jockf

My wife and I are moving to Cali late this year! can anyone shed some light on prices of housing extras? I know you need the deposits and yada yada but what about the utilities? like the old council tax and stuff? any info would be a help. cheers in advance and come on the England!! lol

dunroving

Are you intending to rent, or buy? If you're looking to rent, the good news is that renters don't pay the property taxes on the house. The owner pays it once a year. Of course, it eventually ends up in the rent, but bottom line is that if you see a place for 800 a month, that's how much it costs - not 800 plus property tax.

As you know about the deposit and the yada yada then there's no point in telling you how that works. As for utilities - what do you need to know? The cost?

jockf

Thanks for that mate! suppose the rest of the utilities are the same as Uk? Prices and services?

Ben

The prices of utilities over here are a lot more than what you pay in the UK. I know we pay an average of $250 per month for both gas and electric combined. Depending on what time of year it is depends on how it is split. I know we aren't in California but I know their prices are high and could be higher than ours.

Oh, phone bill is a lot more too, mainly because of all the added taxes.

My water bill is a lot less than it was in the UK but we are on a septic tank so we don't have to pay for sewage on our water bill. We just have to make sure our septic is maintained.

And you generally don't get much of a choice, if any choice at all. It seems to depend on what state you are in. We don't get a choice of provider here, but in NJ they started to bring in a choice just as we left there.

kazzuk

Expect your bills monthly too. All utilities are billed monthly.

jockf

Thankyou very much for all your help.... I dare say i will be picking some brains then next time the light bulb lights up!!!!!

Ash UK/US

In the UK we paid a standing charge for water over here we pay for how much we use. I think that applies to most of the states here.

Ash

Ben

That is starting to change in the UK now. A lot are now on a water meter and only pay for what they use.

Dot

LA area you say? Their Metropolitan Water utility has a website you can look up approximate charges for monthly usage. Pacific Gas and Electric also has a website with that. It doesn't get that hot nor that cold so you won't be using that much power. If you're down in the basin you won't need cable since you can get a handful of stations with an aerial.

Peter

Not only can you expect your bills monthly, but wait and have a look at the taxes and fees they add to them, especially the phone bill. Makes interesting, but sad, reading.