Moving back to Zion - Advice?

I just got a job in the Thanksgiving Point area, and am leaving Texas to come back to Utah. My wife and I are looking to build a house somewhere nearby. I know a bunch of you guys are there right now, so I wanted to see what places / builders you might recommend for us. We don't have any kids yet, but hope to soon, so information about local schools would be awesome.



On a slightly different note, we love our house and neighborhood here in Texas. We'd like to convert it to a rental and hang on to it that way, but I don't feel confident yet in my ability to secure a mortgage for a second home (only 10% equity in the first home now), or to manage it from Utah. Do any of you guys have experience with that sort of thing?



Thanks in advance, and I'm looking forward to being able to participate in some Cougar Corner activities in person for once!

Congratulations on your new job!! I have no advice in the financial area. As far as where to live? American Fork is nice. Good schools. But, once your in the Utah Valley area, is there really a bad place to live?



But, you really want to leave Texas? My brother lives in San Antonio. He loves Texas.

I would recommend Eagle Mountain, it's just a few minutes out of Lehi with a direct access road to Thanksgiving Point. You'll be able to avoid the nonsense of the Lehi city government as well as the very poor schools in Lehi. There are also a large number of CougarCorner participants in Eagle Mountain. But if you go with Eagle Mountain, make sure you're looking in the Ranches and not the City Center areas.



As for the Rental Property, it's a nice thought, but I would advise against it, if you can get money out of your house by selling it, I'd do it. We have a rental house, and I honestly cannot wait for the day we can sell it and get that responsibility out from on top of us.

hawkwing wrote:
I would recommend Eagle Mountain, it's just a few minutes out of Lehi with a direct access road to Thanksgiving Point. You'll be able to avoid the nonsense of the Lehi city government as well as the very poor schools in Lehi. There are also a large number of CougarCorner participants in Eagle Mountain. But if you go with Eagle Mountain, make sure you're looking in the Ranches and not the City Center areas.



As for the Rental Property, it's a nice thought, but I would advise against it, if you can get money out of your house by selling it, I'd do it. We have a rental house, and I honestly cannot wait for the day we can sell it and get that responsibility out from on top of us.

+1. A rental can be difficult at best. But, a long distance rental could be a nightmare. Unless you are renting to family that will be good to work with, trustworthy, take care of your property, and not move unexpectedly - leaving you with a 2nd monthly housing payment.

Ddawg wrote:
Congratulations on your new job!! I have no advice in the financial area. As far as where to live? American Fork is nice. Good schools. But, once your in the Utah Valley area, is there really a bad place to live?



But, you really want to leave Texas? My brother lives in San Antonio. He loves Texas.

Thanks! No, we don't want to leave Texas because we don't like it. It's more an issue of the fact that we're starting a family, and want my parents involved, and my inlaws not involved. If we could get my parents to retire to the Austin area, it's a totally different story.



Also, the huge sum of money I was offered to come to Utah was a factor... 8)

hawkwing wrote:
I would recommend Eagle Mountain, it's just a few minutes out of Lehi with a direct access road to Thanksgiving Point. You'll be able to avoid the nonsense of the Lehi city government as well as the very poor schools in Lehi. There are also a large number of CougarCorner participants in Eagle Mountain. But if you go with Eagle Mountain, make sure you're looking in the Ranches and not the City Center areas.



As for the Rental Property, it's a nice thought, but I would advise against it, if you can get money out of your house by selling it, I'd do it. We have a rental house, and I honestly cannot wait for the day we can sell it and get that responsibility out from on top of us.

Yeah, that's how I'm feeling about renting as well. The only reason I began considering it is because we had an offer from someone wanting to rent, and I'll lose all my equity in closing costs.



I hadn't heard anything about Lehi's government or schools being bad; just that it's becoming the "Silicon Slopes" or some such nonsense... :roll: What are the details here?

redneckjedi wrote:

Congratulations on your new job!! I have no advice in the financial area. As far as where to live? American Fork is nice. Good schools. But, once your in the Utah Valley area, is there really a bad place to live?



But, you really want to leave Texas? My brother lives in San Antonio. He loves Texas.

Thanks! No, we don't want to leave Texas because we don't like it. It's more an issue of the fact that we're starting a family, and want my parents involved, and my inlaws not involved. If we could get my parents to retire to the Austin area, it's a totally different story.



Also, the huge sum of money I was offered to come to Utah was a factor... 8)

It sounds like you're a bright, talented guy that has some valuable skills. And, if there are in-law troubles close to home - moving is a good call. You be much smarter than Mongo. Mongo not smart.

:lol: :lol:

Darin Garrett is a builder in my ward here in Eagle Mountain. He builds most of the houses in my area and has a good reputation. He would be worth talking to anyway.



Will you be working for Adobe or the NSA?

My wife just walked in and asked who I was talking to on CC so I told her your story. She wants to know what town you live in. She and I have talked about Texas on occasion. Who knows, maybe we could swap houses.

When we moved from Seattle 20 years ago, we rented the house out to a family. We kept the rent a little under market and were picky in who we rented to. They are still there and the house is now paid off. We are only 5 hours away.

tww wrote:
My wife just walked in and asked who I was talking to on CC so I told her your story. She wants to know what town you live in. She and I have talked about Texas on occasion. Who knows, maybe we could swap houses.

I live in Leander, TX. It's a suburb of Austin, towards the northwest. Nice place, good schools, and if you don't like to drive, there's a train stop < 2 miles from my house that will get you into town.

tww wrote:
Will you be working for Adobe or the NSA?

Neither, actually. The NSA doesn't pay well, and I've spent too much of my life hating Adobe (Acrobat, Flash) to turn around and help them achieve their evil designs. ;) (In seriousness, though, as far as I can tell from the job postings, Adobe's Lehi operation is basically just Omniture, who they purchased in 2009, and I'm guessing the new site is just due to scaling up the operation.)

scott715 wrote:
When we moved from Seattle 20 years ago, we rented the house out to a family. We kept the rent a little under market and were picky in who we rented to. They are still there and the house is now paid off. We are only 5 hours away.

I was hoping for something like this. Unfortunately, it seems like it's really hard to get a mortgage for a new house while you're hanging on to the old one now days. Some laws changed to prevent people from buying a second house, and then defaulting on the first once they had closed on the second.



If some of you lawyer-types have better information than that, I'd love to hear it. :)

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/06/14/must-move-should-sell-our-home-or-rent-it/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxbusiness%2Ffinancial_planning+%28Internal+-+Financial+Planning+-+Text%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

hawkwing wrote:
I would recommend Eagle Mountain, it's just a few minutes out of Lehi with a direct access road to Thanksgiving Point. You'll be able to avoid the nonsense of the Lehi city government as well as the very poor schools in Lehi. There are also a large number of CougarCorner participants in Eagle Mountain.

Wait, doesn't whoever the mayor of Eagle Mountain is get thrown in prison about every 3 years for some sort shenanigans? (Maybe those ones are the EM Ute fans? :utard: )

Stirfry wrote:

I would recommend Eagle Mountain, it's just a few minutes out of Lehi with a direct access road to Thanksgiving Point. You'll be able to avoid the nonsense of the Lehi city government as well as the very poor schools in Lehi. There are also a large number of CougarCorner participants in Eagle Mountain.

Wait, doesn't whoever the mayor of Eagle Mountain is get thrown in prison about every 3 years for some sort shenanigans? (Maybe those ones are the EM Ute fans? :utard: )

Not lately, they've all been relocated to Cedar Hills (apparently).