kodokan

My house's Walkscore is 12 out of 100, which is fair enough - it reflects the US car-centric view of what is 'walkable', which appears to be 'must be within 200 yds/ 2 mins'. It's extremely bikeable, though - my kids' schools and a vast range of shops are all within 1-2 miles, and there are excellent wide roads with cycle lanes everywhere.

City Data is fabulously helpful. Also useful is looking up the local website for the towns you're considering, to check for amenities, events that appeal (sporting, cultural, farmers' markets, etc), local issues and planning. A lot of towns/ neighbourhoods also have Facebook pages or groups, and you can learn a lot about the 'feel' of the place from the posters.

Bob

Don't bother till you're ready to move in, on a rental, it'll be gone by October...unless you're thinking way in the burbs.

If you're in Boston, expect to put down first/last plus with no credit history up to 3 months worth of rent as deposit and unless it's a private rental through the landlord, a good chance of a realtor fee of 1-3 months worth of rent.

Much less if you're in the burbs.

If you could look in September, you'd have more options, tend to fill up quick in time for the educational calendar...but then you'd be renting a empty place for a bit.

craigslist is find for Boston, but don't pay up front without seeing the place, to many scams.

padmapper.com and the app work great in the state.

One thing that's handy, you'll find loads of realtors doing rentals....but you'll also find most are crap about getting back to you, unless you're on the ground and have the cash to sign a lease there and then.

Don't forget, even with no credit history, you'll be expected to pay anything from $20-60 household/per person a credit check on each lease application. Even in the burbs where it's not as fierce, you can find 10-20 people have applied for an apartment....this is why you have large deposits on offer, more than they ask.

Thing is, you don't reserve a rental, you want it, you sign there and then after applying and they accept the application. You pay the rent even if you aren't in, unless you're very lucky but don't count on a landlord keeping a place off the market for you.

As for location, well you don't say what the budget is, where you'll be working and how long/cost of commute you'd be prepared to put up with.

Things to look out for on rentals, they usually include water, but you usually unless it's a condo will be on the hook for rubbish collection and this can be private pick up at $35 a month, town pick up, go to the dump and/or by the bag system. Electric can be decent but avoid NStar if you're in the burbs. Gas is cheap, oil is filthy expensive so avoid that for heat and electric hear while you're at it as you can easily be on $300-600 a month during winter on a oldish house.

Parking, off street saves on insurance, especially if it's covered. You want to check if it's street parking how much a permit might be if it's permit parking, want to check if it's zoned parking which means moving the car around at certain hours during winter and who's responsible for snow removal because unless the lease says landlord will do it, you would be on the hook and you're liable for clearing the pavement in front of your place in case someone falls within a reasonable time after a storm.

If you're looking for a place in Boston and you've got a container of stuff coming in, then look at the ability to get a moving permit, some places can have a couple months waiting list to get one and without a permit, you can't get a truck in to do it. Out in the burbs, no such thing to worry about.

Banking is such a non-issue, don't even worry about it.

There's a really helpful Boston Brits facebook group and a slightly less busy, but helpful metrowest group, which covers the burbs out as far as I-495 ring.

Bob

That walkscore thing....it's rubbish, pay no attention to it out here.

It's great in the summer....doesnt' consider winter and how well a town deals with snow removal.

Some towns, they'll clear pavements straight away, some will only do the central downtown area, others will get around to it but can be a week or so later.

Also, then have the issue of road ploughs blocking in the junctions to cross walks or snow moved from hydrants blocking pavements and till the snow banks are cleared, can be anything from a couple feet to 5 feet high so you can't clear over them to even get on the pavement.

So what works in the summer might not reflect the winter. Plus it's generally a bit poo walking in winter.

kodokan

Hey, there's a Bike Score now - my house gets 52 out of 100. Which is frankly absurd, given their scale:

90–100 Biker’s Paradise
Daily errands can be accomplished on a bike

70–89 Very Bikeable
Biking is convenient for most trips

50–69 Bikeable
Some bike infrastructure

0–49 Somewhat Bikeable
Minimal bike infrastructure

Every road here has a good, wide cycle lane; the ones approaching my kids' schools are a two-lane road where the entire right lane is just for bikes. Hill-wise, it's like cycling in Holland, and everywhere is dead straight; I can see the curvature of the earth on major roads. And all bar July and August, the weather is universally fantastic for biking, all the time - it never rains and gets sloppy, or is frozen, or has snow, there are no leaves that fall in the gutters. What on earth does a neighbourhood need to do to get a better score?! (Answer: have the shops within a couple of dozen pedal rotations, I know, I know.)

