Jesus.

Edited to add:

I sat on this, because my response was going to be snippy if I posted right away. Which was dumb.

Taxes are generally a wash between property vs income taxes.

NC has more high end Universities. They're also much smaller and harder to get into, not to mention higher cost. To be honest, outside of Duke, it's mostly a wash based on the number of large, respected universities in Texas as well as schools such as Rice.

The only people I know driving anywhere close to 30K miles a year are regional sales people who live out of a car. My wife and I both average under 10K miles a year and that included a 4K miles summer trip on each vehicle alternating the last 2 summers. The actual average is around 16K miles and within less than 100 miles of the NC average based on research.

Weather is warmer here, colder there. The great thing about Texas compared to NC is we have more than a half dozen regions that can be very different in climate and geography. The gulf coast is going to be hot, rainy, humid, and with mosquitos. West Texas will be hot and dry. Panhandle more temperate just like northeast Texas. NC is temporate to cold with snow and Ice. It's different, but the generic comparison doesn't necessarily hold water. The hill country is similar, but a little warmer, more arid hills compared to forested mountains. Both get Hurricanes on their coast.

People in Texas used to be a lot better and friendlier. That has dwindled in large cities as transplants move in for jobs and to do their best to change the culture. A large portion of NC has this problem in spades as well. The trade off is Houston is one of the most diverse cultural cities in the USA.

Saying value of life is better is subjective and a stretch at best. Places like Houston with elite culture (museums, sports, Rodeo, festivals, etc) restaurants of every ethnicity and quality, massive amounts of green space (bayou hike and bike, Herman / Memorial Park in addition to neighborhood parks) isn't challenged for most by NC. It's just different. If NC barbecue is a bullet point, good luck. The number of state parks within an hour of Houston generally baffles people. The pollution claim for them is not applicable. The Gulf of Mexico is generally ugly, but mainly due to mud from rivers. There's issues with the port / refinery area, but that also keeps our gas prices much lower than NC.

The reality is moving for work right now is much harder to overcome just because of interest rates. It would cost me double or more in interest to move from the very nice house in town I have a 2.5% rate on in the best case scenario. While it's possible to find less expensive options to try and counter, that's typically counter intuitive when moving for work. No one wants a less desirable home, and if one has to pack up their life, most generally want something nicer to justify it. So housing alone would require a huge relocation package, salary increase that means c-suite to even have be an option. In housing alone that probably means $50k+ in relocation costs and $500k total to cover the added interest on the home just in interest rate differences.

I'd need at least double pay to move back to Texas from Colorado. Not happening. Summers + lack of outdoor activities moved us to Colorado. Quality of life much better here imo.

Interesting points. I was suppose to fly up yesterday but the storms got my flights cancelled. Gonna try again in a week or so.

htxag09 said:

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knoxtom said:

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In Texas everyone averages 30k miles a year in their car.

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Please show your supporting evidence for this....I'd love to see it.

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Yeah! I drive 30k a year and I'm sure I'm an EXTREME outlier.

But… I don't doubt or disagree with most of Knoxtoms other points. Weather and mosquitoes here suck ass.

10%

I don't think there is a number, honestly. Because whatever they offer would have to be an increase to cover both my and my husband's salary (bc no guarantee he can find a job in the new state), plus extra to cover cost of living adjustments, plus extra to cover having to sell our house/buy a new house.

And all of that would be a REALLY high salary and a job that would command that kind of salary? Not what I want. Not looking to be a c-suite executive.

Good luck! You've got this.

Nice!

Cromagnum said:

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Interview went well. So well that the VP gave me a verbal notice of intent to hire and said he wanted to spend his time with me to close in on an initial offer range before I traveled home. Written one will be forthcoming Monday.

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Awww congratulations

HELL YEAH!

Great job, dude.

Even if I don't accept it, it's good reinforcement I still got the technical and interview chops. I'm hoping we can make it work though. The VP said he would do what he could since he has a lot of discretionary spending ability. I know I'm the only candidate in the lineup they wanted, so I'm in a good spot. I'm sure they don't want to start the search over.

I already know they are willing to pay for a couple of sets of flights for wife and I to find a place to live, will 100% cover relocation, and would be willing to help set me up in something temporary until I can get current house sold if I need to.

I might have missed this in an earlier post...

What city?

Greater Charlotte isn't the best but it is better than anywhere in Texas.

Charlotte is similar to DFW. It is driven by big Banking and Insurance companies, it is huge, there are a bunch of big city things to do. Schools are decent. Traffic sucks bad.

I wouldn't leave where I live now for Charlotte, but I would choose it over DFW, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.


Hope it all falls in line for you and you make the best decision you can.

All you can do unless you're just looking to relocate!

VP liked my proposal and is taking it to the business president, so that's encouraging. I'm their only candidate this time around so if we can't make it work they have to start the process over.

As written, the role would have reported to a subordinate of the VP, but based on job size and responsibilities, I proposed to amend the job description and have it report directly to the VP. Bold move, but I literally have nothing to lose. The VP has discretion to build his team however he wants, so I just gave him something else to chew on. His boss is the CTO whom I already impressed.

Careful. Now that you've gone that far, they will expect you to bite and take on the job.

Good for you. Good practice nonetheless.

Charpie said:

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Careful. Now that you've gone that far, they will expect you to bite and take on the job.

Good for you. Good practice nonetheless.

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Yep. I hope you're ready to start packing if they say yes.

Haha. They are mad and are thinking that you wasted their time. In reality they should have expected this.

Cromagnum said:

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LOL. The VP came back and told me its "late in the game to negotiate", even though I told him on our first phone call two months ago where I was and his initial offer on Monday wasn't close. He got irritated on the phone. That pretty much tells me all I need to know. If they are irritable with interview candidates, how do they treat actual employees? Easy decison.

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Yah, F that. If they are dumb enough to fly you out there and go multiple rounds of interviews and not provide an offer that meets the expectations you provided up front, that's on them. And I'd make sure you explain you don't appreciate them wasting your time either.

Now he calls me back and brings the salary up another 8k, and bonus target up from 10% to 15%.

send them an invoice for your time

Bonuses definitely make the compensation discussions harder to validate/compare.

I've been at previous companies with a target bonus of 20%. In 5 years the highest I got was 12%.

My current company has a target bonus of 10%. Lowest I've gotten in 3 years is 13%.

Current company, my personal target is 12%. Have gotten as low as 25% company multiplier up to 190% company multiplier against that (so 4% to 23% effective).

Allegedly new company has been paying out 200-250% for the last 5-6 years. Not a guarantee of course, and could go to complete **** all of a sudden.

Cromagnum said:

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Current company, my personal target is 12%. Have gotten as low as 25% company multiplier up to 190% company multiplier against that (so 4% to 23% effective).

Allegedly new company has been paying out 200-250% for the last 5-6 years. Not a guarantee of course, and could go to complete **** all of a sudden.

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Seems a smart company doing that would rather convert that to raises just for budgeting purposes if they expect that to continue. The only reason not to is you don't expect it continue to happen and want an out.