salgb

I lived in the US (CA) for 23 years. I planned moving back to the UK for over a year. Primarily because I was tired of the rat race in LA. Thought England would provide a better quality of life, I have an aging family, and the NHS. I bought a US cat with me, and also had all my furniture shipped(still in storage). Thought I'd find a house and get settled and start working very quickly. The reality is I've been living with parents for almost 3 months (difficult). I've got a used car. I'm about to purchase a home. But am missing my friends and US family, and feeling like I'm making a massive mistake. That I should cut out before making a house purchase. I've looked at rental properties in the area, but they're expensive and depressing. Wondering if I'll settle here, or if I should just head back to the US, where life is so familiar and easy. I don't want to regret not giving life here a decent chance, but another part of me feels as though I had an error in judgement, thinking that I could move back. Anyone have a similar experience, or helpful comments appreciated. Thanks.

Mummy in the foothills

If you are unsettled I wouldn't jump into buying a house unless it's going to be a good investment and you could rent it out etc.
It's going to take a lot longer than 3 months to settle, especially if you've been gone 23 years.
How long are you willing to give it before you start the ping pong thing?

salgb

I was thinking 2 years would be a good length to settle. Also in 2 years the house should have appreciated a little (hopefully not lost money). There are slim pickings in the area for decent affordable rentals. Plus I need to buy beds, TV, fridge, and a couch. With a cat it'd be hard to find a fully furnished place to rent. (I've looked) The house for purchase should appreciate within 2 years, providing the UK housing market doesn't crash again. Of course no guarantees there... See you're in Northern CA, have you ever lived over in the UK?

Scout

Since you were in the States for so long.....it's almost like you are an American settling here. Let me give you the American perspective of settling in.

It takes longer than a 3 months..... It takes 2 to 3 years to know whether you will settle.....and you do have to work at it. Find an area you think you may want to live and rent as mummy suggested. Get involved with the community a bit and try and make a few new friends.

We went from being a two car family in the States with me driving a new CRV to being a one car family driving a used Fiat Punto......I got used to it actually told a honda salesman when we were car shopping a few months ago that their cars were too big.........we went from owning a house in Atlanta with 3/4ths of an acre of land to a terraced house with a back garden the size of a postage stamp.....I now, 4 years later think at times that the garden is just too big

Yes it's different here than the States, but different is not necessarily a bad thing........it's just different.

JAJ

An important factor, which you haven't told us about, is are you a US citizen? Or a green card holder?

If you're not a US citizen, the door to return won't stay open indefinitely, if it hasn't already shut.

Mummy in the foothills

Yes we went back for a year, having being born and raised and worked as an adult in UK ( a family of dual nationals here), I was happy to stay but Dh turned us into the ping pong family I'm on the ping part again now and am ready to ship us all back to UK. This time it'll have to be for life we aren't getting any younger.
If you are dual nationals it makes it easier to jump back and forth, it's bloody expensive to be unsettled.

Bijilo123

Does it seem to me that you are actually buying a house for your cat? I am being facetious of course but I really do urge caution on your view that the house will appreciate and although the cost of rental is high, for two years it might be as low as 15 thousand pounds. The amount you can 'lose' on buying a house which only keeps its value in messing around with fees and costs at the beginning and when you leave could be that too. And if the house goes down in value then you are stuffed. On the other hand if you then like the UK and stay then you are quids in.

salgb

I have dual nationality.

dunroving

I can identify with your situation, having returned to the UK with Suzy (my dog, see picture) in 2006, after 23 years overseas, mostly in the US. I'm glad to see you plan to give it 2 years as the first few months can make you want to jump straight back on a plane to the States (not for everyone, of course, but you don't really get the chance to settle and adjust in only 3 months).

Scout is correct, you should view this at least partly as moving to a foreign country, as you will be acculturated to the US way of life (as I was). This helps to get over how different things are than you expected and how difficult things are to figure out.

I too was toying with buying a house within about 4 months of returning (see my thread below):
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=frogs

Ironically, this was in an area close to where Scout lives. I ended up moving to Scotland and that has been a bit disastrous - in hindsight I would probably have been better off buying the house in S. Wales and staying in that job, but that's what being an expat and ping-ponger is often about - second-guessing your decisions.

