Springy6

We're moving to Maryland in August and, having had a recce at Easter, found a fabulous high school for my son which will give him some of the course options that he would have chosen in the UK.

Problem is everyone else also thinks it's a fabulous high school and rentals are non-existent - I think there's been 2 in the last month.

We are now considering other housing options - one of which is to buy somewhere straight away rather than going down the rental route. We are letting our house in the UK so this would be a second home, although the one we actually live in.

Has anyone of you good folks gone down this route? It would mean using most of our savings to put down as a deposit, especially if it needs to be 20%. Does the deposit need to be this big?

Can anyone point us in the direction of someone who can help us secure a mortgage and is used to dealing with cases like this? Are there brokers who would use our UK credit score?

If we go down this route, our plan would be to let it out at such time as we sell our UK home to buy our 'proper' house in the US - we don't think we'd have a problem letting it out as there's such a shortage of rentals!

Pulaski

20% is a "standard" US deposit, so anything less will be an additional challenge to overcome.

Any mortgage provider might be willing to look at your UK credit report, but you'll need to bring a hardcopy with you.

Personally I would avoid a broker unless you have already drawn a blank at a bank. Brokers have a reputation for putting people into higher cost mortgages than they could otherwise obtain. I have heard good things about new immigrants getting mortgages thtough Wells Fargo despite short/ no credit history. Wells Fargo is currently responsible for about one third of all new mortgages in the US.

It might not have been your original plan or preference, but are there any apartments in the area you could rent?

Springy6

Thanks Pulaski.

We've explored all housing options. We have the added complication of a springer spaniel, so an apartment, if there were any, would throw up additional challenges.

The realtor suggested Wells Fargo as a possible avenue - will have a look.

excpomea

You have discovered the big American secret.
Good schools in good districts attract people who can afford (Or think they can) high housing costs.
Hence the shortage.
Take a look at a district with a 'F' grade high school and I bet you can get a rental really cheaply.
Another option is to rent in a poorer area of town and send your son to a private High School.

As for buying, I cannot see how this is possible without putting down all your savings and more.

They will not care about your UK credit history. We tried but failed to use that.
We were sort of lucky in that our son was only 3 when we arrived so we rented out of the area we wanted to buy in for a year to build up credit.
Then purchased at an extortionate 9% mortgage rate.
This was the best we could manage with 10% down.
We refinanced at 6 months later with a more reasonable rate.

petitefrancaise

Most rental houses in good school districts will come on the market at the end of the school year. For us in Tx that is next week. This for the obvious reason that people who care enough about their kids' education are unlikely to want to move during the school year.

I would sign up NOW with zillow, trulia and a realtor prepared to help with rental houses.

Be prepared to pay the first month's rent + at least one month's rent as deposit as soon as you find a house to rent.

We moved with a dog - we had to pay a pet deposit which we got back when we left.

If you're searching for temp accomodation (1 or 2 days) when you arrive, then LaQuinta will allow dogs in rooms.

NatashaB

We managed to secure an FHA mortgage on arrival with BoA, with a 3.5% deposit. They used a company called Landsafe to build a credit profile based on our UK accounts - they basically conferenced us in, called the lender, we went through the account security process to prove it was really us and Landsafe asked if our accounts were up to date and whether any payments were missed. That was 4 years ago though. I imagine things have tightened up.

If 20% is an issue for you you could also ask for sellers concessions - that the seller bring money to the closing to contribute to costs. It would depend on the market where you are as to whether they go for that. In Michigan 4 years ago the seller was happy to oblige so he could offload his house.

Have you tried gumtree and craigslist for rentals? We also looked at short term 'serviced executive apartments' when we were trying to find a place to live. Expensive for what you got, but they at least would get you into the school district you need.

MarylandNed

Just curious as to where in Maryland and which high school. I live in Montgomery County, Maryland which is where most of the state's best high schools are located.

Pulaski

After the initial panic in the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, and the resulting increase in restrictions and regulations over mortgages, in practice things should, if anything, have relaxed slightly in recent years.

MarylandNed

Yes, and this is a huge issue affecting the quality of US education. I think schools should be funded by the state and/or federal government rather than by property taxes. There shouldn't be such widespread differences in the quality of schools. No schools are ever equal but there's a huge difference between the best and the worst in the US. The US bell curve is flatter and wider than the UK one.

Another option is to have your child apply for a special ("magnet") program at a public high school other than the 'home' high school. This is what my kids did (we live in Montgomery County, Maryland). This way they avoided the weaker home high school to attend a better high school further away (actually one that was recently ranked #1 in the state of Maryland and is consistently ranked in the top 5). The downside is that it's further away which complicates things a bit when the kids want to participate in after school activities or hang out with their friends. They leave home earlier in the morning and arrive home later in the afternoon. It also makes it less convenient for us to get to school events. However, swings and roundabouts.

Springy6

We're looking at Century High School in Carroll County - Blue Ribbon school for a couple of years. We were really impressed when we looked round in April. Husband's office will be in Hunt Valley but we weren't impressed with any of the school's there or in Harford. He's happy to have a slightly longer commute for the days he's in the office so that our son can have a better mix of courses in a good school.

excpomea

Are you sure your not American?
Your already contemplating living the American rat race.
Moving to an area just because of Jnrs school zone.
Irrespective of commute, location or housing availability..

You will fit right in.

Take another look closer to the town your husband will be working in. There are sites that grade / rank schools. But that's not the be all and end all. A family life in a safe community with a reasonable school still works well for most.
I swear these 'Blue ribbons' are created by realtors to push up house prices and gain more commission.

Pulaski

Your posts are unnecessarily cynical and jaded, and therefore do not appear especially helpful.

Phyzz

We did pretty much the same, but arranged through the company handling my relocation package. FHA mortgage with around 10% deposit. We had the same screening process for our credit records. with the added complexity of Danish accounts and trying to convince the woman conferenced in that she may need to speak a little slower to aid the process.

This was last year.

Springy6

Thanks Pulaski, you took the words straight out of my mouth!

Making sure our son is in a hig school that he's happy with and will continue to make progress in is our number 1 priority - as I suspect it is for the majority of people moving children across the Atlantic. Not that I need to justify our choice of high school to you, excpomea.

Thank you to everyone else who, as always, has given great advice.

Springy6

Thanks Phyzz, we have a company appointed relocation company so will go back to them and see what they can come up with.