WEBlue

True, it's as if the Walkscore site thinks that no American can possibly walk more than 5 minutes from home!

My house is a 20 minute walk from everything from a "real" hardware store to library, post office, town hall, several coffee shops, deli, and some sit-down restaurants. Yet the Walkscore site rates my address as 28/100 and says, "Most errands require a car." Ridiculous! Only a big grocery shop regularly requires a car; lots of other errands are easily walkable or bikeable.

About biking for the OP: we have a nice dedicated cycle trail nearby, which is beautiful, but I wouldn't say our normal streets have good cycle lanes. I have biked our village streets and some are scarily narrow for bikers and cars to share. YMMV on this, but it's another thing one needs to check out 'in person' on the ground. Long distance research can only tell you so much...

WEBlue

Yeah, the winter snow "issues" may be why the Walkscore site marks New England areas down so low....

Towns do vary all over the place in how well they deal with snow removal for pedestrians, and that's another thing it's hard to get a feel for from a distance. You have to be here to experience that in person.

If you want to walk anywhere specific with young kids or a push-chair, snow can really put the kiss of death on those plans. And of course, even a little snow means cycling becomes impossible and/or dangerous for all ages.

Bob

I would give less credence to the bike score.

My town and plenty in the area don't even bother clear the bike/walking paths during winter and with the sludge on the road going way out, there's hardly room for cars, never mind bikes trying it in the middle of the road

Some towns are better than others, as with the walking/driving...but it's one of those things to have bums on the road and ask the locals, where city-data is very handy for.

Bob

Summer humid heat can make a pleasant 10 minute walk during spring/autumn into a miserable jaunt into hades though.

WEBlue

Unfortunately true!

Those are the summer days when I usually try to get out on my bike early in the morning, but that's not so easy in some places....

hungryhorace

I moved into a managed apartment within 5 days of moving here, so I wouldn't worry. I just googled for places to live then made appointments.

Pulaski

Is that specific to your address? We get lumped in with the nearest city, and so get 28/100! That is pretty insane, because on any objective measure our house should score approximately 0. It would take about 15 minutes walking briskly to get to the nearest retail establishment, a gas station where you could buy your beer, soda, and cigarettes. About half an hour of brisk walking would get you to a dollar store for whatever crap they're peddling, and after almost an hour (walking at 4mph), you'd get to the nearest supermarket, the third closest retail business!

The problem with the "brisk walking" bit, is that there is no sidewalk, and once you get out onto the main road, they don't even mow the verges more than a couple of time a year, and the verges are mostly very uneven, or slope steeply into a ditch. In short you'd have to be pretty desperate to even attempt to walk anywhere.

Bob

Finding an apartment is a piece of piss to find, especially a one bed. House though...

kodokan

Seems to be, or at least my (small) street. We're 1 mile from a restaurant, 1.5 from a neighborhood Walmart/ bank/ small retail park, and 2 miles from a Walmart supercenter on a large retail park. So a reasonable walk, all on the flat, all with good pavements and nice gravel/plant borders. It's minutes on a bike.

nun

I don't agree about Craigslist. I use Craigslist all the time and it's a good place to find apartments rented directly by the landlord...say in a two family.

ubernathan

We found a Boston-area rental in a week. We're moving next month.
1) we used realtors (several) -- just phoned those that dealt with rentals as well as sales
2) to lock in the deal paid $500 cash and then xfered the rest of the deposit via bank xfer
3) contract signing got done electronically after we'd returned to the UK

Realtors know of the good areas and buildings etc -- thinks rent.com and zillow can't tell you. They will try and show you things outside your spec, just to see how hard your spec is. The major move date in Boston is 1st Sept, because of colleges. Going now for somewhere in October may work -- it's probably too late for a sept move. I phoned several realtors before travelling, to set up appointments when we were there.

ETA: take evidence that you have assets and/or will have an income. Also, using a realtor will help with the 'strangeness' of being from outside the USA.