Mr Weeze

WF had an international banking division based in San Francisco, but they closed that. We got our initial bank account and credit card through them.

They still offered me the ability to get a mortgage using the corporate arrangement my multinational employer has. It considered UK history too. However, other mortgage brokers can do this too. I chose to get pre qualified with a broker and WF. The broker was done in 3 days and offered exactly the same deal WF could offer. WF have missed every deadline and come back for additional information that was already provided twice (this is someone from a Post Oak branch). I have not pushed WF as I haven't had a sense of urgency as the other broker was absolutely painless.

You can get one with them, but equally there are other options. The Houston market is use to expats, and WF do not necessarily specialize. However, many companies have relocation arrangements with them such that they bill the employer directly for closing costs, as opposed to you having to complete the expenses process.

sybil580

Thankyou very much everyone for answering my questions! the plan is to live in rented accomodation in the EC area for 6 m - 1 year and do our research during that time. i am definately not a fan of buying straight away so your advise as been heeded. The other difficulty is what to do with the house in aberdeen, to sell or rent.....have to start thinking about these things. What did you all do?

Mr Weeze

We rented ours in Abz with Northwood. Depends on your forward plan really, as well as what the Abz market is looking like right now. We just sold from here and it was easy.

Mr Weeze

But I should add sell it within 3 years of moving here if you want to sell at all to avoid being taxe on the gain. I'm not sure on the tax status if you are owning a house in the USA vs. renting.

Bomjeito

Selling your house in Aberdeen is really a personal choice with a lot to consider.

We sold our home near Cove and sometimes regret getting off the property ladder as going back, which we often discuss, would put us lower on that ladder as prices are so high there lately. And not many nicer properties it seems.

That said, we weren't sure we wanted to rent it out either. We sold our home in July of the year we came. Hubby's company had our taxes done for the first few years here and that first year filing we did not have capital gains to pay (our situation did mean we would) as we filed separately with hubby falling under a non resident alien status by being in USA less than 187 days, even though he was a PR. (disclaimer: everyone's tax situation is different. This was ours.)

We did talk to a tax person prior to our decision.

Biggest question is if you plan to go back. Getting off the property ladder there is a hard decision.

Bink

I sold my house in the UK after 2 years. As Bomjeito has stated though it all depends on personal circumstances, once you're out the UK housing market, you're out though. I think I would struggle to go back now as I would certainly be downgrading from what I have over here.

What you don't want to do is wait 5 years, then sell as you'll probably get screwed on tax. If you never sell it, and go back to the UK you'll be fine, it's just after 3 years here you could get hit with tax on it as a US resident. I know that there's a $250k gain that can be exempt on the sale of a house but I don't know the circumstances for it as it wasn't relevant to me so I didn't look at it.

Jerseygirl

$250K per person gain is exempt from tax...I think this may only apply to your main residence. Not sure...so it's worth checking.

Bink

Right. I think it's $250k/per person so long as you've had it at least 2 years and lived in it 2 out of the last 5 years... But I'd advise checking it out.

Michael

For single, $250K exclusion or $500K exclusion if married filing jointly and was your primary residence for 2 of the past 5 years. There is even a loophole in the law that allows rented property to be converted to a primary residence if you move into the rental property for two years.

Nelson1805

I'm in Aberdeen myself, heading out to Houston in just under 2 weeks for a holiday!! My parents and my brother very recently moved out to Houston for my dad's job and my brother moved out there for his job.

My parents are absolutely loving the lifestyle, and my mother who has been there for just two weeks now, is already mentioning plans of wanting to stay in the States perm, my father's company have already said they would get him a green card but, with him holding Canadian citizenship, not sure if this is a need for him.

I might be considering a move out there myself, I've discovered that thanks to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) Canadian citizens, of which I am, do not require a Visa normally to live and work in the United States as long as you are a qualified professional. I'm an IT Engineer with an Honors Degree so it looks like I'm sorted on that front!

Been doing my homework on jobs and prospects, and so far the results appear promising

Bob

It is.

As for NAFTA, it's good for a year, you get it at the border along with the job offer as long as it's in the approved list of fields. It's not got dual intent or direct means of staying permanently, so you've got to plan accordingly if you have other means of getting a greencard.

Nelson1805

Ahh ok, reading on the US Citizenship & Immigration website it says a period of stay for a NAFTA Professional can be upto 3 years. Guess I need to do some more homework

Michael

It's the TN-1 visa and very easy to get at the border as long as you have a job offer in the defined occupations. The visa is for one year and can be renewed indefinitely one year at a time.

Like the similar H-1B visa, your spouse and children cannot not work unless they qualify for their own TN-1 visa and children must get their own visa when they age out (age 21) and you can only work at the sponsor's job and not be self employed. Also if you lose your job, you may have to leave the US in a reasonable period of time. Therefore green cards or naturalization for the entire family is generally better if the intention is to remain indefinitely.