Relocation challenges out the wazoo......

September 18, 2014 8:30 AM

I'm attempting to make a big change to help myself professionally and the challenges are proving much more formidable than I anticipated.

So I've lived in the desert SW for 6 years and there is no work in my field (agriculture). I would like to move to Northern California, preferably the Sacramento area, to start over. I am currently an administrative professional and applying for administrative work in Sac has proven to be fruitless so I thought that moving there w/o a job would help me to be more competitive in getting a job.

Enter challenge number two. Trying to get an apartment or room from afar is damn near impossible as well. Since I would be moving w/o a job, how do you explain that to a potential landlord? And I can't afford to spend too much on a place so that whittles down the pool of living possibilities. On top of that, I have an extremely well-behaved 50 lb. dog and a tiny caged bird that apparently no one wants to consider. They are the only family I have and to surrender them would be nothing short of excruciating.

Btw, I have a good friend in Sacramento that I cannot stay with temporarily while I am looking for another place. I have already asked her.

So, Mefites, how do people do this? How do people get out of major ruts in their lives when all of the cards are stacked against them? How can I get to a better place in my life where there might be a possibility of me moving forward ('cause it ain't gonna happen here)?

Thanks.

posted by strelitzia to Work & Money (11 answers total)

I have ideas for intermediate approaches vs full out moving without a job and a need to find a place without a job and other challenges (ie, dog).

What about asking your friend if you can list her address (be clear you will not do anything beyond that) and get a google voice number with an area code for that area? Then apply like crazy. If you get interviews, go out on the same few days. Get a hotel room and hopefully (fingers crossed) you will get an offer. Then use that offer to negotiate an apartment.

But it gives you 1) less economic risk and 2) you won't start with negative negative money. That is how I would approach it. Good luck.
posted by Wolfster at 8:56 AM on September 18, 2014

Is your friend not able to host you, or you + pets? They may be reluctant to have 3 creatures move in indefinitely. If it's about the pets you could try to find someone to temporarily foster them while you crash with your friend. After finding a job and getting some money saved you'll be able to get your own place and bring your pets home.
posted by charlielxxv at 9:05 AM on September 18, 2014

Response by poster: charlielxxv, my friend lives in a one bedroom house and has told me that she doesn't want us "living on top of each other" and thinks that it would "ruin our friendship". Maybe that's just her way of saying that the idea of me being there makes her uncomfortable. I don't know. I didn't want to push it.
posted by strelitzia at 9:13 AM on September 18, 2014

There is no need to put a street address on your resume, just put Sacramento and a Google Voice number with the right area code.

You may have to look for more creative living situations since you will have trouble finding apartments in CA that will take a 50lb dog. You may need to look in rural areas outside Sac proper for more laid-back properties.

It may mean you need to find a boarding facility that will give you a deal for a month or two so you can rent a tiny room for yourself short term. Or you may want to see if you can find someone where you are now who will foster (or maybe care for your pets in your home in return for a place to stay) while you go stay in Sac for a few weeks and pound the pavement, and then you go back and move for real when you find a job.

Another option is to put a lot of effort into finding a job that is remote work. That's tough for admin work, but there are support and research jobs out there that don't care where you are as long as you have a phone and computer. You don't have to keep the job forever, but it'll make it easier to move and get a place to live, and then look for a job in earnest in Sacramento when you're ready.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:25 AM on September 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

I don't know how much you are counting on your friend once you get to Sacramento, but from afar, she does not appear to be much of a friend.
posted by 724A at 10:15 AM on September 18, 2014

I don't know how much you are counting on your friend once you get to Sacramento, but from afar, she does not appear to be much of a friend.

I wouldn't go quite that far - living with an extra person AND a large dog in a one-bedroom apartment, for an indefinite length of time, would be a strain, I think. (I would probably find the large dog more difficult than the extra person - and if that dog was at all noisy or unfriendly/territorial it would be a deal-breaker.) I have seen similar situations ruin friendships. I'll interpret this more charitably and say that Strelitzia's friend is being honest about what the friendship can bear.

I agree that asking your friend if you can use her address, and then getting a Google voice number, so you appear local, might help. Also casting as wide a net as possible for places to live. Could you be a caretaker for a more rural property (where the dog might be an asset)? Could you look for dog-friendly shared housing? (I doubt that the bird is a big deal to most people. "Tiny caged birds" - I'm assuming something like a finch, canary or budgie - are pretty unobtrusive.)

I live in the Bay Area, where finding housing is very difficult, but there is more wiggle room up around Sacramento and that area.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 10:37 AM on September 18, 2014

I have an 80lb dog and two cats in my reasonably priced midtown Sacramento apartment, so it's not impossible at all, it just takes some extra time to find landlords who are willing to work with you.

In fact I'm pretty sure my landlords are almost ready to rent out the house around the corner, which should have the same dog-friendly rules as my place. If you want the information on it, or if you need a local address to use, just memail me.
posted by zug at 10:41 AM on September 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

Have you looked into sublets at all or is the size of the dog too much of a concern? I've moved without a job a few times, and either extended-stay hotels or sublets have always been how I landed in the new city. Sublets are far cheaper and give you a couple months to explore the area, make sure you really want to live there, and give you a local address for job-hunting.
posted by jabes at 10:44 AM on September 18, 2014

With respect to Wolfster's comment -- if your friend won't let you use her address for Google Voice and you can/are willing to pay a little money each month, Vonage will let you get a phone number in any area code regardless of where you live. (I don't remember if you have to have a number in an area code corresponding to your physical address or not, but you can at least get a virtual second number). You could then get a Sacramento number to list on your resume (MeMail me for a referral). If you absolutely need an address, you could take a trip out there and rent a PO Box.

rent.com and apartmentguide.com will let you find apartment complexes that allow dogs; but there's still the issue of the application and not being employed in the area. I've had birds in an apartment that explicitly stated no pets, but that was a temporary (1 month) situation. Generally there is a weight limit on dogs, as I'm sure you've discovered. (This is why my wife and I have small dogs even though we live in a house -- when we got the dogs we were in an apartment with a weight limit.)
posted by tckma at 2:07 PM on September 18, 2014

Response by poster: I really like the idea that was mentioned of being in a rural or rural-ish area. In fact, that's the kind of "hood" I live in now. Although I'm open to the city too.

Anybody who lives in the Sac/Davis/Dixon area that might know of any farm-y kinda folk? Just want to put it out there. :)
posted by strelitzia at 3:06 PM on September 18, 2014

If it's any consolation, it's hard to find admin work if you LIVE here already. They pretty much want people who have done the job in every aspect before, which is what I keep seeing.

Sorry, but I don't know anyone who could take your big dog. That, I fear, will be your #1 issue here with finding housing because dogs are the easiest to discriminate against. I don't know your age, but I might try the "look for a room in a house with a bunch of animal lovers" approach via Craigslist or something like that. (Vet students might be good....) And right now is a pretty hard time to look for a place with cheap/student housing, but if you wait a few months, there will be some desperate students who are sick of their living situations who will bail on leases and the like and then roomies will be desperate for people.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:38 PM on September 18, 2014