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Consider Relocating
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Sometimes moving to a new area means you can find a better job more easily. These links will help you examine other places to live before you make the move.
- The Total Guide from Total Mortgage
- This collection of guides to homebuying, green living, renovating your home, and even job search and academic pursuits is provided by this mortgage company because they understand that life is filled with choices, milestones and hurdles.
- Protect Your Move
- ...created by the Federal Motor Career Safety Administration (part of the US Dept. of Transportation), this site is here to help plan your move and select a moving company. You can review several articles including topics like planning a move, your rights, and understanding valuation and insurance options, or search the history of various moving companies as well as any complaints that may have been lodged against them.
- How to Move Your Pets, Atlas Van Lines
- ...just one of several good guides to moving some of your more precious and/or delicate items as well as other How-To guides related to a move. A free service from Atlas Van Lines.
- Relocation Guides & Tools from Movers.com
- A collection of over 150 documents covering a variety of topics all of which address ways to make your move easier. Movers.com is a source of information on relocation and a place where you can request free quotes from moving companies.
- Moving Resources from ABF / U-Pack Moving
- This section of the U-Pack website is filled with short articles and to-do lists to help you plan, execute, and recover from your move. You can even send out free address change e-cards to friends and family, courtesy of U-Pack. Of course, if you want them to pack and haul, you can request a free quote form ABF.
- How to Choose a Professional Mover, Mayflower Transit
- Tips and pointers to help you avoid moving scams from one of the largest moving companies in the U.S.
- DirectYourMove.com
- ...a consumer resource designed to simplify the process of selecting a moving company, but my favorite part of the this site are the various Guides at the bottom of the page (Moving Guides, How To..., and Moving Tips). These are good things to read before you consider requesting free quotes from this site or any other. We had this site listed a while ago but deleted it because it went offline. It's back.
- LocalMovers.com
- ...a source for moving companies who handle moves of 99 miles or less. I'm listing this site less for the ability to get a quote and more for the information they provide. On the front page you get a checklist of steps to take to qualify a local mover, including verifying that the mover has a DOT license. Then, if you scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Your Rights and Responsibilities", you will get the full text of a document prepared by the Federal Highway Administration explaining various terms used by the moving industry. Please note that the Federal Highway Admin only has oversight on interstate moves, so some portions of this guide may not be applicable. Still, it is an excellent informational and educational resource.
- Move.com
- ...tips on purchasing a house, figuring your mortgage payments, and other good guides. Much of this is offered in conjuction with Realtor.com. You might want to try the Moving Checklist Generator to create a custom "to-do list" with time line.
- Moving.com
- ...all kinds of info to assist you with finding a new home and planning a move
- MoversGuide from the US Postal Service
- ...file a change-of-address form right online, direct links to motor vehicle and voter registration info for all 50 states, IRS change-of-address forms, moving tips for you / the kids / the pets, how to get settled after the move, a post office locator, and some money-saving offers.
- MovingScam.com
- ...while planning your move, check this site for horror stories of folks who were scammed by moving companies. Then, after reading them, look for information on how to find reputable movers, understanding estimates, and how to file complaints.
- Wall Street Journal Real Estate
- ...another free winner from the Wall Street Journal. Search for a new home, plan your relocation production, review extensive information profiles for over 100 US cities, home design and home improvement info, and even info on lawn and garden care. They even have an interactive Best Places to Live database for you which starts with "Choose your ideal climate." Sorry, but "No hurricanes nor tornados" is not offered as a search option.
- Cost of Living Tool from Relocation Essentials
- Quick, easy way to compare living expenses between 2 locations in the US. Enter your current salary, select your current location (State plus City, County or Zip Code), then the location you are comparing, and click Next. You then get a statement showing you the Disposable Income you would gain or lose if your pay rate stayed the same. You will also see a short chart showing you which expenses are higher, lower, or approximately the same. Yes, others do this all, but this is a pretty nice and simple tool to use.
- Information Topics from the US Census Bureau
- Population estimates, building start-ups, employment statistics, this site includes brief information on many topics which might affect your decision to move somewhere. I've linked you to the A - Z subject page so you can look around.
- FedStats
- ...went through that stuff above and still didn't find what you want? The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains this site to provide easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced by these agencies for public use. Check the Fast Facts, browse the list A to Z, or try the keyword search.
- Federal Reserve Board "Beige" Book
- ..connect from here to the Beige Book, local cost-of-living and other data for the 12 regions represented by the 12 Federal Reserve Banks. "This report is published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key businessmen, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector." Several years of the book are archived online. The links are at the bottom of the page.
