Moxie

I'm a little late to this discussion but I know Houston. I would choose Pearland area as the easiest commute to TMC (Texas Medical Center). It's a straight shot up Hwy 288. You avoid I-10 and Loop 610 traffic. The closer you locate to the main arteries, the better so look at neighborhoods closer to Hwy 288.

The neighborhoods around TMC like West University Place are very expensive because of their location.

Parisangel

Am I crazy or is it much cheaper to buy than rent??? The house prices seem very cheap, the rents are much higher...

Weeze

Yes, buying is much cheaper. As you'll have no credit history though, you wouldn't have a wide option of mortgages. Credit is the big struggle when you first arrive. You might not get cell phone contracts, have to pay non-refundable deposits for utilities, be unable to get a full credit card etc.

Parisangel

You're up late! ( or early??) What's the housing market like there, would you buy?

rebs

Don't forget to factor in property tax into the calculation - that can add a bit. The owner of a property is responsible for paying property tax and that's usually factored into the rents charged.

Also, think very carefully about committing to a house purchase before you have permanent residency in the US. If your husband is on an H1b visa and were to lose his job, you might be glad of the flexibility of being in a rented property.

Parisangel

Well, yes naturally those are things we would consider but there's also the matter of quality of life while we're there. I would like to think no one buys a house without thinking carefully about it first! Just throwing ideas around at this point, we haven't decided if we will go yet.

Mr Weeze

7 week old mini-Weeze means we're up at strange times. My company relocation means me can't choose to buy. However, the mortgage would be the biggest issue. Well, more accurately your lack of credit history is the issue, and it just affects lots of things. I'm sure you can get one, and I know who would be a good place to start if you are interested in pursuing this. Ignoring that we can't, I would have wanted to rent for a while before choosing to buy to get to know more about areas, typical housing/maintenance problems, etc. etc. etc.

Weeze

I wouldn't buy while we were here on L1/L2 visas, no. If we decide to go down the green card route then I would. I'd be too worried about having to leave the country in a hurray.
The arse seems to have pretty much dropped out of the market. There are 7 houses for sale in our small area which haven't shifted in a long period. That's means it would be good to buy, but if we have to sell in a hurray, we'd be screwed.
It's taken me almost 2 years to understand which bits of Katy i'd like to live in, give the best access to facilities, understand what goes wrong with US houses etc. Maintaining a pool, worrying about aircon, nasty beasties, it's all new!

Saying that about the market for buying/selling, renting is totally different. When we moved we had very little choice of properties, faced huge competition and were pretty much screwed. 2 fell through and it took months to find somewhere. Don't be mislead by the number now to rent on HAR. It's the end of school so that's when rentals come on the market. There aren't always this many.

ChocolateBabz

We moved on L1/L2 Visas, and rented for 6 months while we had our house built. Different strokes for different folks, we have never been ones to rent or lease stuff - always considered it wasted money. We also sold our UK house before we moved so had a large deposit to put down on the mortgage. We still had a lot of hoops to jump through to get the mortgage but it was really just a matter of them wanting more and more paperwork to show we were a good risk.

Property tax is a big chunk of cash. Our home is valued at $380,000 and we pay $11,500 per annnum in property and MUD tax combined, $2,700 for Buildings, Contents and Hurricane Insurance and $1,130 for Home Owners Association Fees each year. People will say it's cheaper to rent as you don't have these expenses but of course you do - that's why rent is expensive - these things are included in your rent.

That's the trade off in Texas - no state income tax but large property taxes!

Jerseygirl

I hated living in rented accommodation but I am really glad we did as it gave us time to get to know the area and wait for the perfect house.

Some of our members have bought property and lost their jobs or have had problems renewing their visas and have had to leave the US within a couple of weeks...leaving their house unsold. In one case the USCIS made a cock up renewing their visas...they ran out of time and had to return to the UK. Even though the USCIS was at fault they would not expedite their visas so they could remain in the US.

You certainly get a lot of house for your $ in Texas. There was a price comparison on TV last week...a house in Texas was around $300K+...a similar house around here was $2.5 million. We also pay a lot more than the figure you quoted for property taxes and I can't believe how cheap air con is to run down there.

ChocolateBabz

Our electric isn't too bad but it's a new house and 'supposedly' energy efficient. I say supposedly because I think our home could be a lot better, better windows, doors etc. I have seen people posting on city-data.com with smaller homes but running up electric bills of $500 or more a month in the summer!!

Jerseygirl

Our house is 14 yrs old...double glazed and the windows and doors fit well. Although I like the open plan houses...the heat goes straight upstairs...bad in winter...bad in summer.

Bob

You won't be doing that work while you are physically in the US, not legally at least.

Furniture, if the company is paying to bring it and possibly to repatriate it if you move back you've nothing to lose. Furniture here is quite keep, but good quality furniture isn't. Bedding sizes are different here too.

Rent is always negotiable, but depending on the local market might not get you anything. Factor in that you might have to put up front the first/last months rent and anything from 1-3 months worth of rent as a deposit. Also if you use a realtor, anything from half a month to 3 months worth of rent as a fee. As you don't have any credit history, if you go for a corporate managed place, you might have to put more down. Then again, if the market isn't has busy you might not.

Bob

Selling a place will cost you 6% to the realtor plus any other costs, so not very cheap unless you plan to keep the house for 4-5 years plus. So without greencards, might not be sensible. Also you don't know the area that well, nor how the lifestyle there you'll want to have - pool, decks, screened in decks, cost of heating/cooling etc.

Rent for the first year is your best bet.

Bink

There's a lot of hidden costs in owning a house here. In Houston, you do get a lot of house for your money but the property taxes are quite high, you use a lot more electricity and water than you would in the UK, you need to run two cars and you'll do a lot more driving so don't let the cost of gas fool you. It's cheaper, but you'll spend the same or more as you did in the UK due to driving more. Insurance is more expensive, especially as you'll have no history in the US.

I'm not trying to put a downer on it, and I actually love living here but cheap it is not.

I thought Texas (well Houston to be specific) had one of the highest property tax rates around. We're similar to ChocolateBabz in terms of percentage at around 3% give or take.
You do have to pick your area in Houston though. We're in a $300k house, in the 'burbs. Inside the loop it would be $1 mil+. It's definitely still cheaper than other places though.