JinxyCat

So, my husband has an offer from his company to transfer him to Santa Monica (SM) which sounds great - but I just thought I'd check what sort of salary expectations he should be negotiating with.

His company have said that he'll get a L1 visa, which means I'll be able to work with an L2 and an EAD - right?

We have two kids, 5 & 3, and will want a full-time nanny once I'm working.

We live in central London (zone 2), in a big 5 bedroom terraced house and commuting time is <45 mins for both of us.

My oldest is in state/public school, so we want to be near a good state as I'm not sure we could/want to afford the private school fees.

Can someone on here give me an indication of where might be good to live, and what the likely cost of renting/buying a 4 bedroom house might be?

Our current house would likely rent out at around £3k pcm, but I can't see anything remotely equivalent to that price on Zillow (which scares me)

We have a 2 bedroom flat in London which we could sell in order to get a deposit if buying would be better...so if anyone has any opinions on buying vs renting - I'd love to hear that too!

His work have suggested that they'll match his UK salary with a slight uplift for tax implications - but I'm a bit worried that won't be enough to maintain our current QoL

We want to live within 30-45min commute of downtown SM as his office will be near 3rd & Santa Monica Boulevard.

Sorry if there are other threads about this - I had a quick search but couldn't find that much...hope that's enough information - I've tried to write answers to questions that other people had in similar threads.

Thanks for your help!

Jerseygirl

Hello and welcome to BE.

Just a thought...I presume you will have a L2 visa. If so you will not be able to work for approximately 90 days...until you receive a work permit.

JinxyCat

Thanks JerseyGirl - my current plan (which may not be workable) is to come into the US with DH (dear husband for those non-mumsnetters), submit the application for my EAD and then return to London to work until it comes through

Truthfully, we need my income for our current mortgage and childcare costs...so although it would be nice to not work, given the cost of living I'm seeing - I don't see even with DH's converted salary how we could afford a car/insurance/food etc without me working!

And thinking again, maybe we will rent for a year whilst we decide which areas we do/don't like and build up a credit history.

christmasoompa

If you're thinking of buying somewhere, are you looking at this as a permanent move then? If so, make sure you get green cards as part of the deal, and get something in writing from the company to say they'll sponsor you for them by xxxx date.

Good luck.

Jerseygirl

I don't know much about SM...only been there in holiday...I do know that real estate is expensive. Do not be in a rush to buy. You need to make sure you have a GC first and know the exact area you want to live. Selling houses here is very expensive. Everyone and their dog uses a realtor. Expect the total selling/moving costs to be around 10% of the selling price.

Be aware of buying while you are here on a visa. We have had members who for what ever reason have not had their visas renewed. They have had to leave their house here and return to the US...I think it's within 30 days...if not someone will correct me.

mmhendrie

with two kids, you might want to look for schools before you look at houses.

Some school districts in/around LA are frighteningly bad, some are very good. Typical private schools in West LA average around $28k-$35k per kid, per year. So you can easily spend more on schooling then you do on buying/renting a home, if you're not careful.

You may want to look at those areas that are not too far from your husbands likely work location (really, less then 10 miles with LA traffic) that are assigned to good public schools. That takes care of a potentially huge expense - then narrow those neighborhoods down based on house price/rental rates.

Santa Monica is nice, I'd love to live there, but I could only afford a shack there, and I prefer my 2500sqft home 20minutes from Santa Monica. I've also heard 'indifferent' things about the Santa Monica school district. Culver City has a reputation for a good school district and is not far from Santa Monica. Either way, with kids - I'd draw a 10mile ring around Santa Monica, and start looking for the good public schools - reverse engineer from there.

-Matt

caleyjag

I support consideration of renting until you consolidate things with a green card.

At the very least you should rent for a while to explore all the different areas around Santa Monica. Property values vary considerably and you need to familiarize yourself with the particulars of commute times and traffic patterns.

Bob

citydata.com for local info

salary.com and glassdoor for money/benefits

wiki up top for relocation, health and credit info.

Factor in, without US credit history or driving history, things will be more expensive for a bit and probably a bit more hassle.

padmapper.com for finding a rental and scoping out the price range.

A nanny will be very expensive out that way I'd imagine, it is down my way at least and you've got the hassle/cost of dealing with their taxes on top.

