Major Changes for Me

[sanantone]

I finished my last day as an instructor at the career school, but they're wondering if I'll come back to teach online. I haven't decided yet. I could use the extra money, but I'm not sure if I'll have time. My second to last week there was interesting. I reported 3 students for cheating/plagiarism. One student copy and pasted another student's discussion board post..... She cursed at her counselor and the assistant school director, but later apologized. The other two students turned in the same paper two days apart.... I also informed my students who were present that their certificates in CJ will be nearly worthless and are way overpriced. They thanked me for it, and I gave them advice on transferring to regionally accredited schools. This isn't just my opinion. Our program is in danger of being put on probation because either our graduates aren't finding jobs, or they're finding jobs that pay too little for them to keep up with their student loan payments.

I saw my new townhome/apartment for the first time when I paid my rent and got my keys. They didn't have it ready until the last minute. They didn't even have any similar units to show when I pre-leased. That seems to be the case at most of the apartment complexes in San Marcos. My townhome is butt ugly and falling apart. They tried to go for the trendy beige/tan paint on the walls, but it looks peach. Their solution to flaws is to paint over them. Gashes in the walls: paint over them. Bubbling in the ceiling caused by a leak: paint over it. Dirty shower walls: paint over them. I'm paying almost $1,000 a month for this monstrosity. In Texas, that is what one would pay for an apartment that is near luxury. The median income for San Marcos, TX is only $27k because of all of the college students, but they price gouge because they know the students either have roommates, help from their parents, and/or student loans. This will be my first time living outside of San Antonio since I was a few months old.

[UptonSinclair]

You just described Fort Collins, CO. Every business in the town acts like the students are Pinatas to beat on until they gush dollars.

[LaterBloomer]

Sheesh, that's almost my mortgage, and I live in an expensive area. Well, as a virtual Welcome Wagon lady, welcome to your new home.

[sanantone]

You just described Fort Collins, CO. Every business in the town acts like the students are Pinatas to beat on until they gush dollars.

Maybe all college towns are like this. Some people call Austin a college town, but most of the people in the city aren't affiliated with UT-Austin. Cities like San Marcos and College Station (Texas A&M) have economies that are dependent upon the local university. Even the public transportation system in San Marcos is provided by Texas State University.

Sheesh, that's almost my mortgage, and I live in an expensive area. Well, as a virtual Welcome Wagon lady, welcome to your new home.

Thank you. My dog is having a hard time adjusting. She doesn't understand that this is our new home.

[taylor]

Sheesh, that's almost my mortgage, and I live in an expensive area. Well, as a virtual Welcome Wagon lady, welcome to your new home.

$1,000 is like your mortgage in an expensive area??? I need to explore other parts of the country because $1,000 rent in Southern California won't get you much. Maybe a studio or a 1 bedroom with cucarachas as your unwelcomed roommates. I pay almost $2,500 per month in rent for a 1 bedroom with a den townhome. That's more than I want to pay but the amenities are nice...multiple heated swimming pools, multiple gyms, jogging path, and no cockroaches sitting next to me drinking my beer while I watch tv. Thank God.

[soliloquy]

$1,000 is like your mortgage in an expensive area??? I need to explore other parts of the country because $1,000 rent in Southern California won't get you much. Maybe a studio or a 1 bedroom with cucarachas as your unwelcomed roommates. I pay almost $2,500 per month in rent for a 1 bedroom with a den townhome. That's more than I want to pay but the amenities are nice...multiple heated swimming pools, multiple gyms, jogging path, and no cockroaches sitting next to me drinking my beer while I watch tv. Thank God.

Everyone knows that Cali and New England are some of the most expensive areas of the country for real estate. I grew up in Cali and my first apartment was $1,600.00 per month for a two bedroom 1.5 bath one story. We now live in NC and our mortgage for a newly built 3200 square foot house is less than that even if you include property taxes and homeowner's insurance. It's insane.

I mean just look at this house in Pacific Grove, CA

3 bed, 1 full, 1 partial bath, 1,125 sqft



It recently appraised for $673,000 although it's listed for $613,000 on Trulia.

[sanantone]

Yep. The housing costs in California and the NE are way out of whack with the rest of the country. I was paying $650 a month for a two-bedroom townhome. It wasn't fancy, but it wasn't rundown in a bad neighborhood either. I would say the typical cost for a two-bedroom apartment in San Antonio is around $700-1000 if you don't want to live in the hood. The luxury apartments will be around $1,000-1,500.

The house in that picture above would be $70k-90k in San Antonio depending on the neighborhood.

[KayV]

Welcome to your new home! I hope the townhome works out for you. My nephew just graduated from Texas State and also said the housing was ridiculously priced. Congrats on your new job too!

[UptonSinclair]

They key is finding an area with high wages and low housing costs. We have a bit of that in Colorado Springs because of the Department of Defense contracting jobs. We pay a little over $800 for our 2 bedroom condo including the HOA fees.

[sanantone]

Welcome to your new home! I hope the townhome works out for you. My nephew just graduated from Texas State and also said the housing was ridiculously priced. Congrats on your new job too!

Thank you. One of my former coworkers went there. She said all of the apartments suck in this town. At least my place is big. It's 950 square feet and has a fenced patio. I wanted to move into a place that was a little cheaper, a little bigger, and had a huge backyard; but they didn't even want to hold the place unoccupied for two weeks with a deposit. But, the place I'm in now is much closer to all of the stores. My concern is the number of undergraduates here. The other place only has graduate students.

They key is finding an area with high wages and low housing costs. We have a bit of that in Colorado Springs because of the Department of Defense contracting jobs. We pay a little over $800 for our 2 bedroom condo including the HOA fees.

It's like that in Austin. People in other parts of Texas disparage Austin for having the highest COL among the major cities in the state, but it is not much higher than the national average. In 2008, Austin PD was named the highest paying police department in the country when factoring in the cost of living.