It seems that we'll be meeting with realtors at the end of August. The company is moving some people and we're in the group. So we get to look at homes in this new city, likely without knowing what the relocation offer will be or what the new salary might be. Should be fun. It looks like the area we're looking at has a lot of new foreclosures, so it could be a good time to make the move.

It's been an up and down week. The news came out overnight that my wife's company is taking the next steps to move engineering from here to Chicago. We'll be touring the new facility and talking with realtors, most likely in the Lisle area. That's the middle of dense suburbia. Some sleepless nights have really gotten us talking about the advantages and challenges of such a move. We really can't do anything until we know how the company is going to handle the wage adjustment and relocation packages.

So the uncertainly continues.

Man, That would drive me crazy. Good luck.

While not as drastic as your deal, we have been thinking about moving across town for financial reasons. In the process I have come to think a lot about what it does to a family and relationship to physically move. Huge upsides to staying put but ... this is coming from someone who moved all the time as a kid, or at least more than most. At the same time, I have come to think there is a huge upside to starting over, throwing everything away, fresh start.

At a time when we are trying to re-invent ourselves as a family, our habits of space and location are hard to kick.

Suffice to say there may be some lemonade in your move.

Keep us posted.

You're right, Troy. I'm actually really looking forward to being in a bigger metropolitan area. When I moved here and wrapped up a few projects, I started a job search. My skills land me in that gap between an entrepreneur/business owner and middle management. In a small city, that doesn't get you interviews with anyone. I had one in over 200 applications and the help of a career counseling service. In Chicago, I'm more likely to connect with a good job when I go looking. I'm also tossing around the idea of going to school, maybe seminary.

The real tough part right now is that we can look at houses all we want. But one trend is inescapable, we're at the bottom of the real estate trough in this area. Waiting six months could cost us 10%, or $40k. There are a lot of recent sales and fewer foreclosures listed. But we have to wait until the company makes their real offer and maybe negotiate through it. The COL adjustment is reported to be 38%, which is huge. Our new house will probably cost 6 to 8 times the value of the house we live in now. It looks like it's value may have dropped to below my wife's purchase price 15 years ago. There just aren't enough sales in the neighborhood to know.

So we go to meet with realtors in four weeks. Whether we'll know what the company is offering for relocation is completely up in the air. There's also a part that my wife is due a promotion or three to be at the right level in the organization. It seems that the people they'll be merging with have promoted much faster than here. There's bound to be a good bit of corporate culture shock to deal with.

Last night my wife said, "I feel like we should start packing now." No doubt.

Uhg. My wife's starting to shut down a bit. We had some plans to get some finances in better order about two months ago. When she contacted the company with her 401k, they said they'd get back to her. It's been since the middle of June. It seems that there's a technical problem with her accounts which we've run into before. But she doesn't want to put the effort in to do this stuff when we might have more stuff coming up.

I finally gave her an option to get over the hump. we're now not ruling out renting for a year or two in a small place until we have finances squared away and know what we want and where we want to be for a long time. Hopefully that carries her through the day.

Not only do we not know what offer we'll get, we don't even know when we should expect to get the package. It's assumed that it won't be until after our visit, but it might be November or December, once Union negotiations are over.

Well, things are moving right along. The company made "the announcement" yesterday. Their excuse was that they forgot to schedule meeting space in Chicago for contract negotiation with the UAW and ended up getting space at the Hilton across from the new facility. Accident? Probably not. That's where the employees are staying when we tour the area. It's an impressive facility and probably a bit intimidating to yokels from the plants.

So the city's in overdrive trying to convince other engineering firms to come in and hire away the engineers who could be moving as well as the ones who would be left. Essentially, they're trying to say "Eat it, Navistar!" We'll see how that goes.

