starzz121

hi Guys

new to the forum and well a soon to hopefully be a new expat! got our E2 embassy interview on 18th of June and hopefully moving out to new hampshire\ Boston first week of august.

just wanted to know how you go about building up yur credit rating in the US. i have a very good one here in the UK but understand when you move over to the US it starts again.

also is this the same with car insurance (got 10 years no claims) they start all over again too?

sorry if these questions sound basic.

many thanks
Steph.

Bomjeito

Hubby did it this way:

1. Got a secured credit card with bank. It was for $1000. He kept it one year and released it.
2. Had a corporate credit card with company.
3. Managed to get a store credit card (Pottery Barn.)
4. Opened a mortgage (but I'm sure a lease agreement with a management company could do the same.)
5. Consider financing a vehicle.

After 2 years, his credit score is 770. Not bad.

The secured credit card is your best and fastest way to establish credit. Yeah, it ties up the $ but its a decent product to build credit.

Sadly, the it is true about the car insurance. Not much you can do (unless others chime in differently) but in 2-3 years, your rates WILL go down - just make sure they re-evaluate your policy yearly.

starzz121

Thank you Bomjeito this is very usefull information.
were deffo going to get a car on finance.. do you think we will nee a co signer for this?

Bob

Welcome to BE and good luck.

Might want to have a search of BE, because this subject comes up multiple times a week, so there is a lot of decent info already posted as well as quite a decent couple of guides up in the wiki that is up top in the pinkish bar of links.

Bob

All depends on how much you put for a deposit and if you get a new or second hand car.

With a letter from your employer saying you've got secured work and x salary, you probably would be all set, but will have a bit of a shit rate.

Best not to get a great car the first year anyway because the insurance will hammer you.

Some states if you show no claims will treat you as a fresh new driver with no history of a18 year old, rather than as a permit leaner at 15. Pretty much anything else saying they'll take your no claims for anything is a sales pitch.

There are things that will help reduce the rate - second hand car, not including car contents, immobolisers/alarms, off street especially covered parking, low commuter miles, town you live in and being further away from NH border as you can and you can also go with lower levels of cover would have the biggest reduction of rate. Once you get your US license, it'll also go down marginally.

If you move to NH and have no plans to drive out of state, impossible I know, but then you aren't required to have insurance.

starzz121

hi bob yes ive just found the seach function which is very helpfull thank you
noticed your in MA were looking to go to new hampshire or MA surrounding area any town recomendations?

Bob

Do you need to work? Get to any where in particular?

If not, just off the top of my head for towns on either side of the border that are nice...

Exeter, Dover, Portsmouth, Hampton, Salem (this is different from the one in MA) in NH.

Amesbury, Seabrook, Newburyport, Dracut in MA.

All also depends on budget and what you're looking for in a town I guess, but they're all nice little towns, with things to do, indie shops, pubs and downtown kind of areas.

starzz121

My husband has a job just on the outskirts of Manchester.. we dont want to live in Manchester but somwhere up to about 30 minutes drive would be fine. We looked at some properties in portsmouth and untill i start working we wouldnt be able to afford a place there and the commute maybe just a little far..

Bob

Manchvegas is fun, but it's a student town...it's also well shifty at night.

It's also a bit of a commuter town, you either work at the college and live in the area or your commute in and with the airport, morning/evenings can be a bit heavy in traffic, but it's all relative, it might not be that bad, but BIL went to college there.

I'd possibly consider not being much further than Concord to the north and Derry to the south if you want a 30 min commute as they're on the motorway. The winter snow can more than double the driving time if it gets bad out and especially if you're off the main roads. The roads are also pretty shit in NH, because they don't get a lot of federal money for the roads, on account of them not requiring car insurance, seat belts and motorbike helmets.