nooka

I was wondering if anyone knew of any short term rental companies? We are coming over just after Easter and want to rent for about month whilst we find somewhere long term to live. My husband's company will be paying (but not a huge amount ). We found somewhere ideal in Milburn NJ, but they didn't book it fast enough, so we lost it :curse:

We don't want the standard corporate type flat in a huge apartment block because we're coming with children and want somewhere more home like, in an area where we might consider living (ie with other families).

The only company we've found that do the sort of thing we like is Extendedhomes.com, but the only homes they have now are in areas which aren't ideal (too long a communte or too far from a train station). Before we compromise it would be great to know if we are missing something!

We want to live long term in a relatively mixed area with decent access to the Financial district (45mins commute is fine) and good schools that we can afford (something in the $3-4k or so rental / $3-400k purchase). Presently thinking about Maplewood and Queens. The only rentals I can find are in Summit or Mountainside.

Any ideas would be very welcome!

denzil75

Hi, congrats on your move to the States. I'm in NJ about 5 miles from Summit, which is only about 5/10 mins more on the train from Millburn. I also think Summit has more trains going direct into NYC than Millburn. Take a look on the NJ Transit website at the Morris/Essex County line, this will give you some idea of the train times etc.

http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/r0040.pdf

Summit also has a nice little town centre to it and if you could get something within walking distance to the train station then that would be an added bonus. Not sure on any rental companies but think your budget of $3-4k is fine however if you are thinking of purchasing you may need to go slightly higher on your budget, being on the commuter line into NYC really does hike the house prices up. Having said that the market is really slow at the moment so you might get something cheaper but I doubt for $3-400k depending on what you are looking for. Give me a shout if you need anymore help.

elfman

try http://newjersey.craigslist.org/apa/ - you stand a good chance of finding a six month rental place there - even if they stipulate a 12 month period, private landlords will be more likely to settle for a six month rental than going through some kind of agency.

nooka

Trouble is we don't want a six month tenancy. We want somewhere temporary whilst we figure out where to live. Ideally for as short a time as possible! As me and the children have never even visited New York and my husband has only once (several years ago) been there on holiday we don't want to make a decision blind - especially on schools. And we definately don't want to move once the children are at school even if we've made the wrong choice of location - the move is going to be hard enough for them

Thanks for saying Summit is doable - it looked very expensive in the New Jersey magizine survey thing, so I was worried that it might be full of very rich people who we'd have nothing in common with (although that might not matter too much in the US I guess, we've just had a few issues here on the fitting in front).

nooka

Ah - I see I missed out the "one" in my first post

This is the most possible place we've found so far: http://extendedstayhomes.com/28-2.htm

It seemed a long walk to the train station though, which is what worried me. We will be renting (or buying) a car, but will only have the one to start with and I really don't want to be stuck at home (I'm not looking forwards to being a stay at home mum!)

denzil75

Yeah, it looks to be about a mile walk to the train station which would keep your husband fit, but if it is only going to be for a month or so then it might not be too bad. You could maybe drop him off and pick him up if it's too far for him to walk. I take it the one in Millburn is the one that has already been taken? Just one thing to consider is that all the schools use catchment areas, so I would try and rent in the town that you are likely to stay in otherwise it could mean another school move for the kids. One website that might be helpful in looking at schools is www.greatschools.net, I think most of the schools in Madison, Chatham, Summit, Short Hills, Millburn, Maplewood are pretty good hence the high house prices! The only area I know of round here that I have heard can be a bit snobby is Chatham and believe me the house prices probably reflect this, that being said I've not found it too bad there. Hope this helps

denzil75

Oh and another thing there is a fairly large number of expats in this area so you'd be able to sound off to other mom's that have had to become stay at home one's because of the move over here. I was a SAHM before we moved out but can still give sympathy

hobbes79

We moved to Boston in a similar set of circumstances. We got an month-to-month tenancy agreement with a 60-day notice in the contract for when we want to move out.

From talking to real-estate agents, most reckoned on about 6-weeks from agreeing to purchasing terms on a house and moving in - how accurate that is I don't know, but that's the info we worked with. So having 2-months notice works reasonably, since the 2-week overlap will give a chance to move things and also allow for any last min hiccups.

Haven't gotten a house yet, so can't tell you if it will work or not! But here's hoping.

My wife met with a local agent who dealt with rentals - I would recommend this. My wife actually flew over on her own up front to take care of it all, since it's just so much easier in person. The agent said many are ok with month-to-month right now since many rentals are for houses that people actually want to sell, but are struggling to find a buyer and/or get the right price in the current market. The short term rentals work well for the home owner then, since it gives them flexibility on selling it.

