Sunderland lass

Hi all, it is looking likely our family (husband, me, daughter 5, son 2) will be moving to Houston from UK in January on my husbands 2 year company transfer (L1 visa, I think.) We are all making a week long visit starting 26th October 2013 to see what the place is like before we make any final decisions. Have some questions:

1) How easy will it be to rent having no US credit?
2) How easy will it be to lease a car having no US credit?
3) What is Pinewood Clear Lake area like for raising kids?
4) How much on average do you spend on utilities/ cable/ home and flood insurance?
5) Car insurance?
6) Are there Mother and toddler groups?
7) Heard mixed reviews about Houstonians towards expats- friendly and warm/ cold and distant. Your opinion?

Thanks in advance.

Jo

Pulaski

1) Varies by landlord, private ones are often more flexible, larger "corporate" landlords might just expect a greater deposit.
2) Easy: International Autosource.
3) [Dunno]
4) $250/mth (could be more in the summer if you use the AC heavily, plus water - I'm not sure what that would be in the Houston area), $60-$160 (depending on package), $100-$200 mth (depends on house size, and could easily be more for a large house)
5) Starts around $1,000/6 mths (but drops rapidly as you build history - we're paying about $450/vehicle/ year). I, and most others here on BE, recommend you do not take "state minimum" insurance as it is pretty basic and can leave you very exposed in the event of a wreck, especially one involving injuries.
6) [Dunno]
7) I don't know about Houston, but that sounds typical of much of the US. People can be as friendly as you want them to be. If you're standoffish with respect to local traditions, customs, and interests then don't expect a warm welcome. So religion, politics, the military, guns, and American sports (notably football, baseball), including high school and college sports, are all fraught with the risk of irritating people and driving a wedge between you and them. I'm not saying you have to embrace all of them, or any of them, but negative comments should be avoided if you want to build friendships.

Sunderland lass

I really appreciate the time you've taken to reply. Took a look at expatride and it seems ideal - thanks so much

ChocolateBabz

We rented with no credit, had to provide proof of employment and I think a copy of our visa, only 1 month deposit down but that was 5 years ago.

We didn't lease a car so can't help with that one.

I don"t know Pinewood but Clear Lake is nice. Where is hubby working as a commute into Houston would be a long one.

Utilities are going to depend on the size of your home. Our worst electric bill this summer was $295 in a 4300 sq ft home. In our 2 bed apartment it was $220 because it had crappy insulation, inefficient a/c units etc. Gas runs at $30 during the summer and $80 in winter as we use heating then. Water/Sewer/Trash was $25 in the apartment, can be $160 in the house during sprinkler season. Satellite with everything but sport is $136. Flood Insurance is around $300 per year. In Clear Lake you will most likely need hurricane insurance too. Buildings, Contents and Hurricane was $3000 for us this year, $2250 of that was hurricane insurance. Now if you are renting hurricane, buildings and flood should be paid by the owner, of course it is then factored into your rent and you would just need renters insurance to cover contents at least that's what we had.

Car Insurance when we first moved was $220 per month for 2 new cars, ford edge and vw bug and that was state minimum coverage. Now it's $130 per month for the same two cars but better coverage.

Yes there are mother and toddler groups, check your local parks and recreation and a lot tied to churches plus bouncy house type places.

People are friendly and I think having little ones get's you an 'in' with the local mommy mafia esp if you are willing to volunteer for stuff. I wasn't so I am billy no mates (not strictly true but I don't have a wide circle of friends and really only one American couple we are close to).

Weeze

1. Our company provided us with a realtor and helped with this. Maybe yours have something similar.

5. Very expensive. We joined AIG and saved the premium on the first 6 months insurance.

6. Lots and lots. Huge range from free things to paid for things. We have things on every day.

7. Friendly in my experience.

Bink

Pulaski and ChocolateBabz have pretty much covered it so I'll just say

On the rent, I had to pay first and last months rent as well as the security deposit (3 months in all) but other than that had no problems.

There are plenty of mother and toddler groups. It may take you a while to find one you like. Some require you to do absolutely everything with them others are a bit more relaxed.