JinxyCat

@Matt - thanks for the reply, I think I too would prefer more space - where exactly do you live, would it be commutable to Santa Monica? 20 mins doesn't sound bad, but maybe thats a non-rush hour time?

Sally Redux

Depends on a lot of things.

What is the going rate for your husband's job, what kind of lifestyle do you envisage? If you're coming from Zone 2, you possibly don't want to be stuck out in soccer mom territory. But of course beachfront property is very expensive.

You could possibly live somewhere like I do on Las Virgenes Rd area and commute down Malibu Canyon/Pacific Coast highway. Our school district is considered good. Traffic is a big problem almost everywhere in LA though. I was on the 405 at 5.30 this morning and it was packed.

JinxyCat

The lifestyle thing is a strange one - I don't think I'd mind the soccer mum territory, but hate the idea of more than an hour commute (30-45 mins would be ideal - is that realistic?). And as for 5.30am starts - I'm impressed that you can do it, my 7.30am starts are currently killing me!

We like to do things with the kids at the weekend, both of my kids are real water babies so I'm hopeful that we might be able to afford somewhere with a pool (although maybe that's going to kick up the price too much).

Ideally we'd like 4 bedrooms: one for me & DH; one each for the boys - although they could share if needs be; one for a live-in nanny; and then one for guests (we have our in-laws come and stay with us in London for 4-6 weeks each year and I imagine they'd continue to do so in CA) - so 3 bedrooms - MUST; 4 bedrooms - NICE TO HAVE

Walking distance to a good school (or at least cycling distance for the kids) - MUST HAVE

Ideally a pool, as it strikes me that you should have one in California (but maybe I've watched too many TV programmes) - NICE TO HAVE

A backyard big enough to kick a ball around in, as well as a trampoline (MUST HAVE)

God, I want a lot. Any tips on which neighbourhoods MIGHT be able to fit those requirements? And what we'd need to pay in rent to get it?

Sally Redux

Oh God don't be impressed - I don't usually go out at that time, just happened to going to the airport today and surprised yet again at the jams My husband commutes about 1 1/4 hours each way but it can be 2.

What is your rental budget?

With the house size and wanting walking distance to school you are probably looking at suburbia.

LA is so sprawling that I only know some bits but your starting-point is price, and wanting a state school cuts down the options too.

Lilly77

Hi Jinxycat!

We are also looking to move to Santa Monica area from London. We live in North London right now.
I guess you'd be looking at elementary schools? We have two kids age 3 and 11. I've heard Franklin and Roosevelt are good, as well as Palisades elementary in the pacific palisades.
We'll be hoping to move into the catchment of either Lincoln or John Adams middle schools (SM) or even Paul Revere in the pacific palisades. I've heard the SM and Malibu school district is better than the LA district, the prime reason we're moving to SM (also we have family nearby in Brentwood)
We are looking for 3 bed with garden, and have found some nice-ish places in good areas for about $4500-$5000 per month.(mostly condo's with outside 'spaces' though - but sometimes you can find a gem) We've found Westsiderentals really helpful for looking to rent, you have to pay to sign up though, but you can guest search on the site.

We find out for sure if our visa's are approved next week, then we'll fly over in July.

I'm also interested in living costs there so will be following this thread with interest!

docholywood

In my experience and listening to other expats with your needs:

In Santa Monica /brentwood area- 7k - 9k / month on rent to start with for decent 4 bed with pool in good school district.

Full time nanny is about $35k /year plus expenses if I recall correctly (not sleep in though) thers may have different figures

2 cars - depending on your taste and if leasing - figure $1500/ mth incl insurance (stupidly expensive), fuel etc. Chuck in down payments and you are at 20k total in year 1.

So about 160k spent and we haven't paid for food bills fun holidays and setting up home costs. Cut cloth accordingly and YMMV

Good luck.

JinxyCat

Thanks, we were hoping to pay no more than $6k per month in rent - although even with London prices that seems like a lot to me, but not if I consider central London prices I guess.

@docholywood, thanks for the info about nannys - I've found some interesting profiles on sittercity.com

@lilly77 I've also been reading good things about the Canyon Elementary, but not sure where their catchment areas is. Good luck with your visa - is it an H1?