Relocating

Mommy TeleRN, RN · Dec 30, 2006

I don't currently live in Nashville but used to. I always thought the job market is good. Hubby and I never had problems finding jobs (my before nursing days) and we always survived better financially there.

We had an older 3br/1ba home for around 85k back about 6 years ago. For 150,000 you had a lot more to choose from. You might look around some real estate sites and compare to your area.

Apartments are a bit pricey - our last apt 6 yrs ago we paid $630 for a 1br/den (we used as 2nd br) apt in a less desirable area..so yea apts in nicer areas are going to be higher. We were just recently looking online around Nashville and most homes go for around 1000/month to rent and they looked pretty nice. I don't know where Trevecca is in Nashville - but you might check out surrounding areas. Dickson is West and is a nice town, has restaurants/lowes/etc Springfield is north, and rutherford county is south.

The Franklin/Brentwood area is sw and is one of the pricier areas.

Nursing new grad pay is around 19/hr best I can tell, but per the gov BLS site avg nursing pay is 57,000/yr, the highest in the state.

MTSU in Murfreesboro is a good school if you want a BSN. Most of the schools in TN do not use waiting list (I think columbia might be an exception) most use a pts system based on things such as GPA, # of prereqs done, etc. Seems like from what I've seen about 20-25% of applicants are accepted. For instance my school gets about 400 apps and has 80 slots. But if you are an overall good student, test well, it's not super hard.

eltrip · Jan 2, 2007

Trevecca is in-town, closer to the Eastern side of the city. You probably wouldn't want to live very close to the campus. Madison, Old Hickory & Donaldson are fairly decent areas to live in. The Antioch area varies...my brother tells me that the Nolensville Pike area has gone down. Everything west of I-65 & south of I-40 tends to be fairly high dollar (Green Hills, Woodmont, Belle Meade, West End, etc.). Anything in Williamson County tends to be expensive. Schools are pretty good, though.

Nashville housing prices are comparable to Richmond, as I understand. Traffic is nuts all over the place.

Haunted · Jan 3, 2007

Hi Kimberly. My husband and I recently moved here from Southern California to Nashville for a job transfer for him. I have been a registered nurse in CA since '98 and was working registry making 38 $$$ per hour working 8 hour shifts 2 or 3 days a week in Med/Surg. We own a condo in Orange County and have it listed for sale but the market is soft so will likely lease it for 2100.00 a month (pretty cheap for the area). We are living in a high rise downtown Nashville, a 100 year old converted office building. We have a spacious 2 bedroom 2 bath withg hardwood floors, 12 foot ceilings, security and killer views of the Cumberland River and Nashville skyline.

It is a convenient location to walk to any club, restaurant or even Titan Stadium and the people we meet are really friendly. We are paying 1700.00 per month plus parking for our 2 cars, pet deposits for our dog and cat and our utilities are about 35% cheaper than CA. Gas and food are also cheaper overall. I haven't worked as a nurse since November and am just now starting to plump up my resume and call a few hospitals (Baptist, Vandy, Metro) as well as registries. Yesterday was pretty discouraging for me but today I received my paperwork forms to get endorsed here in TN (160 $$$ plus picture, fingerprint and background fees) and I also need to renew my CPR.

I was told over the phone that I would be making 27.00 tops working 12 hour shifts here and would have to travel up to 50 miles out for shifts. Overall it seems like not a lot of turnover at the hospitals. I'm the first one to say that being a California RN has spoiled me with guaranteed shifts, sign on bonuses and staffing ratios so I'm a bit dismayed that the red carpet hasn't been rolled out for me !!!! I actually have to work at this, on top of getting settled into my new home, finding a new dentist, dry cleaner, grocery store and dealing with missing my friends and family and not knowing anyone here.

There are a lot of positives to living here in TN, overall the quality of life is better than California, I adore the south and every day I find another reason to love it here. Getting my foot in the door here in the nursing industry is another step for me and it's a lonely struggle but HEY!!! If it was easy everyone would be doing it. I hope this helps. Moving is never easy, I've been wearing the same underware since last Thursday and I still can't find my favorite t shirt! Half my stuff is in storage, we really had to downsize to move in here but it was one of the few places that accepted pets.

I hope this information helps you. I will continue posting as I (hopefully) make some progress towards getting back to work. Good luck!

dgj74 · Jan 8, 2007

I have been in Nashville for 9 months now and love it! Wish I'd moved sooner. I live in the Antioch area, near Percy Priest Lake. Very nice area, with lots of mature professionals. I'm currently renting a 3bdrm/2bth townhome for $995/month. There is a nice pond in the neighborhood and the townhouse sits on the golf course. I'm looking to purchase a house and have found that I have many decent options for about $150,000; even some newly constructed houses.

I wish you luck. If you need a tour guide let me know--we can get lost together!! :lol2:

Demetria, RN, BSN

Haunted · Jan 9, 2007

Demetria, it's a date! Sometimes I jump in the mini cooper and hit a freeway with destination unknown. I have found some groovy places so far. How did you find a home for 150 K ? Most homes listed that I have seen are 200 and above, really overpriced in my opinion. Where are you working and do you like it? Later, Laurie

dgj74 · Jan 11, 2007

I'll send you the links. I'm currently doing disease management. As far as the liking it part, let's just say my resume is getting a workout.