- Military to Civilian Pay Calculator, GiJobs.com
- Not a salary calculator but a cost-of-living calculator you can use to figure out what you need to earn as a civilian to match your current compensation (pay plus benefits) as a member of the Armed Forces. No, this does not tell you that someone will actually pay you this much. Use tools like the Salary Info from CareerOneStop for actual salary data, but remember that everything is negotiable -- salary, health benefits, vacation, retirement funding, etc. -- when it comes to total compensation in the private sector.
- Numbeo
- ...a free Internet database with cost of living and worldwide property investment indicators (i.e., housing costs). The data is supplied by contributors and culled from authoritative sources, but it is filtered to a point so as to eliminate wide variations. So I wouldn't use this as an authoritative source for your international relations paper but it could give you a very good idea of cost of living/housing costs if you are considering moving from the US to Denmark or the Czech Republic to Argentina. In many cases you have city-level data, but not everything is filled in. This site is operated by Mladen Adamovic, who holds degrees in Math and Electrical Engineering and has worked as a software engineer for Google Ireland.
- MySalaryChecker.com
- ...operated by the Adecco Group UK & Ireland family of recruitment companies in conjunction with Salary Track, mysalarychecker.com allows you to compare your salary to the UK national average. Salary data is gathered from millions of UK job postings listed with job boards, recruitment agencies, corporate websites and the associated listed companies. The average salaries are then calculated using the 'median' value, i.e. the middle number when all of these salaries are listed in numerical order. These calculations are made over a rolling three month period, so you can always ensure that the information you get is always up to date. Terrific tool, and free.
- Federation of Tax Administrators, State Tax Rates and Structure.
- ...links to many tax tables for individual income, corporate income, motor fuel, and other taxes levied by individual states. (If you are a serious beer drinker, I don't think you want to move to Hawaii.) Also links to state amnesty programs, for those of you who might not have been so compliant about filing.
- Apartments.com
- ...nationwide network of apartment listings, including floor plans. Choose your region, price range, number of beds and baths, and go.
- Century21 Houses for Sale
- ...connect with one of the largest real estate companies in the world. And the "Tools" area can help you with planning what you can afford and if it is worth refinancing.
- ERA.com
- ...Search for a new home, make arrangements to sell your current home, and compare the price of homes in any region.
- Realtor.com
- ...Select a state to find a new home or meet realtors in that region.
- Re/Max International
- ... search for homes or realtors nationwide. In its mortgage information section, you can find data on interest rates and loan terms or use a special calculator to estimate how much your monthly payments would be.
- RealtyDirectory.com
- ...a searchable list of real-estate professionals--as well as their phone numbers, e-mail address and websites, if applicable--who have paid to be listed in the directory.
Another tip originally seen in the National Business Employment Weekly: Whether you're planning to buy or rent, you may find the quickest results by going to a major search engine like as Google and searching on the name of the city you're moving to and the words "real-estate listings," "apartments" or "houses."
Schools
Information on colleges and vocational training schools is also available.
- Council of Chief State School Officers
- ...a nationwide nonprofit org for the public officials leading the departments responsible for elementary and secondary education in the US and its other jurisdictions. From this site you can connect to the websites for all of these agencies, check out information on education standards and assessment, and keep up with the latest news in the education field.
- National Public School and School District Locator
- ...U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics is making available their Common Core of Data, a comprehensive, annual, national statistical database of information concerning all public elementary and secondary schools (approximately 87,000) and school districts (approximately 16,000). What does this mean to you? It means if you are searching for information on school districts, you now have access to "the correct name, address, telephone number, NCES ID number, urbanicity (rural, large city, etc.), and other student and teacher information for public schools or school districts as reported to NCES by state education officials in each state." I like the cross listing from school districts to individual schools in the district and back again. You also don't need the full name of a school (I tried just "Blair" to find "Montgomery Blair," a school near me), and the reports are pretty detailed. The School search lets you specify grade span (K-12, 4 - 6, etc.) and Number of students in the school. Don't you just love it when your tax dollars do something this well?
- Search for Schools, Colleges, and Libraries
- ... another tool from NCES, this allows you to search for schools, colleges, and public libraries. Enter a location, select the kind of institution you seek, and go.
- TABS: The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS)
- ...searchable or browseable information on almost 300 boarding schools in the U.S. and Canada. Includes application information.
Health Care
- AMA DoctorFinder
- ...The On-Line Doctor Finder from the American Medical Association. The database listings are not limited to AMA members and all information has been confirmed by the various accrediting and certification agencies. When you connect to this page, you will be asked to enter the numbers in the graphic. They are working to prevent robots from accessing the database. If you cannot see the image, or you are on a computer that does not display images, there is a way to tell them.
- American Dental Association
- ...information on the association, dental care tips, and great information on finding a dentist. You can search their online member directory, but even then they recommend you contact the state and local societies in your area for referrals. Yes, links are provided to the state and local societies.
We also have information on child & elder care providers.
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