Job Offer in San Antonio - Help

[HarryCaray]

For the numerous folks here that live in Texas, or just anyone who wants to chime in with advice, I'm listening.

Here's the scenario. In my current situation I work from home 50%, travel 25%, and commute to Tuscaloosa office 25% (50 mile drive).

Big fish in a small pond. Bad part about that is there is not much opportunity for upward mobility. However, it is a private LLC and there is talk of the owner ESOP'ing it down the road, and I would be in line for a sizable ownership stake if that happened.

I love my job and I'm great at it.

I was head-hunted by an old boss who left the company 3 years ago. They flew me down to San Antonio last week and I got an offer this week. It's a roughly 15% pay increase with a nice sign-on bonus. Plus no state taxes. And their 401k match is 50% vs my current employers 25%.

I would be working from the office full time, and it would suck to give up all the flexibility I have currently to work from home. Especially with all the Cubs day games.

One of the big detractors to taking this offer is, in my visits to San Antonio I really haven't liked the city. It's a hot and flat concrete jungle compared to Birmingham. I love the trees and hills where I live. I love the shopping and dining where I live. I have never felt "at home" in San Antonio.

Anyone in the San Antonio area that can put my mind at ease that this is a good place to live?

 

[C.P.]

HC...don.t know jack about SA...

"""I would be working from the office full time, and it would suck to give up all the flexibility I have currently to work from home."""

what I do know is this...working from home is immeasurable....( as I Do work from home)..

seems like to options...

...$
...your heart (mind)

it's on you bud...

either way...bol

 

[barman]

For the numerous folks here that live in Texas, or just anyone who wants to chime in with advice, I'm listening.

Here's the scenario. In my current situation I work from home 50%, travel 25%, and commute to Tuscaloosa office 25% (50 mile drive).

Big fish in a small pond. Bad part about that is there is not much opportunity for upward mobility. However, it is a private LLC and there is talk of the owner ESOP'ing it down the road, and I would be in line for a sizable ownership stake if that happened.

I love my job and I'm great at it.

I was head-hunted by an old boss who left the company 3 years ago. They flew me down to San Antonio last week and I got an offer this week. It's a roughly 15% pay increase with a nice sign-on bonus. Plus no state taxes. And their 401k match is 50% vs my current employers 25%.

I would be working from the office full time, and it would suck to give up all the flexibility I have currently to work from home. Especially with all the Cubs day games.

One of the big detractors to taking this offer is, in my visits to San Antonio I really haven't liked the city. It's a hot and flat concrete jungle compared to Birmingham. I love the trees and hills where I live. I love the shopping and dining where I live. I have never felt "at home" in San Antonio.

Anyone in the San Antonio area that can put my mind at ease that this is a good place to live?

I have not been down there for quite some time (37 year native of Dallas)....but I am pretty confident that you need only travel 15-25 miles to get into some awesome natural hill country.

Now that 15-25 miles might demand a 1 hour or more commute to get into main business districts, but if u are well equipped for audio/educational stream in your vehicle, that would be no problem

 

[AlwayzRight]

Take the offer. I live in SA and LOVE it. I've spent a lot of time in Dallas, Austin, Houston and like San Antonio better then all of them. It's not as flat as you think. Go to NW San Antonio. The hill country is beautiful. You don't have to deal with traffic, the city is laid back, the Riverwalk is a cool place to hang out. You will not regret it, I didn't. Let me know if you have any questions about the city.

 

[JustinCruise]

First impression from reading your post....You should stay at your current job

 

[metro]

nah harry dont do it , you have a sweet gig.. the signing bonus is temporary, the extra match on the 401k is massive .. perhaps u can nudge ya current employer on that issue .. other than that i would try and make the 15pct pay increase up anutha way.. lay some extra bets down, i dunno a side gig of some sort.. only being in the office 25pct VS full-time not worth the extra 15 pct.. plus u have the dangling carrot of getting in on the company going public (even if its a longshot) .. you'll be killing yaself 2 , 3 years down the road if u weren't in on it to the degree u would've been. count me out dude.

