Nutmegger

It's sounds as if your OH is coming into a high-level position, in which case it would be usual for the company to hire a "relocation specialist" to walk you through everything, from finding the right district in which to live and an apartment there, to getting phones and opening an account with the electric company. It might be worth asking about that right up front. Otherwise, yes, there are online listings, realtors (who will take a chunk of change as commission!), plus if there is an area of specific interest, people walk the streets and ask the superintendent of any building they like if there are any vacancies.

212

Streeteasy, zillow, or get yourself a broker to find one..plenty in park slope, for which your budget is good - you will be able to get somewhere sizable near the park (and with a garden should you desire) for that budget, although stuff goes fast here, especially the good stuff.
Heat & water (usually) included in rentals, especially in the brownstones that prevail in this area - it is newer buildings where it isn't always included. Electric heating in the cold winters = $$. Something to factor in.

No council tax paid by renters.
Cell phone - can get all in prepaid sims for circa $50...or if you get, say, optimum (altice) internet they offer an unlimited everything for $20/line on top of your internet (and/or cable tv) bill. You could always just get your TV with an antennae for some free channels, and netflix/hulu the rest. Unlock your UK handsets and bring them with you - not as subsidised over here as UK and significantly more expensive via carrier. T -mobile et al all do multi line deals too.

Illegal as of mid 2019.
One month deposit and first month only, and a $20 max application fee.....not that any brokers pay any attention to this and still charge $150+ application fees. With no rental history or credit, a letter from the employer would help significantly in securing an apartment.
Re: lack of credit, if you don't have a UK American Express card, get one, then use it to open a US card via global transfer. This backdates your US 'member since' date to your Uk one and gives you a credit history right off the bat, avoiding the hell that is secured credit cards with paltry limits to build it up.

Nutmegger

I had totally missed that! Thank you.

Bob

One thing not really mentioned is child costs. You don't say how old your kid is, but that's probably a couple of half days a week for that money. Once in school, there's all kinds of extra costs for after school stuff, sports etc.

Renters insurance seems a little low, unless you have no possessions.

A few of your moving questions are some what covered in the wiki.

Olly_

I'd say it sounds about right? I paid less than $150 a year for a renters insurance policy when I first moved here.

Some people seem to massively over-insure and pay sky high premiums as a result.

Bob

Down my way, that's not even $10k worth of stuff....Wouldn't cover replacing washer/dryer/kitchen appliances, computers, furniture, jewellery etc if the place burned down...

It's not much more to get $30k worth of cover, but it's certainly more than $15 a month.

Pulaski

But most renters aren't going to have laundry appliances, nor probably much jewelry. So what's left? A computer - surely most aren't worth $2k these days? A TV? - you can get a 60" for $400 new ... Furniture? Maybe I could see that being worth a few $k

All that said, the risk of you losing everything in a fire is pretty remote these days, unless you smoke (fewer people do these days), or have crappy electrics, so the risk is burglary - and what would a burglar even run off with? The computer? The TV? One of the great things about the collapse in the price of technology is that it is hardly worth the effort of picking up a computer or TV even if someone left it on their doorstep and wandering away with it, as the used price is so low. The idea of breaking into a home and risking being shot to steal a used TV is pretty absurd.

london lou

This is incredibly helpful, thank you. Apparently the company has a healthcare scheme, but until we see an offer in writing I'm budgeting for everything. And now we'll be better placed to understand whatever policy the company has, if there is one.

Good to know, thanks. I don't think the company are as experienced in this as we first thought

Really helpful stuff, thanks. I have heard the American Express suggestion - will definitely do that!

Good to know - I was hoping that would cover 2 days p/w for a 3yo Thanks. I did check out the topics on the wiki that seemed relevant, but maybe I didn't view the right pages

Bob

I don't know about you, but here, yes, most will have their own laundry appliances and a number of other appliances.

Also, very old homes, close up neighbours and/or condos so you don't have much choice if a neighbour smokes, or if homes have fireplaces. Also, people will smash a car window for the parking change left on the dash board to get high. They'll smash a window and grab a tele by the window if they see it.

212

I mean, park slope is brownstone territory....older flammable buildings, that do catch fire from time to time. Poor electrics or idiots abound, plus unattended candles/cigarettes, unfortunately.
Own laundry appliances..here? No. If your rental apartment here is lucky enough to have an in-unit it will come almost certainly come with it as it is a HUGE plus. If not, you may have a shared one in the building basement. Lots do not have them, and crucially are not permitted to have them either, hence the abundance of laundromats.

As for TVs/electrical gear being stolen, stooping is a NYC pastime, so not so much worry there...plenty of free stuff readily available all the time..plus getting a 55" tv stealthily down & out of a fourth floor walk up isn't the one

pejp

You won't get an awful lot for $5k in Park Slope, but definitely try and make it work if you can, as it's doable. Alternatively, take a look at Windsor Terrace and Prospect Heights, as it's still close to the park. Don't bother looking in Bay Ridge. It's a fairly residential area with not much going for it for a newcomer. It's nice enough, and will certainly be a little more 'old school' New York, but for a family moving to NYC for the first time, it's not suitable. Hoboken is convenient, although a little soulless, you won't feel like you're in NYC (well, you won't be, but you know what I mean), but the PATH is easy.

A lot of people say to try and avoid a broker because of the fees, but in 10 years in NYC and 4 apartments, it was always easier with a broker. This is especially true if your partners company will cover it.

Would second the comment about high deductible plans. I have a high deductible with an HSA account, so we paid the first $5k or so last year, but our premature twins (one of whom had a couple of major surgeries) generated around $3mm in medical bills, and we didn't pay a penny as we'd already hit our max earlier in the year.

london lou

Thank you! We'll take a look at those areas, and helpful to know about brokers.

$3m! I hope everyone is doing well now.

london lou

I’ve been checking out neighbourhoods and schools on niche.com

Wondered if anyone had comments on the reliability of the info, or additional/alternative sources?

kodokan

The online school resources - Great Schools, Schooldigger, Niche, etc - can useful neighborhood screeners. They really just rank test scores, which usually indicates areas where kids are coming from ‘naice’ middle-class neighborhoods with a home environment that supports their child’s education, makes sure homework is done, areas with probably low crime and low rates of poverty. Don’t get hung up on shooting for 10/10 schools for what’s really just an affluence factor; any school with a 7/10 or more will almost certainly be fine - decently resourced through property taxes, with good equipment and programs for arts, sports, etc.

Your child’s actual experience, though, is unfortunately something that can’t be researched for as it’ll be entirely down to the teacher they get. My daughter - in a very highly-rated school - had a 3rd grade teacher that she LOVED, who really ‘got’ her as a person. But that teacher was very new, and not very firm, and let my somewhat lazy child get away with making very little academic progress that year. Still, she had a good time! The following year, she got a vastly more experienced teacher who was much firmer and a lot less personable and fun; academically she did ok, but it made it a year-long battle to get her to go to school each day as she hated being there. My son, on the other hand, would’ve loved a teacher like that, as he respects people who challenge him, and finds it motivating.

It’s a crap shoot, really, but on the whole picking any reasonably decent neighborhood will be fine. Your child will make nice friends for play dates, you’ll likely get along well with the other parents. Put ‘school’ in the box of ‘things you can’t really control for anyway’, and choose based on your other desired factors.

pejp

No idea about schools, but if you want to post a list of the areas you're looking at, I'd be happy to opine. I lived in Gramercy Park, Chelsea, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint, and I always explored a lot so I've got a pretty good idea of the character of most areas you'd want to be in.