New York Move

It is time for us to go

Until The Move!

***Updates***

August 17, 2005 - The appraiser has returned the final appraisal after our realtor challenged the first appraisal.  This time the appraisal came back in AT our asking price of $177,500!  That makes the final sale price of our house $179,500!  Not too bad since we paid less than $120,000 for the place less than three years ago!  Our closing is looking to be all set for August 31st, and if all goes well we will be New York State residents by nightfall on that same day!

August 12, 2005 - Our appraisal is in!  The appraisal came in slightly under our asking price of $177,500 at $176,000.  Not too bad, but our realtor is actually challenging the appraisal.  There have been several homes in the area similar to ours in size and features that have sold within the past month or two, and the appraiser not only used the two least expensive homes as comparison models, but he also did not provide her with a courtesy call as per standard procedure when his appraisal estimate did not reach our asking price to see what we were basing it on.  She is confident that once he reviews the homes she is showing him that have appraised even higher than our asking price, he will at least adjust the appraisal to our asking price.  Even if the appraisal doesn't end up being adjusted up, the way our contract is written up we will probably still end up getting paid more than our asking price, so we're still looking good right now for an August 31 move!

August 8, 2005 - Our house sold in less than a week! We actually could have sold it the very same day that we listed it, but we wanted to wait and see how many offers came in for the house. We ended up having over 30 groups come through the house and look at it and received 8 or so offers. All of them were great, offering at least our asking price. We picked the one that looks best for our needs, and assuming the appraisal returns with a decent value, we'll be out of here the morning of August 31. The appraisal was conducted Thursday, August 4, and they said it will take 3 - 4 business days to get the results, so check back!

July 23, 2005 - Kelly and I made the decision that we are not going to keep waiting around down here in Virginia for something to come together with employment in New York.  Instead, we're going to forget about moving up in February, and just move up NOW instead!  Our house is already on the market and has already received 4 offers in the past 3 days!  We have a townhouse secured in Webster and will be moving in sometime in very early September.  I will be trying to find work in some sort of law-enforcement related field until such time a actual law enforcement position may become available to me.  Kelly will stay home with the kids for a month or two while we wait for her parents to make their way to New York as well.  Everything will work out and fall into place, and it'll definitely be great to be back.

July 11, 2005 - I hate hate hate hate hate running!! AUGH! Missed the run by about a minute again! Grr...... no retest is available for the Sheriff's office either, so that's out now. Rochester more likely than not will also not have another retest, so that is out too. Webster is still looking the most promising, and since you have to live there to be eligible, I certainly still plan to make the move and live there so I can at least have a shot! I'm also still waiting to hear back from Ogden, so we'll see what happens there. In any case, we're still planning to make the move in February at this time. We'll update the page if anything new comes about or changes.

June 11, 2005 - Monroe County Sheriff's Office has me scheduled for their physical agility test on July 10, 2005. The test standards are the same as the Rochester test, so it will be tough! I still don't quite understand the idea behind requiring a 1.5 mile run, but that is the standard! Time to get myself ready again!

May 24, 2005 - Well, I missed the retest!  Zachary decided to be born the morning that I was to fly to New York.  Needless to say, I opted to stay with my family rather than leave the state 4 hours after his birth.  I called them and asked if it would be possible to attend another test date, and they stated that there are not any more retests currently scheduled.  They said that the only way I would be eligible for another test is if I mailed them a letter stating my reason for missing the test and include proof of the reason (ie. the proof of birth letter from the hospital), and *IF* someone who is in the military missed the test due to a military obligation, another retest would be scheduled for that person and if my reason is legitimate, I would be allowed to take that retest as well.  I doubt that will happen though.

All hope is not lost though!  I still have very high hopes for the Webster Police Department.  I also have received canvas letters from Monroe County Sheriff's Office as well as the Ogden Police Department.  I have replied to both stating that I am interested in a position with their departments.  I still would prefer Webster over all others, but in the interests of what is best for my family I need to keep all of my options open.  Plus, the Chief from Webster said that he won't be able to hire anyone until 2006, and even if I got hired somewhere else I could still transfer to Webster at a later time if I still wanted to.

So I still have three possible jobs at this time and you never know when another canvas letter will appear in the mailbox! =-)  

May 2, 2005 - I am signed up for the May 21st retest.  Not much else to say at this point!  Wish me luck!

April 23, 2005 - I took the physical test this morning, and unfortunately the 1.5 mile run didn't work out. I was on lap 14 of 15 when time ran out. I need to run a mile and a half in less than 12 and a half minutes. I ****hate**** running and am not good at it anyway... But there is a retest on May 21st that most likely I will be doing. It is optional and entirely my decision. I'd do it without a second thought but I honestly don't know how much I can improve on in less than a month, not to mention there are apparently over 1,000 applicants for the available positions. Again, most likely I will be taking the additional physical test but I want a few days to think it over.

