IrishMammy38

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are moving to either NJ or NY in May time (my husband will be based in White Plains, NY).

I am trying to get an understanding of how everything will work once we get over there and so I have a few questions I can't seem to find the answer to. I am hoping you can help me.

1/ Can you move over and into your rental straight away or did you have to go into a temp rental first? A lot of advertised rentals state an interview is required so this would be very difficult I imagine to fulfil this requirement from over seas. Is it a good idea to give a deposit to secure your desired rental before you move over or is this a big no no?

2/ How much do you have to pay as a deposit for the rental? Is it usually more because of the lack of credit history and coming from over seas?

3/ How does utilities, broadband and TV work? Can you get this set up for when you move in or do you have to move in first before setting it up in your name? Do you require a deposit for any of these services?

4/ I have 3 children (2, 4 & 7 yrs old). Do you contact the school before or after you arrive in the US? I have organised getting them their Hep B injections from next week as I know it's spread over 3 months but do they require the chickenpox injection? All 3 of my children have had chickenpox.

5/ Is there anything you think you need to advise me on that I haven't asked that you think is relevant?

Thank you so much in advance.

penguinsix

1) You *could* move in straight away but most expats would recommend, if you haven't spent time in the new location before, to take a temp rental for a month or two to get the "lay of the land" when you are there in person. There are many things you won't see when looking at rentals online such that getting over first in a temp location and then spreading out to find permanent digs is advisable.

2) Usually it's a month's rent, but you pay the first month along with the deposit so budget for two months rent (at least).

3) Utilities and media (tv/net) are usually provided by a local monopoly, or monopolies such that you have one or two choices when you land. If your town is say a 'Comcast' area you'll have Comcast for TV, or you can get a satellite and go with Dish. Your internet will come from the cable TV pipe or from the phone line, again depending on where you live. Folks in Silicon Valley have a few more options than say suburban NY. Electric/gas/water/trash will all be (most likely) one provider for your area.

4) Basically where you go to school depends on where you live, down to which side of the street. Until you have that contacting the schools is not really that helpful. Not your 2&4 year old are too young for school in the US where they generally start at 5 going on 6. This is our WIKI on education that might help

Education: What do I need to enroll the kids in school? : British Expat Wiki

As for chicken pox, get a doctors note that they have had it and you should be ok. Personally I recommend getting a copy of your children's medical file if possible and having that with you.

As for other things, check out our WIKI. It will answer some basics like drivers license and banking, etc.

Category:USA : British Expat Wiki

rpjs

In Westchester (the county White Plains is in) Con Edison is the electricity and (where available) gas provider for most of the county. New York does have an open market a la the UK whereby you can chose a different utility company to provide you through ConEd's cables/pipes but it's nowhere near as developed as in the UK and most people remain with ConEd. If your heating is oil-fired you simply buy oil from wherever you can find a good deal.

Water and trash pickup is mostly municipal. Water is usually separately billed and metered, trash is paid for by property taxes which you pay indirectly through your rent. A lot of rental apartments don't have separately billed heating and/or hot water - you pay for those through rent, and often the same is true with metered water. A lot of times the only utility bills the renter pays directly are electricity and stove/oven gas.

As others have said, the normal deposit around here is one month payable with first month's rent up front. Usually you'd be credit checked but that won't be possible for you so get your husband's HR to write him a letter on headed notepaper confirming employment and salary.

Pulaski

"Oil ..... a good deal".

Guindalf

I concur that it's a good idea to scope out the area before committing to a long-term lease. That beautiful looking three-bed ranch house could have been photoshopped to remove the factory right behind it or may be on the flight path of the airport or, even worse, be in the middle of gang turf or next to a drug dealer, so it makes sense to be free to move elsewhere if this occurs!

As for media, you will have a minimum of two options for T and internet and most likely at least three. Wherever you are, as long as you have clear line of sight to the south, you can choose betwqeen two satellite companies - Dish Network and DirecTV. I have the latter and for the most part, get very good service from them. Depending on where you are, you will also almost certainly have a cable option or options. The more densely populated the area, the more choices you'll have (P6, for your information, a monopoly can only be one - mono = one. Any more and it's a duopoly or multiopoly!).

tht

When I moved in 2010 to NYC I had the same issue of no credit history. I visited frequently for business meetings so I was able to view places in advance.