From the family perspective, we're playing the waiting game. Each day that we wait for "the offer" we get closer to considering other options and the higher that offer needs to be. They've projected the facility shutdown to be in 24 to 36 months. But if we don't have movement in three or four months, we're probably less than likely to stay with them. My wife got out of her funk enough to follow up on some financial stuff and get me her resume for professional review. I developed a strategy to be able to convince her managers that the company needs her to go first without sounding eager. We also had some tough discussions over the weekend that needed to happen one way or another.

So we continue on.

Since preschool starts next week for our two year old, I came to the realization that I'm not as willing to make new friends now that I know we're on our way out. That's a bummer. It probably happened about a year ago when the first rumors came out. I just hadn't realized it. I hope that doesn't rub off on my boys.

We're a couple days from leaving for Chicago now. We've been in contact with our appointed realtor. The story gets complicated, though. Since there are three of these tours and this is the third one, we get to hear about the other trips.

Well, last weekend's group was addressed by the president of the division of the company that we're tied to. He told the group that they will thank him for moving them and their families to Chicagoland because their children won't grow up to be farmers. This caused some outrage. Many people who were looking forward to a move have begun their searches for other work, here or elsewhere. So we may have a bad weekend. We'll give it a chance.

"won't grow up to be farmers" OMG

Ben, I feel confident that you can ride out whatever comes your way, but I know this must be pretty rough. If my wife was in a similar situation, she would be really, really stressed.

BTW, when I saw this thread, I imagined you splurging on a dazzling halite cluster pendant, marked down for the NEXT HOUR ONLY, for just three low low payments of $49.99.

On HSN.

DC: I have a standing buy order with my HSN Broker. That way I can keep up with who's in rehab and all that.

Wacky stuff. Reports are that several moderately high managers complained to HR about the treatment they got last weekend. It sounds like I won't be able to help get him fired. When you have a bus load of people coming 4 hours to be wooed into uprooting themselves from a city that may have the lowest cost of live compared to average salary among the 100 largest cities in the country to an area that is nearly the reverse, you probably shouldn't insult their children and their choice to raise a family there. These are people who average 6 figure incomes. Not (all) idiots.

With our housing search, it's been eventful already. We were assigned an agent late in the business day yesterday. My wife had a conversation with her and we exchanged documents. We went through a list of homes she felt met our criteria. Then about an hour later, we got another call from a different realtor. Figured it was a mix up. Called this morning. The first realtor's daughter is having surgery on Saturday. The second is taking over. Ok. Not a big deal.

Email from the second realtor comes in. I send her a note that I'll call later and that she should get all of the survey and house preferences from #1. I call. She seems uninterested in the work we've done. She asks why we're not looking at the town she's from. I tell her half of the reasons, not including all the things I heard about the folks from there being a bit obnoxious about their civic pride. Then I get a whole litany about how there are better, cheaper houses in her town that would be SO much better than the other places (where we have friends). I agree to see a couple there. But it ate at me. She didn't care about the work we'd done or our preferences.

My wife called the coordinator and voiced our concerns. She was told that surely it didn't happen that way. When she got home, she called and transferred me to the coordinator. We hammered things out. We're still going with that realtor (#2) but we're going to work with the list we've already prepared. I realize that we're not expected to buy something this weekend and that she'd like to show her own listings, but you'd think she'd be better at this.

We're not as worried about the schools as I think they expect. We were planning to send the boys to private school here. If it comes down to it, we could there, too. I hardly think I'll take school recommendations from Real Estate web sites, you know?

Wow! What are your options for getting a different agent? That's ridiculous (and actually I think quite illegal as a realtor in regards to some of the things she said).

Good luck this weekend.

Yeah. Spot on about that being illegal. But I think we're overlooking it. She won't be our long term realtor and she'll be outside her comfort zone tomorrow. I think she'll regret having taken that approach.

The company had more answers than they've had before. The guy who offended everyone last week was somewhat apologetic. We may be convinced that this is a good move. We'll be looking for the kiddos tomorrow when we're out and about. We may be looking at a January move if everything comes together.