April 15, 2005 - Without any further delay, here is our latest update.  On March 29th I was supposed to have the physical agility test for the Rochester Police Department.  However, when I was on my way up there I finally got a hold of someone in human resources who told me why I had not yet received the entrance letter to the test:  they were testing only minorities on March 29th.  I'm not sure why it is done that way but I was told my test date will be April 23rd....  hooray, I get to do the test on my birthday... =-(    In any case, all was not lost - while I was in New York I dropped off a new resume and some reference letters to the Webster Police Department and later that day the Chief called me and asked to set up an informal meeting the next day!

    Basically what I found out is this: The police union and the town are having contract disputes and the Chief can not hire until 2006. When he can hire again, he said he could use up to 6 more officers although he doesn't know if he will be able to hire that many. In any case, since the pay in Monroe County is so high, there are literally hundreds of resumes on file from currently certified police officers all across New York State including NYPD that want to go to Webster. He said, however, they don't like to hire officers that have already been with other agencies for more than 2 - 3 years. I don't know why, but that works out good because it makes a lot of those resumes a non-issue for me. He did say though that they do not normally hire people off the civil service list because they have to pay to send them to the academy, and have only sent two people through in the past 15 years or so. But, they CAN do it if the person is worth it. Plus, because of a program that New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services offers called the Police Equivalency Course, I may be able to apply former law enforcement training to New York's requirements and therefore not have to attend a full academy, a bonus for me and Webster PD. The Chief also said I looked really good on paper anyway.... The thing is though, the town will only allow the Chief to hire a new-hire from the civil service list if they live in Webster. So, we'd have to move there first. Apparently with the civil service list, a department can only hire one of the top three people that respond to a canvas letter. Well, the Chief told me that because of my score and from what he has seen on the current Webster civil service list, if we moved there, I would be one of the top three people on the list! In other words, he could hire me if I was on the list in 2006. 

    All in all, pertaining more to the move update, we have decided that even if I do not get hired with Rochester, we are still going to move to Webster in February 2006 no matter what.  Getting hired from out of state for most jobs is just too difficult, and we are confident that if we move back that we won't have a problem finding jobs fairly quickly.  Furthermore, as I stated above, if we don't move to Webster, I don't even have a shot at getting hired with their police department.  If we do move, however, I am hopeful that I can show them why it would be worth it to hire me.  In any case, we're moving back at that time because there really won't be any better opportunity down the road, so we basically either go then or not at all, and the latter really isn't an option.

    The next step is the physical agility test which will definitely be April 23rd.  If I pass that then I move on to the background check and psychological exam.  There is still a very good chance that I will get hired with Rochester and won't have to worry about moving without jobs.  In any case, I'll keep updates posted here as soon as possible!

February 18, 2005 - The first update of 2005!  I received a letter today from the Rochester Police Department stating that the physical agility test has been scheduled for March 29, 2005.  It also states that the scores from the civil service exam are not yet available.  Basically, it says I am not yet scheduled for the physical test, nor is this any indication that I passed the civil service exam, it's just a heads-up that the test will be on that date if I pass the civil service exam, which I am positive I did.  For those of you interested in our New York move, now would be the time to start checking this page more frequently, as new updates should be available often now that the background investigation and agility testing will begin soon.

Dec 24, 2004 - Not really an update, just something I wanted you all to see.  I received a letter today from Ontario County (which is not really an option at all anymore) in reference to a letter I dropped off to them SIX MONTHS ago.  At first I thought, "wow, it sure took them a long time to respond!".  Then, I read their letter.  Six months is nothing in comparison to how long I'd have to wait to take their civil service exam, not to mention you *have* to be a resident prior to the exam.  Click here to see the letter.

Dec 4, 2004 - I took the civil service exam this morning for both the City of Rochester and Monroe County. It turns out that it is just one test, but the score counts for both the city and the county. Apparently they just each wanted their $25.00!! Anyway, I feel the test went extremely well. I finished the test in 1 hour and 45 minutes and they had given me 5 hours to do it in. It was 75 questions, all multiple choice. 15 questions tested memory, 15 questions tested report writing skills, 15 questions tested information comprehension, and 30 questions tested the ability to apply rules and laws to specific situations. There were only a few questions that I was not certain of, but the rest I know I got right. So, if I get most of the few questions that I was uncertain of right, then I should get a near perfect score! Unfortunately I don't find out the results for 3 to 4 MONTHS. It still amazes me how slow this process is!!! But I will keep this page updated if anything new develops between now and then! The next step will be the physical agility test which I am preparing for. Check back for updates!