From phone interviews, I have a good opportunity potentially lining up in in North Carolina. I have one more phone interview to go, but it sounds like it's unanimous so far that everyone wants to fly me up. Made a very good impression with two VPs and the CTO already.

I already make at the top end of their posted salary range and when they asked me what it would take to get me to make the move. I told them it would take the right role and the right compensation, and while the role is 100% in my wheelhouse, we are pretty far off on potential compensation based on the posting. Nobody balked, and we are still talking. I'm personally hoping for a 25-30% increase to their max, but I don't know what's realistic.

Factor in state sales tax and such.

Truly a personal question though. For me at this stage of my career, not much could make me relocate away from where we live be it out of TX or in it.

Married to an Aggie vet, no kids. Probably pretty easy for wife to get a job wherever. All of my family and hers are in different parts of Texas though. Probably got about 20 years to go in career, but financially stable, and no debt. Little to no chance of promotion in current organization for me.

Cromagnum said:

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Married to an Aggie vet, no kids. Probably pretty easy for wife to get a job wherever. All of my family and hers are in different parts of Texas though. Probably got about 20 years to go in career, but financially stable, and no debt. Little to no chance of promotion in current organization for me.

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Sounds like more of a lifestyle question of do you and your wife really want to relocate to North Carolina and get out of Texas. You have to remember, there's a chance this job won't work out for whatever reason. Are there going to be other local opportunities that you could pursue if it doesn't work out? Your skillset might be more in demand in Texas vs NC, or vice versa.

Petrino1 said:

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Cromagnum said:

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Married to an Aggie vet, no kids. Probably pretty easy for wife to get a job wherever. All of my family and hers are in different parts of Texas though. Probably got about 20 years to go in career, but financially stable, and no debt. Little to no chance of promotion in current organization for me.

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Sounds like more of a lifestyle question of do you and your wife really want to relocate to North Carolina and get out of Texas. You have to remember, there's a chance this job won't work out for whatever reason. Are there going to be other local opportunities that you could pursue if it doesn't work out? Your skillset might be more in demand in Texas vs NC, or vice versa.

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All good points.

On the contrary, I'd be willing to take a (small) pay cut to get back to Texas! Still trying!

Cromagnum said:

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htxag09 said:

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Hard for me as my wife makes a significant amount....

But I'll just say I don't think Texas is high and above better than every other state like people try to make it out to be.... Would I relocate to California? No, even if they doubled our family total income. Doesn't mean I wouldn't relocate elsewhere. Property taxes and heat are getting old....

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This is where I'm at too. Living in Houston area, the weather mostly sucks year round, with the exception being March-April. And paying 5 figures of property tax for a paid off home blows ass when over half of it is going to a school district when we don't have children anyways.

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Im sure you're aware, but you'd be paying 4.75% in state income tax in NC.

Petrino1 said:

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Cromagnum said:

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htxag09 said:

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Hard for me as my wife makes a significant amount....

But I'll just say I don't think Texas is high and above better than every other state like people try to make it out to be.... Would I relocate to California? No, even if they doubled our family total income. Doesn't mean I wouldn't relocate elsewhere. Property taxes and heat are getting old....

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This is where I'm at too. Living in Houston area, the weather mostly sucks year round, with the exception being March-April. And paying 5 figures of property tax for a paid off home blows ass when over half of it is going to a school district when we don't have children anyways.

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Im sure you're aware, but you'd be paying 4.75% in state income tax in NC.

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Right. I'm keeping that in mind should an offer actually come.

I've had this discussion before and it's interesting to think about. Taking a step back from which states allow what, and what the rates are in different states on income tax and real estate tax, and ignoring the overall tax bill, which avenue for collecting tax off of you makes you less perturbed? Or would you prefer a combination?

E.G. (making up these numbers entirely)
Uncle Sam and State are going to get $25k from you off of $100k no matter what, and your house is paid off and doesn't produce anything other than living quarters for you.

• 0$ Income Tax, $25k Real Estate tax
• $25k Income Tax, $0 Real Estate Tax
• 50/50, $12.5k for each bucket
• Some other combo?

Again, this is all in a vacuum and a mind thought process that is interesting to take.

Chipotlemonger said:

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I've had this discussion before and it's interesting to think about. Taking a step back from which states allow what, and what the rates are in different states on income tax and real estate tax, and ignoring the overall tax bill, which avenue for collecting tax off of you makes you less perturbed? Or would you prefer a combination?

E.G. (making up these numbers entirely)
Uncle Sam and State are going to get $25k from you off of $100k no matter what, and your house is paid off and doesn't produce anything other than living quarters for you.

• 0$ Income Tax, $25k Real Estate tax
• $25k Income Tax, $0 Real Estate Tax
• 50/50, $12.5k for each bucket
• Some other combo?

Again, this is all in a vacuum and a mind thought process that is interesting to take.

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The current system made a lot of sense for decades when property values were fairly steady. When property values double, triple, or quadruple in 20 years, that's a different story.

I wouldn't have a problem with Texas / Houston property taxes if they were legitimate. HCAD is supposed to be unbiased in valuating the properties, but that's not possible and has even been admitted to by their reps in meetings.

If they added the ability for the homeowner to require the county to purchase the home for the appraised value if they choose, a lot of the BS valuations would stop.

Paying property tax is the essentially the same as paying capital gains on stocks you haven't sold.

I sure hope there is a relocation package for you. That is an instant deal killer if not.

Hoyt Ag said:

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I sure hope there is a relocation package for you. That is an instant deal killer if not.

