Introducing myself - About to move to California
 

Dear BE community,

I'm Richard and I live in Nottingham. Married with an 8yo son and 10yo daughter. About to move to California. Job is based in LA...

Looking for any advice especially re to rent or buy! We'd prefer to buy but are fighting the credit rating battle many on here have kindly advised about.

Thanks for all of the fantastic advice on here moderators and contributors :thumbsup:

All the best,
Richard.

Re: Introducing myself
 

Welcome to BE Richard. :)

I would always recommend renting first. It gives you time to look around and find the right area...especially if you have school aged children...as where you live will determine what school they go to. It is also best if you wait until you have a Green Card before buying. We have had members who have had to leave the US because of visa renewal problems and they have had to leave their house unsold. I suggest you repost your questions in the US Forum. We have quite a few members living in the LA area...they will be pleased to help you with any question you may have about the LA area.

If you have any visa questions please post them in the US Immigration and Visas forum. General questions about life in the US should be posted in the US Forum. The Trailer Park is for general chit chat.

Please take time to take a look in the BE Wiki...it's a great source for information. Also please read through any stickied threads that may be posted at the top of each forum's index page.

If you require any assistance finding your way around BE's many forums we have a team of concierges who will act as your tour guide...they will be pleased to help you. The concierge for the US forums is Kaffy Mintcake...please contact her if you need pointing in the right direction.

Any problems or concerns should be addressed to a mod or admin. The mods for the US Immigration forums are Meauxna, Noorah101, Bob and MsElui.

Please give me a shout if I can be of further help. I look forward to seeing you in the US forums. :)

Re: Introducing myself
 

Dear Jerseygirl,

What a warm, informative and friendly welcome. Thank you! We are erring on the side of renting after a 'sit down at the dinner table' family talk...

Your hard work on these forums, I know is appreciated, after managing websites and forums in the past, I know the input involved.


Kind regards,
Richard.
PS. My wife loves the 'trailer trash' concept for a forum :D

Re: Introducing myself
 

Well thank you kind sir. :)

The Trailer Park is a good name isn't it? :D We have a lot of fun on the forums...but beware the British sarcastic sense of humour is rife. ;) Most Americans just don't get our humour...it's one of the things many of us miss about the UK...so we log on here for our daily 'Brit Fix'.

Re: Introducing myself
 

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary

Re: Introducing myself
 

Thank you Rosemary, much appreciated. :)

Re: Introducing myself
 

Hi Richard,

Welcome to BE and congrats on the job offer. I hope you are enjoying being part of BE. You will find loads of great info, everyone is brilliant at sharing tips and stuff.

With regards to buying v renting, personally I think it's best to rent to start with while you get to gripes with the area. In the first town we lived in here we rented and ending up moving 3 times until we found an area of the town that was a good fit for us. I dread to think how difficult that would have been had we bought from the offset.

Re: Introducing myself - About to move to California
 

Welcome to BE and good luck with the move!

As mentioned, the Wiki is a great starting point, from building up credit, sorting out drivers license, planning the move and things to look into in the relocation package etc.

Quite a few threads about rent v buy, even for CA, but yeah, rent, it'll give you so many more options to explore, see what kind of life style you'll end up liking and having over here and to really understand stuff that you just wouldn't know without living here, plus you don't have to do maintenance as a renter, so gives you time to figure out all that homey stuff without being in a rush to have to do it as it is quite different over here :)

Re: Introducing myself
 

Thank you so much Sue. In less than one day I've found out more information on here than in weeks of trawling the net and speaking to colleagues in the US. I'll keep you all updated on the progress!

Kind regards,
Richard.

Re: Introducing myself - About to move to California
 

Many thanks Bob,

You and the rest of the Admins/Mods have been a real lifeline and wealth of information. All help has been truly appreciated!

Kind regards and thanks for the advice,
Richard.

Re: Introducing myself
 

I'm so please to read that. Yes please do update us and I hope that you will become a long term member. We've got people who have been haunting the BE halls for years and years :)

Re: Introducing myself - About to move to California
 

I wonder how Richard got on in Calabasas?

Re: Introducing myself - About to move to California
 

Hi Sally!

Well, after selling our house in UK (+contents), car, trailer, tent, garage contents... we went to find a house and my wife didn't want to go through with the move.

We have bought a new house 4 minutes walk from where we are now and have decided to make that out adventure

Still, thanks so much for keeping in touch!
Richard.

Re: Introducing myself - About to move to California
 

:lol:

Sensible, I must say.

Good luck in your new place.

Re: Introducing myself - About to move to California
 

Hello Richard,

Rather sounds you already have a wonderful life in Nottingham, and now a very promising —and I might add ‘enviable’— future in California! To think, warmth all year round, and a proper ocean, one the sun sets on! (I realise you're from Notts, and the county is land-locked, but trust me, an ocean the sun rises on ... that's just not right :D).

Jerseygirl and the rest seem to have you well equipped with links and information, and I see you've already made the rounds here. And so I'll simply bid you welcome, good luck in America; and greetings from Ontario, Canada!

With every good wish,
Christian :)