popcorn

fairly straightforward question. I know its a personal thing, but I was wondering if anyone would be happy to share their stories (horror or not) about finding a place to live. We have 2 paid for trips, which we can take whenever we want between now and when we move (mid sept). We are looking for somewhere to rent. Obviously I've done some research and have an idea of areas, but we are not going to want to pay for anywhere until Aug at the latest - how long did you leave it to start looking?

I am looking in Boston/Camb and have heard that because of the collegic thing, places may not be released in any great number until Sept/Oct, but would obviously like to get settled a bit before then.

Not sure whether to get a temp place, then move again, or look for the perfect pad? (work pay for storage and removals)

Thanks for your help!

Bob

I got lucky, we headed down on a weekend and checked as many places out as possible and this the gaff we did straight off...sucked moving in the height of summer though, but it sucks even more in the height of winter, which we did previously.

Agents are dodgy, they can be helpful, but normally with complexes, and errr...they charge you a finders fee, cheeky barstewards.

Your moving at a bit of a shite time though, as you said, colleges...kids will be moving in and filling up a lot of places and places will be reserved for a bit.

What you could try and do is put a large deposit on a place and then move in later when your ready, or get your employer to stump for the rent till you move in instead of paying for storage and a hotel till your settled....doesn't hurt to ask...I got my first, last and deposit paid for off my employers, that and expected loss of deposit on previous place, which I ended getting back anyway, so that was a tasty little bonus.

Oh, and thing to watch out for, especially in the town, parking, how much, when and where, especially during winter months when you might have to move around at certain hours or get frozen in by the ploughs...and also see if there's spare parking because it sucks to have guests having to park miles away to come see you, or because some oink has a friend over taking your spot while you've got your groceries.

Englishmum

You should ask your company to put you up in a serviced apartment for one month when you first arrive; if they are transferring you over on an expat posting this is the norm as you will have more than enough on your plate when you first get here!

You can get short stay corporate apartments; for example Extended Stay America, which might suit you whilst you are looking for a long term place to live:

http://www.extendedstayamerica.com/

(I'm sure there are plenty of other similar chains, can't think of any right now as I'm jet-lagged).

Jerseygirl

Marriot Residence Inn have 1 and 2 bedroom suites with living room...they also allow pets.

Texas Mom

Marriot Residence Inn are very nice indeed. We stayed in one for almost three weeks when we first got here as out house wasn't quite finished.
Highly recommend Residence Inn. Our son has fond memories too as he always points out our old hotel whenever we pass.
It also helped a little with the transition for me as I treated the first few weeks here as a mini break. The real fun started when we moved in to our house!

popcorn

Great tips, thanks. Company will pay for storage, 3 months rent, plus we get a lump sum 'sign on' to buy stuff. Seems pretty good really, But tbh I just don't fancy the idea of moving twice in a month and having the pressure of finding somewhere within a few weeks, I would ideally like to move straight in somewhere. We also have a dog, so we are gonna be restricted anyway (thanks for the tip about the hotel tho). Company pays for relocation councillors for us, to help us find a place, just not sure how this works - I guess you must have to tell them the areas and what you want?

USBound

I'll put another hand up for the marriot residence inn too... we stayed there for a month not too long ago. Great place and in our case right smack in the middle of Chicago so great for getting to know the city.

ScillyBrit

We had a rented townhouse through the Company... for us, it allowed us to 'canvas' the area and have time to find out all the pro's and con's. Just watch out when you are getting your mortgage, just before signing the underwriters demanded another $15,000 on top of the money we were putting down on the house because we had very little credit history (they do not take into account previous credit history from other countries and we moved from Canada!) We were lucky that we had enough to cover this last minute set back... otherwise we would have lost the house.
Also, my OH already had a bank account. I went to open one for myself at another smaller local bank, they wanted a minimum of $2000 to be deposited, and that balance had to remain in there for a minimum of 6 months because at that time I did not have a SS#. I ended up going to the same bank my OH was at (Chase)... and they did not require any minimum, they just asked me to send them my SS# once it was sorted.

These are just a couple of ordeals I went through!

jumping doris

Lots of hotels take dogs here in the extended stay suites.
We moved straight into a house because of school issues. We came over in the summer for a week, looked at houses and bought one.
I wouldn't do it again. Our house is OK, huge level garden which is almost unheard of here in hilly Pittsburgh but since we have lived here I have found other areas in the same township that I prefer.