Not to make light of your situation, but I think a reality TV show is in order here. It has all of the dramatic elements.

That's funny, Troy. I was just asked if we would mind sitting down with a journalist friend to have a series about how this is affecting a local family. It would be in one of the local papers. Yes, we have a morning and an evening paper in our city of 250,000. We probably won't do it because it could make negotiating difficult.

The day with the realtor went ok. We won't be using her. But I didn't hear from anyone who was pleased with theirs. There's something about the Real Estate industry that seems to put some of the most incompetent people in the most fortunate circumstances. Our agent on Saturday had a brand new BMW to take us around in. It was a small car that she was completely unfamiliar with. The navigation system she paid dearly for went unused. I was bent over just sitting in the front seat after the contortion just to get in. If we'd only just met, it would be one thing, but we told her that we're both big people, 6'4" and 5'11". Our agent was 5'2". We even managed to educate our agent by reading signs along the street. It was strange.

But she was nothing compared to the UberAgent that gave the overview for our tours. I can sum it up by saying that after 25 years in Chicago, she didn't understand why the L is called the L. She said that she takes it every day and still doesn't know. Not a good person to be talking to engineers.

But we found a couple houses we like. Without knowing what the company is offering, we can't know what we can afford, so we're looking at best options and deciding what we'd need from them to get there. One house I really like is occupied by an elderly woman. Before she and her husband moved in, it was owned by a family that owned it for more than 100 years. They've been in it for a long, long time. Her husband built a few additions and a second detached garage with an unfinished second story. It has a few places where a kid can climb a ladder to get to a special play area. Just a whimsical home built in 1850. Fun stuff. If we manage to talk the woman into accepting an offer we can afford, I think we'll all be very happy. The boys will be able to live in a home that inspires play and imagination.

More in a few days when we've processed a little more.

I can sum it up by saying that after 25 years in Chicago, she didn't understand why the L is called the L. She said that she takes it every day and still doesn't know.
She HAD to be joking. Tryin' to play silly to the 'country bumpkins.' Nothing else explains it. And sounds like the other agent cashed her check from the company before making any sales... bought a fancy car to make you think she's a successful agent...

That house sounds excellent. But I have to say, it sounds like the company has put the cart well ahead of the horse. They haven't made you an offer yet. But they are setting you up with realtors and such? How is the realtor supposed to show you something within reason if you don't know what reasonable is? I'd almost be tempted to check out a few really expensive places (like a FrankLloydWright home, or a downtown penthouse) and make sure the realtor let the company knew what I was expecting!! HA!

Nope. Not at all. She was completely serious. She had slides that said that the average price of homes on the market was between $100,000 and $750,000 for several of the areas.

This outing with realtors is sort of a way to introduce the neighborhoods to everyone. The rumors about not being able to afford a house have been rampant. So seeing a 3000sf house for sale for $275,000 is a bit reassuring. Conversation about the shopping experience was interesting. One older woman wasn't convinced that Chicago had the same products in the grocery stores and was very relieved to hear that they have Meier. Turns out that Kroger owns a property in just about every area. If there's a Walgreens fighting CVS for corner property, Kroger has a grocery store nearby. Another couple caught a homeowner at home and asked to see his utility bills and then asked in detail about groceries that their realtor buys. Bagged Lettuce? Milk? Bananas? They were very proud of their questions. it seemed silly.

Most of the people with us in our situation were looking for houses in the same range as their current homes. If they stay there, they'll be driving a couple hours to get to work. Were we to look for something in the same value, we'd be insane. We couldn't get an apartment for our mortgage payment. Not even a 1 bedroom apartment. I think the other folks with kids were recently promoted and don't expect to be getting much more from the company. We can't afford to think that way. The cost of living there is way too much to let the company make us pay the price.