The first place I found wanted 1 year of rent up front, which I declined, the second wanted a guarantor and would not accept my employer, I ended up taking the place on a 3 month lease, and had to pay first, last and 1 month as a deposit, so basically 3 months upfront. This was a landlord that owned lots of apt's so you may not get this option with houses.

I found this company but nether landlord was willing to take it: Rental Guarantor & Lease Cosign Company in Boston, Chicago, DC & NYC - Insurent Lease Guaranty - might be worth a look.

My advice would be either to come before you move to look for a place in person or get a temporary place with all bills etc included for a month or 2. Make sure your husband gets a SSN ASAP when he arrives as utilities/ cell phone etc will often ask for that when you sign up.

It really important to plan getting your credit history going here is you plan to stay longer and buy a house etc, i did this from day one and was able to get a mortgage within 3 years (I also got my green card).

HSBC was able to open an account and give me a credit card day 1 base on my UK accounts with them, and within a few months I was able to get an Amex and cell phone contract. It worth reading up on the 3 different agencies and what they look for to get your score as high as possible in the shortest time.

WEBlue

When we arrived in 2011, we stayed with family initially and immediately looked for short-term rentals. Every place we saw wanted at least 3 months upfront as detailed above (or more than 3), plus insisted on at least a six-month commitment because that was autumn and no landlord wanted to let us end a lease in the dead of winter in the northeast USA.

I would second previous advice to wait till you're here on the ground before signing up for any rental longer than a few weeks in a holiday let type of place, especially for a family with kids.

Does your husband's company offer any help/advice service?

Bob

Definitely want to stay somewhere temporarily before getting a lease.

Things to consider when renting, in a snowy area at least:

Is the parking zoned/permit with winter hours?
Who is responsible for snow removal, including pavements?
Rubbish collection included? Or is it private collections, town dump with a annual sticker or pay as you go bags or a combination? Also if you're on a slope, how far do you need to drag the bins if you have pick up?
What's the heat source? Gas is cheap, oil is horrendous and electric isn't great.

Rentals might be hard to find this time of year. Landlords don't like having places empty during winter and they can't evict people during the colder months, so they tend to have leases that will cover them through winter. This reduces the quality available.

I've no idea what the local market is like though, but a months rent as deposit is standard, but as you ahve no credit history, you might be asked for more, so might be worth budgeting the first, last and up to 3 months worth of rent as a deposit due on signing and if the market is a landlords market, the realtor fee, but if it's not a landlords market, then they would be responsible for that fee, which is usually a months rent too.

Lack of credit history also means you should budget $50-600 per utility as a deposit. Might not need to pay it, but many folks are required without any history. Most utilities can be set up in advance to be switched on the day you move in. Cable might take longer if they need to do a install, if not it could be quick.

penguinsix

I should note when talking about a short term rental the easiest bet is a "corporate apartment"--pre-furnished, utilities, etc rather than trying to find a private landlord who will do a 3 month lease as those are rarer.

Pulaski

"Long stay" hotels are more common, though the nicer ones are not cheaper, ..... and the cheaper ones are not nice!

IrishMammy38

Again, thank you for the pointer to the wiki it has been invaluable as has this forum.

IrishMammy38

Thank you for the advise, I would not have thought to get a letter from my husband's company to confirm employment.

IrishMammy38

Thank you all for the advise. I had thought about a temporary apartment to stay once we got over to the US but was worried about the effect it would have on my eldest and her schooling. Surely being in a temporary location/accommodation I would not be able to enrol my daughter in a school? Plus, I don't think I would like to enrol her in a school to then move her when we find a more permanent address. Has anyone found a solution to this problem?

IrishMammy38

Due to the move being a personal choice rather than a relocation through the job we are, very luckily, getting our visas paid for but that's all.

kodokan

We spent 6 weeks in 3/4 bedroom furnished holiday villas, with games consoles and books for the kids, and a pool in the backyard - much nicer than the bland 2-bed corporate suites on offer, and actually cheaper (we got a per diem to make our own arrangements). We used Homeaway; we actually used 3 different rentals, as we wanted to move around the city and try out different areas.

During this time, we found our long term, normal rental, visited schools, etc. don't forget you won't have furniture for those 6 weeks, so wouldn't want a regular rental anyway.

Our school was fine about a verbal history of chicken pox; I might have need to do a waiver, but certainly didn't need to get the jabs done.