Walkerhome

We shall be arriving in Austin on Saturday next week to start our new adventure, which we are all very excited about but i have come up against a problem that i am hoping someone can advise on.

We have been advised by the Realtor that we will need a cashiers cheque to proceed with an application for a lease of a property, however we will not have an american bank account arranged and all our monies will be in the UK account ( which will take a few days to wire once an american account has been arranged). Please can anyone help as to how we will overcome this issue as we will be viewing properties on the Sunday of our arrival.

Thank you

GeoffM

Cash? Not ideal to be carrying around thousands but if you're that desperate the I don't see why it shouldn't work. Or wait a couple of weeks before committing to anything because you really ought to check out the area first - maybe traffic on a Monday morning is dire, maybe there are parties on a Friday night, maybe you'd like to get some local opinions from people without an interest in selling you leases on properties.

Tarkak9

... for what amount?

You should be able to go into any bank and obtain one of their cashiers or certified check in exchange for your cash etc. It'll cost a few dollars. Last resort might be a money order (even available at a supermarket or Walmart) A cashier's check is regarded as 'good funds' rather than a private check (which can bounce). You might luck with cash or even a cc, but email the agent to see what else is acceptable for application purposes.

MoshiMoshi

We went straight from the airport to our new apartment in LA, so we had this problem. In the end we paid the deposit and first month's rent by credit card.

penguinsix

Take cash to a US Post Office and get a "Money Order". Will cost a buck or two but basically it's probably also accepted. Ask the realtor if they'll accept a US Post Office Money Order. They should.

Markoncarp

our realtor was great. We paid her some cash - she wrote a cheque out for us from her account.

DavidLemon

+1 thats how we had to do it. Visa is universal and really got hammered in the first few weeks until we had ourselves sorted. SSN - Then bank, Then money transfer. Once that was complete we had almost reached the Visa limit. Still paying it off now lol.

markwm

We pre-arranged a furnished rental for the first month so that we wouldn't have to rush into anything and then found an apartment, at our leisure, once we were here. The landlord was happy to take the deposits, etc, from a credit card. You could also have opened a US bank account with, for instance, HSBC which might have helped.

Bob

UK bank can write a US cheque, isn't ideal but it'll work if the landlord won't take a credit card...

rew1000

My employer wrote a check for rent/deposit then deducted it from my first month's pay, which made things easier.

Having said that, we brought the largest denomination traveler's checks we could get ($100?), opened a bank account, paid the checks in, and could write a temporary check the same day - I imagine you could get a cashier's check by a similar process.

RICH

Depends on your time frame. You apparently have somewhere to stay when you arrive?

When you decide on a place you want to lease, you will need to pay up front deposit etc. You do not need the cashiers check in order to start viewing places. You may have time to open an account/transfer uk money before you decide on a place.

tuxedocat

Another 2 cents. When you buy the money order, from the post office or Walmart or the gas station, be sure to keep the stub AND the receipt. If for some reason they give the money order back to you, that is the only way you might be able to claim part of it back.
Most places charge $50 - $100 for an application or $25 per adult. Most corner gas station can give you a money order if you have cash.
Many Americans do not have bank accounts and use money orders to pay their monthly bills.

ravman007

Hmm, won't HSBC or Citibank in the UK give you a US dollar credit card? That's what I got when I first moved to the US. I just used the CC to pay for my time in those Extended Stay America places. The bank takes the prevailing rate for the day, and charges it to your account in UK pounds. You then just pay it off using your UK account.

Or if you need a CC out here, you can get one of those Green Dot prepaid credit cards. You load it up with credit and use as you wish.

Or like others have said, go to the nearest supermarket and get a money order.

These are just for when you first get here. Not good for long term of course.

BTW, when moving cash over from the UK, make sure you use a currency trader (MoneyCorp etc), and not the bank. You'll get a much better rate.

AddyLaddy

When we first arrived in the US, my UK employer gave me a USD cheque for my 1st month's salary.
Seemed a great idea at the time, but because it was issued from a UK bank, it took weeks to clear and hence be available in my new US bank account.