Hi,

I and my wife work for an American company in the UK. My wife had a L1 before and worked in the US for nearly a year. We both have around 10 years experience in the IT industry and hold Masters in Computer Science. I also have an MBA and several certifications. There is a possibility that my wife may be able to get a transfer to the US next year. The job is likely to be in Arizona / Florida.

We are mainly contemplating this move for a life-style change as we are both getting tired of housing in the UK . We have some friends in the US with similar backgrounds and they all seem to be living in big comfortable houses. I am not sure about the salaries for people with our experience and how easy it would be for me to find a job in Arizona as a Senior BA/PM (If I don't get a transfer).

How much do you think we can realistically save, if we both earn around 80-90k each. We are fairly frugal and don't go out a lot. We are hoping to find a good house for around $400,000 in a decent area. We will probably have around $100,000 in savings when we move. We want to save as much as possible to ensure a very good education for my child. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Your best way to move is to use this to justify a transfer and L1 visas. Then seek greencard sponsorship.

Your other questions are irrelevant if you can't get the visa figured out.

Google is your friend. You can find mortgage calculators and income tax information quite easily - this will give you a good start in your budget estimates. Realtor.com and Zillow are good places to look at housing to get a feel for things.

Arizona is a better job target than Florida, especially in IT, and the housing market is ripe for the pickins' right now.

But, as I'm feeling a bit contrarian this morning, this recent story came to mind:

Tell the truth now. You have a formal dining room but eat at the breakfast nook. The living room with the vaulted ceiling sits empty while everyone piles into the family room. That third bathroom doesn't get visited more than once a week.

There's a lot of space that just doesn't get used, despite the labor and material required to build it and the money you're spending to heat and cool it. Looking at it, of course, is free.

Is that how you should be living?
Small houses go big-time

I would say with that kind of income, you'd do REALLY well in Phoenix.

Rene

A big house don't make you happy mate been there done that got the t shirt,people make you happy trust me the novelty wears off after a while,think hard not at what your leaving but who you will be leaving.I wish you good luck in whatever you do

Big house of paper though ain't it...and more crap to clean...but whatever floats ones boat I suppose.

Thing to consider is utilities, insurance and taxes.

Heating/cooling can be a bit of an expense, insurance can be high or impossible to get, especially in parts of Florida...property taxes can also be high, especially in nice areas with good schools.

Quite a few threads on Florida you can search out depending on where you had in mine. Less for Arizona but there are a few.

Whether you are able to adopt would be dependent on your countries laws.

There is the possibility of them then being able to immigate in the circumstances you describe. I would recommend consulting with a lawyer familiar with the country and immigration laws.

Possibly in the wrong thread or too much egg nog??

I wish, wonder which thread it should have gone in..
Never mind

Oh, come on... A big house is part of the "American Dream". It's one of the things that people look to emigrate for. What would be the point in moving to the US to find yourself living in a pokey two bedroom terraced house with no backyard? I could do that in England... Scratch that, I DID do that in England.

Been there, got to the point that a ride on Hoover would have been nice.

Yeah but in Florida and Arizona you have to cool that giant house in the summer!

I would say go for a smaller house if you live in FL or AZ unless you can get "zoned" A/C. With electric bills going up it will get quite expensive to own a big house in either of those states. Also insurance and taxes are obviously higher in a larger house; I don't know about any natural disasters in AZ, but in FL hurricane insurance and taxes are easily another mortgage payment for some people.

Rattlesnakes?

It is possible to limit your energy use through sensible design in Arizona, I do not know about Florida.

However that is not typical of your average US house.

There's nothing sensible about Florida.