find out the cost of living in Cincinnati.