On the A/C we use average billing and it was about $150/month for the year (peak about $300, low about $100), our water can get up into the high $200's if it gets really hot but is normally around $100-150 (we're in an expensive mud district). Our gas was $30/mo in summer, $45/mo in winter but is going up at the moment due to pool heater and firepit.

If you do rent somewhere with a pool, your electricity will be higher (mine's about $100/mo higher right now but my pump was on high, 24/7 for most of the last billing period since it's a new pool)

Pulaski

I, and most others here on BE, recommend you do not take "state minimum" insurance as it is pretty basic and can leave you very exposed in the event of a wreck, especially one involving injuries.

ChocolateBabz

Absolutely, the only reason we did it to start with was because we were either being turned down for car insurance (no credit/driving history) or were being quoted $6,000 for 6 months. State Farm were the first who said they would insure us. Incidently I tried shopping around earlier this month and the AllState agent told us 1 in 3 drivers is not insured in Texas, not sure if he was exaggerating but

Bink

I have recently upped my limits and added a $2mil umbrella policy for about $300 or so which sits over my auto/house insurance.
I wasn't getting quotes quite as bad as you, but paid $260/mo for two cars for 18 months before being able to reduce it. I'm still at $160/mo.
Incidentally, the increased limits above state minimums don't appear to add very much to the cost.

ChocolateBabz

They were going to increase the premiums a lot for us to begin with so we had crappy yet expensive insurance for the first year, then we swapped to Progressive and now have great insurance for almost half the cost.

I have seen the umbrella policies advertised but can't bring myself to insure my insurance esp. after just writing the cheques for buildings/contents/twia and yay, property tax, mud tax and hoa in December

Sunderland lass

Thanks so much for all your replies.
Forgive my ignorance... what are mud tax and hoa tax?

ChocolateBabz

HOA is Home Owners Association fees not really a tax. Not every area will have one but if you are in a nicer development which provides grass cutting of communal areas, swimming pool, community gates etc you will have one. Ours is around $1000 per year.

If you own a home you will pay property tax annually based on the value of your home and again if it is a newer area you 'may' have mud tax also, Municipal Utility District (I think) it's where the developers took out bonds to install the infrastructure for the development and the homeowners are in effect paying off these bonds. They can be around for many many years until they are paid off and can be borrowed on again although the idea is that they will be paid off eventually - our property tax and mud tax combined last year were $11,500 but we are in a pretty high tax area.

BritishGuy36

Something to know about auto insurance in the US is that there is really no such thing as 'comprehensive'. What is often called 'full coverage' includes what is called 'collision' and that covers you if you are deemed to be at fault for an accident. However, even with collision you are only protected up to a maximum amount, such as perhaps $100,000 per person injured, or $300,000 total per accident. Equate 'liability' coverage with what in the UK is called '3rd Party'. Liabillity does not necessarily include fire and theft, though. Insurance is much more modular in the US, you can add and take away coverage for more types of different things than is usually the case in Britain.

If you are unlucky and hurt several people or damage something very expensive (car, house, etc) and it costs more than your max limits, then you are responsible for paying the difference. So if you cause $500,000 of property damage and are insured for $300,000 .... well you get the idea.

So I would recommend getting higher than usual coverage limits, where feasible, and ask your agent about what exactly is covered - don't make any presumptions.

Lbjen

If you rent you'll get renters insurance, you won't have to pay homeowners or flood insurance, the owner does that. Most landlords require renters insurance but it can be had pretty cheaply, we paid maybe $250 for 6 months when we first arrived.

Utilities depend on the size and age of your home. We are currently renting a 2 bed 10 year old apartment and our electric is $100 a month, we don't have gas. Our water is split between the building, and is around $30 per month.

There are a lot of expat groups here, including mums and toddlers. You might be in for a shock with how religious the locals are, but so far I haven't had anyone have an issue with me not being so. A significant number of people living here are from elsewhere so you won't stick out like a sore thumb.

Sunderland lass

You are all so helpful. Thank you - I'm excited about the visit now