What it sounds as though you're really after is a private rental on rather specific terms - very similar to us. It's irritating, but you may well need to go over in person if you really want to sort out what you want.

Good luck!

John

LadyBelle

Hi Nooka. Are you referring to Queens in NY --- one of the boroughs? If so, I'd strongly recommend you not choose that, particularly if you were considering neighborhoods more like Maplewood, Millburn, etc..

Also, as someone mentioned, if your aim (or one of them) is not to move the children from one school to another, do keep in mind that even within a town/city, different houses could be in different school 'zones' --- meaning that even if you move from your temp location to a different street in the same town, it could put you in a different public school. This is assuming you are considering public school; private school is a different ballgame.

By the way, by 'Financial District', do you mean near Wall Street?

nooka

Hi Ladybelle,
Thanks for your post - why no to Queens (and yes the NY borough is what I had in mind)? We have had quite a few friends and family recommend it as an area to live (especially around Little or Great Neck). I'm not intending to put the children into school until we have found where we want to live, hoping to get them in after Spring Break. We will go for a public school, but I'll home school them for the first while (it's just an excuse to visit all the museums with them really!)

I'd just ideally like to choose a first place that is a possibility for the long term, and be tied into it for as short a time as possible.

Jerseygirl

Have you tried obtaining a quote from one of the long term residence hotels ie. Marriott Residence Inns?

nooka

Other quesions, yes he's going to work in Wall Street and no unfortunately we can't come over in advance to check things out - his work took ages deciding if he could go and then wanted everything done in a huge hurry so we have run out of time for that, hence we are going to do all the scouting when we have arrived.

Part of our indecision about areas is that I have never even visited NY (my husband has only come over on holiday once a few years ago). When we originally decided to live overseas we were looking at Canada - BC/Alberta, did a scout, decided that we loved it, and then the option of tranferring came up. Until December it looked like we were going to Toronto, so we haven't had much chance to plan around NY to be honest.

At present our calculations are based on commutable distance and cost. We live/work in London, so no stranger to city life, but thought we might explore the American suburban dream (hence looking at NJ). But we also know we might try it and hate it, so also looking at areas like Queens.

Oh and I'm afraid that having looked at the hotel type optons I think that they are only for single people who don't intend to do more than sleep there. I guess we want a temporary home - a bit of try before you buy

Jerseygirl

FWIW I wouldn't begin to consider moving anywhere I hadn't visited first.

As far as long stay hotels are concerned...the Marriott has 1 and 2 bedroomed suites with living room and kitchen area. A very good short term option IMHO if you're talking in terms of a couple of months.

LadyBelle

Ok, I see. I don't know much about Little Neck (only that it's one of the places on the parkway just near the bridges to/from NYC/Westchester). Great Neck is not in Queens, it's on Long Island. Long Island has a lot of nice places --- particularly in the summer with the beaches, etc.. Some people love Long Island, and some don't. I don't. BUT, if you have family there, you might.

If you're considering Queens, what about Brooklyn? Some wonderfully lovely parts there, and a good commute to Wall Street since the right Subway trains are there.

May I ask, where do you live in London -- and/or what neighborhoods would you most like to live in in London? I might be able to suggest a neighborhood to you in NY/NJ that might compare well with it and yet still give you a new good adventrue.

By the way, have you seen Coming to America, the film with Eddie Murphy in it? It's really quite silly, but may be worth watching! Eddie Murhpy is a prince in Africa (I believe) and decides he'd like to escape his parents for a while and find real life; he chooses Queens because he thinks, because of its name, he may fit in well. Yes, quite funny. They show a lot of Queens, a lot of stereotypes of it too...some exact, some exaggerated, but you might like to see it. LOL.

Ridski

Having moved to the Maplewood/Millburn/Summit area from Queens, I can recommend both, depending on what kind of lifestyle you want. I came out to Joisey to have a garden, and that's about that. Before, I lived in Sunnyside in Queens, which is an old Irish neighbourhood, close to Manhattan with little trouble. There are some areas in Queens to avoid, especially Jamaica and Flushing, where there always seems to be something bad going on.

As others have said, there are dozens of ex-pats in the Maplewood/ Millburn/Summit area. The walk from my house to the train station is just short of a mile and takes about 10-15 minutes. I really enjoy it, and your husband should too, if you were get that house in Summit. We have one car, and sometimes my wife will drop me off at the station, and sometimes the other way round. Parking after 6am is almost impossible. Summit's a cute town, as is Millburn and Maplewood. We also have friends in Chatham, not far away and Montclair, which are also really nice places with really good school districts. Good luck in your hunt!