Roland Hulme

So when you guys first arrived in America, could I ask where you stayed?

Did you stay with friends/hotel when you first arrived? Or did you actually find an apartment from the UK and just move straight in?

We're looking at a lot of apartments but obviously we don't want to move in anywhere we haven't seen. And our friends aren't being huge helps - it's mostly "Naw, you don't want to move into that neighbourhood."

Does anybody have any suggestions or advice - or stories about how they got themselves sorted moving from England to the states?

Lord Lionheart

I recommend a penthouse in Manhattan

Roland Hulme

Unfortunately I haven't started crapping money yet.

penguinsix

Well, the standard expat advice is to rent something short term, 1-3 months so you can 'get a feel' for the area. This can be a corporate apartment (fully furnished) or some other place you can get short-term (newspaper classified, or even better--http://www.craigslist.org). Moving short term gives you an idea of things you can't see on a website or in an advertisement. "How long is rush hour traffic to the office, really? How close is the grocery store? Are there any restaurants, public transit, pubs nearby? Is there a fire station across the street with loud trucks? How are the schools? (outside of 'hip and trendy' areas in big cities, etc, the quality of the local city schools is one of the primary property value influences).

(As an aside, http://www.craigslist.org is wildly more popular in the US than in the UK, so don't brush it aside immediately.)

To check schools (if this is an issue) take a look at http://www.greatschools.net/

Friends are a great help because they can tell you things like 'stay out of that neighborhood' or 'traffic there is awful.' Utilize friends (and even coworkers) to get more info on areas.

Another thing to consider is the term of your assignment in the US: Are you 'here for the long-haul' or are you subject to 'recall and reassingment' by your company. The list is long of expats who have signed 1 or 2 year leases, only to hear from the 'home office' in a month or so "Oh yea, we need you in Dubai for six months for a new client." This is relevant as you look at lease termination clauses. If you think it might be an issue--negotiate with the landlord to see if you can have a buyout (i.e. surrendur your deposit, but be able to move with 30-60 days notice in the middle of the lease).

One thing to consider if renting from a owner-landlord is whether you can get a 'fix and reimburse' option where you call someone to fix a broken thing (washer / dryer), pay them, and then get the cost knocked off the rent (instead of waiting for their 'guy' to come and fix things). When renting from an owner landlord, you don't get the same response time on repairs as you do from a big apartment complex with a plumber on staff.

Anyway, just a few thoughts from someone who seems to move every couple years. I'm not sure but are you renting in NYC? That can be an adventure unlike the rest of the country.

nethead

My husbands parents found a house for us, sent photos etc, and we trusted their judgement. Turned out great we like the house and love the area. Could you ask your in-laws to help find something short term for when you move over? Or maybe stay with them until you find something?

Silly Sod

We stayed in the wifes mums trailer with her and her drunk ass redneck fella. It was sort of okay though as I had always joked about living in a trailer, like on telly. I used to say I would cally myself Duwayne or Billy Bob and have a couple of pit bulls and an old Charger up on blocks outside. After a week we were suicidal and legged it to a nice apartment complex with a ickle kidney shaped pool. I think she might let you guys stay for a while if you pay rent

PS - not the inlaws I mentioned in my thread about how nice my inlaws are. That;s the other inlaws. Who are nice and always spring for dinner when we are pink lint

Jerseygirl

We came over for 2 weeks prior to moving to do a reckie. We secured an apartment to rent...12 month leases are the norm is seems. When we actually moved we stayed in a hotel for a few nights...this enabled us to sort out a few essentials we needed as the apartment was unfurnished.

Roland Hulme

Thanks for all the great responses. This stuff is brilliant. We're calling the inlaws as we speak.

Sillly Sod - I never pictured you as trailer trash! I love it!

Lord Lionheart

Okay seriously. I stayed with someone I hardly knew and met on a plane on my first trip to the US for about 6 weeks on their couch. After 6 weeks I moved in with a work-mate who was looking for a room-mate, after his previous one moved out. I got............. the fold out couch in a 1 bedroom apartment. The previous roommate then moved back in, so there were 3 of us in a one bedroom apartment. 2 guys in the bedroom, I was on the couch in the living room. On weekends there would be up to 6 people, depending if we all had girlfriends at the time................ I kid you not.
But I was in my early 20's at the time, so I was either working or out socially, which made it bearable.
There were some loonies in that building, I might share a few stories later if anyone is interested

Texas Mom

We came out in April last year for a week, found a house and signed all the paper work etc. Finally moved out for good last June and the house wasn't finished yet so stayed in a hotel for a couple of weeks till the house was ready.
Suppose we were lucky as we had done plenty research on the area, schools etc so buying was and has turned out to be the right thing for us.
Good luck finding a place.

NC Penguin

Arrived in the US on a Saturday and stayed in a pre-booked hotel (OK. It was a Residence Inn). I had created a shortlist of apartments that I was thinking of visiting so come Monday, hit the road in a rental car and visited said apartments. On the Monday, we visited four or five and by the end of the day, found an apartment that was to become "home" for two years!

PS: if you're unfamiliar with the city/area you're looking to rent an apartment, buy a map. In our case, neither of us had ever visited/lived in NC so a map was essential.

PPS: I think US maps suck. US cartographers are so crappy compared to British cartographers.


NC Penguin

TouristTrap

Yes!

Arrived Wed, stayed in a hotel, found an apt, moved in Friday. Great complex.

elfman

I agree 100%

and with regard to finding apartments craigslist.org is definitely v useful: that's where you'll find apartment renting deals without going through an agent - and the fee you'll have to pay an agent in the NY/NJ area is typically 10-15% of the year's rental, on top of (often) two months rent up front.

Paul S

sorted out apartment in our May recce. Wasn't ready when i arrived so spent the first 4 nights in a motel 6

Lord Lionheart

Hmmmm well let's see, have you ever read Orwell's Down & out in Paris & London?
The collection of loonies in the apartment building consisted of me, a Mexican-American and a big blonde redneck from Idaho who shared one apartment. In the other units were two obese French Jewish ladies( mother and daughter), a black chauffeur, an alcoholic Indian named Ali who spent his time playing Pacman and drinking, a Vietnam veteran ( also drank a lot) who would fight with the Indian when he cooked curry due to the strong smell. A session musician who was dying of AIDS, and did so a year or so later. The apartment manager was a plumber called 'Rippy', I never knew his real name. Then there was Rose, an old lady from New York who would come out of her apartment and scream " SHUT HER DOWN!!" in a strong Brooklyn accent when we would make too much noise, usually watching Monday Night Football.
The apartment building was one of those 60's courtyard type buildings where everyone could see what everyone else was doing unless you had your blinds drawn and door shut, kind of difficult in LA summers as we had no A/C, so any noise reverberated around the whole building.
We also had cockroaches and ants, we bought some 'cockroach bombs' a couple of times. Basically they were smoke fumigators, you would open them and evacuate the apartment while the gas did it's job, then go in and clean up the bodies................... charming place really.

Yes, the streets were paved with gold for me in the good old US of A when I first came here