Hello All,

My hubby and I are moving over in an EB1. I didn't realise that we won't know our date at the consulate until a month before. I thought we'd know it this month so we could organise a rental property etc.

Now I'm thinking that my hubby will have to travel ahead of me to sort out a rental and I'll ship everything later.

How have others handled the move? Did you manage to get rentals sorted before etc.

Thanks!

Sam

Hotel for a few days to a few weeks seems to be normal for most BEers. That's what we did

Renting remotely would often be ill-advised, even if it were possible, and many landlords make it difficult enough for new immigrants renting face-to-face, so I doubt you'll get someone to agree from 3000+ miles away. And I would be concerned about both the location and the quality if a landlord were prepared to rent to you.

We came over a couple of months before to do a reccy and hooked up with a rental realtor in the week we were there. When we actually moved over we had 3 or 4 days in a hotel while we organised the purchase of some essentials (beds, tv, car etc!). The majority of our stuff was collected for shipping on the day we actually left the UK so we hat to make do for a few weeks with newly purchased basics until it arrived.

Thanks both. Your replies were very useful!

For short term - You might want to consider airbnb..
If you are considering a hotel, Instead of booking it directly, please consider making a bid on priceline. It can be very cost saving..

I agree with the previoius poster - you are better off renting only after you come over..
Typically, schools are considered to be important.. schooling is free.. suburbs with good schools would be what you might wish to consider..
Which city?

Have you considered short term serviced accommodation? typically this is a furnished apartment which can be more cost effective (and homely) than a hotel whilst you connect with a real estate agent and find your long term rental?

Remember shipping will take a month or so from collection to delivery, so if everything is timed right you could use the transport time to be sorting out your rental so that you minimise the time without your belongings and the time you and your husband will have to spend apart?

Are you moving as part of a relocation with one of your employers? If so do they provide any help with this sort of thing? they might be able to put you in touch with accommodation providers and/or local real estate agents to start understanding the process before you go.

Helps if you are on AirBnb and have a reputation.

Thanks all so much. Your help has all been very useful. We are moving to king of Prussia. My husband is contracting for a company there. Not sure if they are helping with costs, probably some. He usually stays in a long let hotel with kitchen so maybe we could stay there or a serviced apartment as mentioned. Airbnb is a good idea.

I'm thinking now with everything we'll perhaps come out together and then just wait for our this to arrive and find a rental. Yesterday a shipping company said around six weeks maybe eight for our stuff to get to us so I think worrying about a rental is probably not necessary.

This is a great site! Thanks all.

Yeah, six weeks door-to-door would be about the minimum for a container to get to the east coast, a few days more here and there, a storm in the north Atlantic, a wait to be loaded at the port, a delay by US Customs, and it is could easily reach eight weeks.

Ours were both less than three doors to door, for east coast IIRC.