I'd advise against buying a house just for a 2-year period. Reasons: likely won't go up in value based on all the indicators; very difficult to get a mortgage; costs money to buy and sell a house (estate agent's fees, stamp duty, etc.); it's a very illiquid asset (if you decide to leave, you can't sell a house as easily as selling a second-hand TV); unless you are lucky, the seller will leave you with a series of fix-up jobs that he/she should have done the year or two prior (many people put off important jobs if they think they are going to sell), and so this is added unexpected costs (in my case several thousand pounds, and the guy needs shooting for the Jerry-rigged botch jobs he put in place to hide the faults).

You should be able to get a rental with a cat ... maybe offer to pay a pet deposit and/or get carpets professionally cleaned when you leave. I got a rental with Suzy without too many problems. Many landlords are more concerned about getting rent paid on time.

I don't want to turn this thread into a story about my situation, so PM me if you have specific questions and I'd be glad to tell you about my experiences (I'm currently applying for jobs back in the States). Of course, there are others who returned from the States, struggled for a while, and are now living happily ever after, and their perspective is just as important.

Bevm

I agree. Don't buy a house. The chances of the prices increasing in two years to cover all the costs of buying and selling are, IMO, remote. Dunroving's got the right idea about rentals.

If their are places in your area that have been for sale for a while, you might want to ask if they're interested in renting.

Bev

penguinsix

Did you consider moving from LA to another part of the US, or would a move back be really back to your home turf? I would second the opinion of not buying right now, especially if you are rather unsettled.

You might want to check out the US expats in the UK site. Can help you find some Mexican food at the very least, and many of them have ping-ponged back and forth across the ocean and can relate to what you are going through (and might have some advice as well)

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/

salgb

Thanks everyone for all your responses and advice. I've looked at rentals in the area (Ross, Hereford) and they are expensive, too small, and missing stoves and fridges. So I'd end up buying all that stuff for a rental. I haven't shipped a huge amount of furniture, but I do have enough that I'd need a 2 bed appt. I can afford to buy right now. I've had an offer accepted on a brand new build. I have a close relative who's an architect who thinks the house is a sound investment, and that in a couple of years I could sell it for more. Of course no guarantees on that front, and with Darling's latest budget, seems unlikely to a novice investor such as myself. I owned a home in the US for last 10 years, and really loved it. I feel if I get settled in my own place it would really help out with my uneasy feelings. I have awesome friends in the US who are amazingly supportive, and want me to move back if I hate it here. Juxtapose with my blood family who have been disappointing to say the least. I was promised freelance work from a UK co. but now they've gone awol. I'm a designer, so should be able to p/u either freelance or steady job at some point.
It's just so frustrating not having anyone to share this with, (except everyone here, which is excellent), and also living in a bad situation that I need to escape in a hurry. At the moment buying a place is the fastest escape. And if I do lose money, I'd probably still find something cheaper and bigger in the US anyway, right?!

Bijilo123

No - wrong, housing price movements in the UK and US are not correlated.

I applaud your determination and hope that you realise you may be taking a risk - which may or may not crystallise.

Good luck!

Poppit

Life's full of decisions and risks - I just want to say goodluck with whatever you decide.

Poppit

dunroving

Again, I can identify with so much of what you are saying, but I disagree that buying a house will help you to feel settled - in fact, the potential headache and grief if house prices go tits up even more may cause you to feel even less settled/more dissatisfied.

A major contributor to the "hate" part of my love/hate relationship with the UK is the whole history of the housing bubble (which IMO is a different story than the housing situation in the US).

Take it or leave it, but I think looking at buying a house in order to feel more settled is a bit like getting pregnant in order to sort out marital difficulties ...

Just another thought, but you can buy second hand stoves fridges and washing machines for a song in the UK, and some landlords WILL buy these things if you sign a 12-month lease (in fact, I find the absence of a stove to be very strange). Even if not, the cost of providing yourself with 2nd-hand stuff is small compared to how much you could lose by buying a house.