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Absolutely.

Well put. This was part of what I was putting forth on my question regarding income tax vs real estate tax.

i recommend focusing less on % and more on factoring in the total cost of living + value of the experience/life change. focusing only on a % can distract from what's most important.

born & raised in TX but moved my family to OR in my mid-30s for a job (kids were 4, 4 & 2).. the financials made sense at the time, including factoring in flights for a family of 5 back to TX and flights for grandparents to OR.. and the company was fun.

we tried to get back to TX after 7 years but landed at a job in UT in 2021.. less cash, more equity, cheaper travel and lots of local adventures. and a company that is interesting to me.

as a DINK you have a lot more flexibility than most.. if the opportunity is enticing, NC is a pretty cool state. you can rent the paid off house and come back in a few years if it doesn't work out.

Similar to the above but slightly different, both the wife and I were born and raised in TX. Had an opportunity with my company that required us to relocate to the Midwest. Kids were 4&1. I didn't even know the full comp package initially but knew it was a great opportunity for my career and trusted the company would make it right which they have and then some. It has also landed me a couple additional promotions since then. It hasn't always been easy but the challenge has helped us grow as a family as well as me professionally. We've also got to explore a number of places we never would have otherwise and meet new friends that we'll have wherever the next opportunity takes us.

Lots of great advice on this thread. Don't be afraid to leave Texas, it is not the end all be all that people make it out to be. There are a lot of great places in the US to reside and work. I left Texas in 2020 for Colorado and aside from some of the liberal politics, it isn't bad if you live on the Western Slope. There are far more outdoor opportunities here than back home, which is important to me. I fly fish everyday after work, I can leave my house on my side by side and ride any of the 350 miles of trails, hike in the 2 National Forests less than an hr from my door, and so on. Within 20 miles of my house I have every outdoor activity available to me. It is all about tradeoffs and what is important to you.

Hoyt Ag said:

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Lots of great advice on this thread. Don't be afraid to leave Texas, it is not the end all be all that people make it out to be. There are a lot of great places in the US to reside and work. I left Texas in 2020 for Colorado and aside from some of the liberal politics, it isn't bad if you live on the Western Slope. There are far more outdoor opportunities here than back home, which is important to me. I fly fish everyday after work, I can leave my house on my side by side and ride any of the 350 miles of trails, hike in the 2 National Forests less than an hr from my door, and so on. Within 20 miles of my house I have every outdoor activity available to me. It is all about tradeoffs and what is important to you.

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this. though I'm still in Texas, we are contemplating leaving. I moved away for 7 years, and didn't have plans to move back, though work ended up sending me back. First chance I get to move to Colorado and we are probably out of here.

Cromagnum said:

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Company has decided to fly me up in a couple weeks. What's really funny is the headhunter that started all this asked for feedback for all candidates involved to the decision making team, and somewhere along the way someone merged all these messages into one email chain. When they got to the part to book my travel itinerary, someone used this email chain, and now I know how many finalists I'm up against, what their names are, and even what one of them would be willing to take for an offer. Whoops!

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wow. that is pretty terrible! do they realize what they've done?

earlier this year i was in a contract negotiation where the vendor retained external counsel (at a very large firm)... named partner at the firm wouldn't allow the client to sign an NDA, aggressively citing it as unnecessary...
...later that day, same named partner accidently cc'd the wrong cjo03 on an email with 3 other client contracts attached.

I don't know if they realize or not. I had sent a separate email to the hiring manager to confirm the itinerary, and was asked to respond to the other email and CC everyone.

I was all like..

Cromagnum said:

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now I know how many finalists I'm up against, what their names are, and even what one of them would be willing to take for an offer.

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So how you stacking up?

They willing to take more or less than you were?

AgLA06 said:

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Cromagnum said:

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now I know how many finalists I'm up against, what their names are, and even what one of them would be willing to take for an offer.

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So how you stacking up?

They willing to take more or less than you were?

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One guy is willing to take a 20k pay cut from his current role to take this one, and his LinkedIn history shows he has worked for about 8 companies in 20ish years and maintains the same type of job level. I have more relevant experience but will cost more. We'll see if they value cost vs skills and knowledge more.

I told this company upfront their posted salary wasn't nearly high enough, and they are still talking to me. It's a sellers market as far as I'm concerned, and if they can't get close, it's no skin off my back. I'll just keep looking.

curious what the board thinks... would you acknowledge with a reply back directly only to the sender saying 'may want to start a new thread'... or just pretend you never saw it?

Keep quiet

100%.

Moved away from Texas last year after living all 66 years of my life there. Never really thought I'd do it but no regrets.

33 years in TX (with a brief stint in NC for MBA).

3, almost 4 years in OR now. I wish we would have left sooner. I do miss good TexMex, though.

This is an interesting one for me. Born and raised in Texas and proud of that but left early adulthood. Had terrible experiences in three different states over 12 years and then managed to drag my ass back to Texas sobbing and begging to be let back in. Was welcomed back into its loving embrace and have been so happy about that. But now unemployed and looking myself againand I currently limiting myself to only Texas even if at a sub conscious level.

I can't help but wonder how much my earlier experiences damaged my views on moving outside my safe box now. I mean, if anyone asks me, it's a hell no I ain't never leaving again. I say it jokingly but there is some truth to it if I'm being honest to my self. I do hate that mentality in myself and I know I'm probably screwing myself out of considerable opportunity in many life aspects. I'm trying to break that now but man, it is pretty ingrained.

Not much, for the right opportunity