 

[JustinCruise]

nah harry dont do it , you have a sweet gig.. the signing bonus is temporary, the extra match on the 401k is massive .. perhaps u can nudge ya current employer on that issue .. other than that i would try and make the 15pct pay increase up anutha way.. lay some extra bets down, i dunno a side gig of some sort.. only being in the office 25pct VS full-time not worth the extra 15 pct.. plus u have the dangling carrot of getting in on the company going public (even if its a longshot) .. you'll be killing yaself 2 , 3 years down the road if u weren't in on it to the degree u would've been. count me out dude.

my thoughts exactly

 

[JustinCruise]

What field are you in?

 

[CHOPTALK]

You must have been in the wrong parts of San Antonio . There is more hills and trees and caves and wildlife I'm San Antonio then Birmingham could ever dream of. It's a great place . One of the greatest combinations of big city / country in the entire country .

 

[CHOPTALK]

First impression from reading your post....You should stay at your current job

Time to google moving companies hc

 

[CHOPTALK]

And it's shocking how low the cost of living is in SA vs Dallas and Houston. Especially Dallas

 

[FairWarning]

What field are you in?

He's going to replace Tim Duncan when he retires.

 

[RoofTop]

 

[Defying]

absolutely a big decision. keep talking it out with friends and family, some may provide helpful insight, and other times just putting the words out there may help you find what way you are leaning

 

[slapshot]

If the situation was reversed would you leave the office job to work from home :think2:

 

[HarryCaray]

Take the offer. I live in SA and LOVE it. I've spent a lot of time in Dallas, Austin, Houston and like San Antonio better then all of them. It's not as flat as you think. Go to NW San Antonio. The hill country is beautiful. You don't have to deal with traffic, the city is laid back, the Riverwalk is a cool place to hang out. You will not regret it, I didn't. Let me know if you have any questions about the city.

Office is in NW San Antonio, Petco corporate office on Richland Hills Drive

 

[festeringZit]

I have lots of friends who live there, and they love it.

As with any large city, you have to pick the right spot to live...

 

[JudgeWapner]

From a visitors pov, great town.

 

[HarryCaray]

nah harry dont do it , you have a sweet gig.. the signing bonus is temporary, the extra match on the 401k is massive .. perhaps u can nudge ya current employer on that issue .. other than that i would try and make the 15pct pay increase up anutha way.. lay some extra bets down, i dunno a side gig of some sort.. only being in the office 25pct VS full-time not worth the extra 15 pct.. plus u have the dangling carrot of getting in on the company going public (even if its a longshot) .. you'll be killing yaself 2 , 3 years down the road if u weren't in on it to the degree u would've been. count me out dude.

15% raise into a city with a lower cost of living and no state tax, and a higher 401k match, is a pretty significant bump...signing bonus aside.

Plus a lot of opportunity for career advancement there. I've been bumping up against the ceiling at my current work for years. I am almost guaranteed to never make any more money than I do today (minus cost of living and inflation raises), because there are no promotions to be had. Only way to get more is ownership stake.

Also I should clear up that working out of an office is not necessarily a complete detractor. It is a super nice office with on-site gym, dog parks, multiple dining options, tons of hot chicks. Honestly working from home gets a little boring sometimes, I go a little stir crazy. I worked from home 100% for the last 2.5 years. Given the fact I don't drink or party, my life is fucking boring working from home so much...no socialization.

I'm mostly worried with the city, and not liking it there. I have visited San Antonio roughly 40 times for business (my company does work there), and I just never dug it. I have been to the Riverwalk, all around the city, New Braunfels waterparks, suburbs...I know the area pretty well. It doesn't feel like home, it's hard to explain.

 

[HarryCaray]

Plus I would offer to stay on at my current work in a consultant capacity, in the evenings, for a portion of my salary. Given my current employer and potential future one are not at all in the same industry and could never be considered to be competitors, I don't think this will be an issue.

So that would be an extra chunk of change just to give my opinions on shit and give advice.

Working this new opportunity plus that angle would put me in a significantly better financial position than I am today.