I once read a book titled "Vanishing Point" by Michaela Roessner. In it all but 10% of humanity disappear without a trace or a cause. The book starts a decade, maybe two, later with a colony residing in the Winchester Mansion. The mystery of the plot is that children are disappearing and reappearing throughout the house with no explanation of where they've gone.

I feel like we may have found that house. We are enthralled by this quaint mansion-esque home near where we'd be relocating. It could very easily become our new home with some careful negotiation and the right deal from the company. What makes this house mysterious is that in our tour, we have no memory of how different rooms go together. We've tried piecing things together by using the photos on the Real Estate sites. This is further complicated by a photo of another kitchen entirely. There are half-hidden trap doors in ceilings that lead to rooms with great views and barstools. There are areas that are made from architectural necessity where a kid can be in their own tree fort in their spacious room. And, as Nik pointed out, it has a ground level trampoline installed in the back yard.

The next time we visit this place, we'll be geared like the Ghost Hunters but with string to ensure we've seen every room. We will be back, even if it's only to offer half (or less) than she wants. The worst that can happen is the offer is accepted, right? I think the kids would be inspired by this house. No other way to put it.

"The Company" made their big announcement this week. The stock dropped 7%. Probably not related.

We're in limbo waiting for the company's offer. I have a contact working on my wife's resume but she seems to be overloaded with rewrites right now. Touching base with her to see what we could/should do.

The household turmoil this has caused is starting to settle down. We have a broken (and recalled) dishwasher right now that's awaiting replacement. Just need to rub some more nickels together.

What's the latest?

Hurry up and wait.

We're starting to look at private schools. Availability of secular private schools could influence where we seriously look at real estate. We're thinking about spending a couple days in the area, partly to get familiar with the area on our own terms. We have friends about 4 hours north in Wisconsin who are adopting a baby at the end of the month. We're going to try to load them up with clothes and accessories as well as ask them to be our chosen guardians for our kids should something happen to us. Big plans for a weekend.

We're about three weeks from expecting a financial incentive package at any time. Rumors are flying around the office like a Hitchcock film, though. One big one is that they're offering early retirement at an aggressive rate.

Another is that the company currently has a contracted daycare center for free childcare daily. Whoop! Whoop! That's for the current HQ a couple miles up the road. There happens to be a full daycare facility that is on the campus. So, there you go.

What this means for me is that should I start a business (pizza wagon) or go to school (thinking M. Div at either an ELCA or UCC sem), the cost to our family for me to be away from home would not be as steep. This is huge.

In fact, it's enough that I'm going to a conference in Chicago in a few weeks partly to investigate my possible role in a church role. Odd that it would come back to that after 15 years.

Ah. It took until last weekend for the UAW to vote on a contract they'd agreed to two weeks before. So now that that's done, we can begin waiting for an offer. The corporate HR are supposed to be in Fort Wayne in a couple weeks. They may begin making offers then.

Rumors abound, though. One is that they don't expect the new facility to be ready until April 2012. That's a year later than we were told in August. So we may get an offer to think about for 9 months. The company is leaking workers right now. The story is that in the last two months, 5% of the workforce has left. In the next two weeks, it sounds like they expect that many or more to walk away. Meanwhile, my wife is resisting getting her resume tuned up. There are a boatload of engineering jobs in Indiana and she could be looking at them very quickly. But she's an engineer, through and through. Change is something to be resisted regardless of whether it's coming no matter what.

So, we wait some more.

5 months into this and we still don't know any more than that they expect us to move in six months or three years. It's hard to tell. they haven't made offers. They haven't really laid out a timeline for anything. Close to 20% of the workforce here has found other work, mostly in Detroit where they had houses already or in Columbus, IN, where Cummins is expanding like crazy.

Anyway, I keep getting notices on houses. Most of the ones on our short list have sold. The one we love is still waiting on us. But it won't be until February that we'll probably be able to get serious about any of this. Good thing they rushed us to meet realtors and see houses, huh?