Tips for moving a fair distance away/between states?

Discussion in 'General Advice' started by Acey, Dec 7, 2020.

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  1. Acey

    Acey hand extended, waiting for a shake

    So one of my goals for 2021, once it's safe of course, is to move out of my parents' house. I'm looking at a number of different areas, some nearby, some fairly far away (ranging from elsewhere in my state to a few states away).

    The thing is, there are a few things I'm confused on:
    1. I'm on MediCal (state health insurance, equivalent to Medicaid). Obviously, if I end up a resident of a state other than California, I'll have to apply for their Medicaid (or equivalent). How do you go about doing this?
    2. There's a very good chance that regardless of where I end up moving, it'll be far enough from here that we can't just go there and look at apartments over the weekend or whatever. Do you have any tips on apartment hunting when you can't necessarily physically visit the apartment beforehand?
    Any other advice for moving, apartment hunting, etc. would be greatly appreciated too. Thanks in advance! <3
     
  2. rorleuaisen

    rorleuaisen Frozen Dreamer

    1. So it’s pretty straight forward(but annoying): you google what the state health insurance is. Apply for health insurance there(stating the reason is you are moving and will not qualify for previous insurance) and you also call your old health insurance and tell them that you are cancelling(because moving to new state). Be sure to include the date you are moving with both insurances. The new state might take a bit to get things figured out(please god don’t move to ohio. The state insurance there sucks ass) but old state will basically cut the plug as soon as relevant month is over.

    2. first apartment? So mostly what matters is location and required amenities. And then price. New place will want your income and if your income changes because new job in new state, you may be required to get new boss to sign a thing saying “this is my future employee and this is what I will be paying them”. Finding a place that meets all your needs has historically been pretty slim pickings for me(a have a cat), but if you have a bunch of options, be prepared to get friendly with the management. Tell them you are moving from out of state and that you won’t be able to visit before selecting a place. See if they can email you pictures, floor plans etc. Don’t be surprised if online info is out of date. I come across this a lot. So if you really need a feature, call/email to make sure you are looking at apartments that have them(one apartment location often has different designs and apartments with dif features). If management is not helpful, very good chance you don’t want to live there anyways.
     
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  3. seebs' mom

    seebs' mom Yes, really!

    When I moved from Minnesota to California (many years ago, but it's still an option) I looked for short-term rentals, also called executive or corporate housing -- and now Google finds lots of ads for these -- and rented a furnished studio apartment for a month while I looked for something more permanent. Moved in that same evening. (I eventually bought a condo, and that took a while, so I ended up staying for three months.)

    I moved on very short notice -- was offered a job in Los Angeles, starting in two weeks, so I packed up and went. Making a separate trip to look for housing wasn't practical; but even if it had been I think having leisure to look around and get the feel of the place was a better strategy.
     
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  4. turtleDove

    turtleDove Well-Known Member

    If you know someone you trust who can go scout for you, that's one option. When I was with my ex, almost of our apartments were places where we hadn't been able to go view it beforehand, but her mom could take the time off and go take a look and make sure that there wasn't anything sketchy. The one exception was when we moved cross-country, and in that case a friend who moved in with us as a roommate had his mom go view the place to make sure it was what was being advertised.

    For moving long distances: make a list of what needs to come with you; what you'd really like to bring with you (nice to haves); and what can be replaced at the destination.
    Furniture, for example, can be replaced at the destination. Bedding's a nice-to-have (you can replace it at the destination, but you probably would rather not have to and it can be used to help wrap more fragile items).

    How much room is on the nice-to-have list, and if anything from the third list can be moved with you anyways, is going to depend on how you're moving your stuff. Is it getting packed up into a U-Haul that you're driving? If so, can you make multiple trips? Is it being packed up into boxes that you're mailing to your new address? Is it being put in a storage unit? Are you shoving things into your personal vehicle and carting them that way?
     
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  5. Acey

    Acey hand extended, waiting for a shake

    It’ll likely depend on the area—I have trusted friends in a lot of places, but definitely not all. Thank you though, I hadn’t considered that and this is useful info!

    Actually all the info y’all have given me here is really useful, thank you!

    As far as specific needs...the only one I can think of is an elevator if the building is more than a couple stories, assuming I don’t end up on a lower floor (which...I’d prefer to be on the first or second floor in the first place but I’ll take what I can get), for accessibility reasons? I’d assume that would be the norm for taller buildings in this day and age, but I’m absolutely inexperienced here so I could be wrong. :P But I’ll absolutely keep an eye out for that info in listings, and I’ll think about if I have any other requirements or dealbreakers!

    Thanks y’all! I may have more questions later in the process of things, but this is all gonna be very helpful in getting there. :D
     
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  6. Acey

    Acey hand extended, waiting for a shake

    Somewhat tangential further-in-the-future question, btw: is it a smart idea to apply for jobs before moving? The career goal for me is screenwriting, and since the TV industry is mostly based in LA I'd ultimately be moving there more likely than not, but LA is fucking expensive so I want to build up my savings (and writing portfolio obviously--I'm also planning on taking some classes in the subject to get a hang of the specifics for the medium) before I move down there, so it won't be for a while, but when I DO start applying for those jobs once I have the savings built up, would it be better to move down there somewhat in advance or to wait until I'm actually offered a job in the area?
     
  7. rorleuaisen

    rorleuaisen Frozen Dreamer

    Depends on what you wanna stress about tbh. If you line up the job first, income is secured, but now you have a time limit on finding a place. Find the place first, and you get to stress about finding a job in time to meet financial needs. If the job you want can do long distance, looking for the job first is much better choice. Especially since LA would presumably have a higher min wage to support the higher costs.
     
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