In our situation, what should we do?
My wife and I sold our home in Texas in summer 2025. My wife and I wanted to be spontaneous with our young kiddos, so we moved outside the Yellowstone/Jackson,Wy area to experience the things in the area. My wife works remotely as a pediatric speech therapist for a school district and I was previously working as a paramedic in a trauma center. The plan was to lease for a year or two and then move back closer to our family and buy a home. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any paramedic positions and I’m worried that’s going to screw me when the time comes to buy with such a big gap of unemployment. The gap will have been just under a year.
My wife makes $90/hr and works 20hrs a week for her online W2 job and she will occasionally work at a local clinic whenever they need some visits for patients at the same rate, but 1099. Anywhere from 8-16hrs for them at the clinic. But with this upcoming move, my wife is wanting to cut back to just her online 20hr/week job.
I previously was making anywhere between $60,000-$70,000 a year at 36-40hrs a week. The place we are looking at moving back to has plenty of positions that I had held previously and I’m currently waiting to hear back from them. Pay should be about the same as where I worked for the last 7+ years.
With that, will I be able to use my w2 pay for my future paramedic job that I’m in hopes of obtaining and the job offer I will be receiving? Or will they not be able to due to the gap in unemployment?
Before I apply for a mortgage and fill out everything, I wanted to ask here first. Not sure if we would be possible to buy or if it would be best to lease another year or two at the location we are wanting to move back to.
I appreciate any advice.