Moving to US

[thainy77]

Hi all, I’m going to be moving to Houston over the summer and would appreciate some pointers on the below if anyone has any experience.

I’d like to get a mortgage straight away rather than rent, I appreciate I have no credit history but the company I am going to work for use a third party to assist with this, has anyone heard of this before?

The likelihood is that our kids will go in to public school rather than private, the oldest is 11, but the plan is to stay until they have all finished school so they won’t be switching between US and UK curriculum. Has anyone had any experience doing this? How did the kids find the switch? Does anyone have any experience of the schools in Houston in particular?

I’m sure I will have a few more questions as the move gets closer but they are the main two points currently.

[thainy77]

Matt Harper said:

Is the third party that assists with employee mortgages a bank?

Yes it is.

Matt Harper said:

When I moved here in 2001, my employer provided my mortgage - a not very attractive 15 year fix at 7%. It got me on the US property ladder, but I extracted myself from it at the earliest opportunity. It took me about 14 months to accumulate a credit profile that a conventional mortgage provider was comfortable with. My visa (L-1A) was also a factor for the lender.

I think i would look to do the same, i'm unsure of rates at the moment but my new company covers closing fee's etc. In what way was the visa a factor? do you mean with regards to how long you would be staying in the US?

Matt Harper said:

You may want to explore www.britishexpats.com - there are a lot of TX residents on the US forum of that site, who may be able to share personal experience.

Great, thanks for that, i will take a look.

h0b0 said:

Schools vary dramatically from post code to post code. I’m in NJ and experience here tells me schools are the most important factor when buying a house. I just moved 6 miles and doubled my house price for a house that is equal, just for the schools.

Although we have only recently begun looking at houses i think this is the route we will take, schooling will be our priority.

h0b0 said:

Also, check tax rates. Even after the move I dropped my property taxes by a third. NJ is particularly bad for this though. Houston may be better but worth checking.

I've had a look at these in various areas, there is quite a swing.

h0b0 said:

Check flood areas in Houston. After the last hurricane there were entire neighborhoods destroyed and one house on high land that survived. This hopefully will not be an issue but I was glad in Hoboken NJ that my car was parked on a high spot as every other car as submerged.

I've tried to look in to this but it's not too straightforward. There are a few houses for sale that are not in a flood area but that were damaged by reservoir banks breaking during Harvey. I'm not sure how they work the areas out but that doesn't seem right to me.

Thanks again guys.

[thainy77]

Matt Harper said:

When I first started canvassing lenders with a view to refinancing my employer-provide mortgage, some were unwilling to make an offer because I was on a 'temporary' visa. L-1A and B and H-1B visas are temporary and will eventually expire.

I was also subject to an interest rate penalty, due to my visa status - and was required to pay for insurance, given the loan-to-value ratio at that time. Then I had to factor lack of homestead exemption, due to my visa status too.

Needless to say, all this evaporated when I became a legal permanent resident (and subsequently a USC).

That's understandable, can you remember what sort of percentage the penalty was? I assume the time frame for becoming a resident varies for each individual?

[thainy77]

timmybob said:

I moved in 2009 and was able to get a mortgage without the assistance of my company (so didn't have the penalties Matt describes). Before I moved, I had opened an account with Wells Fargo through their international arm in London, and then when I moved I was able to obtain my mortgage through them. I did have a reasonably sized deposit (I can't remember exactly how much but around 20%) which may have helped.
I am not sure if such a path still exists but it might be worth exploring.

This is very interesting, i will take a look at this thanks, i also have around a 20% deposit for the house prices i am looking at.

[thainy77]

Matt Harper said:

It was a point and a half - the lender was Countrywide - one of the main instigators of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown in 2008.

Route to permanence is very dependent on personal circumstances - and visa status - and a whole bunch of other variables, in some cases.

I moved to the US in 2001, became an LPR in 2008 and a USC in 2016. My journey was somewhat convoluted.

A point and a half isn't too bad, if it is still that, with the current rates, i could suck that up until i have a good credit history.

Understood on the residency side, i thought that would be the case although 15 years to become a citizen seems fairly long.

[thainy77]

kilty2 said:

@thainy77

You are limited by your job posting to the area where you live, my first mortgage was at a 8.25% - bashed done to 4.625% over 3 years and now payed off . I have 2 expats living in my subdivision (estate) both of them were here renting on short term transfers and now both are LPR's.

My cousin's wife was high up in IT for BP and transferred here for 3 years back in 2003 (loved it - but moved back to the UK in 2006).


Lot's of people love it, some still 'hanker after the old life', make sure you don't financially screw yourself. Life in the "The States" might seem appealing but is not the 'be all end all''.

How long ago was that first mortgage at 8.25%? Was that with a penalty as you had no credit history etc.?

I have been an expat for a while, i currently live in Athens, so am used to the lifestyle. I have also spent a lot of time in Houston, approximately three months last year alone so it shouldn't be too much of a culture shock. And Houston kind of is the "be all and end all" in my industry .

[thainy77]

kilty2 said:

We bought in 2000 - interest rates were a lot higher then. Also we only had @12% deposit - so we were saddled with mortgage insurance until we has 20% equity.

That makes more sense, were you also able to get a mortgage as soon as you arrived?

[thainy77]

Zeek said:

I became an LPR 14 months after arriving on an L1A. You need a willing and able employer for the green card process, and it can be a good strategy to agree that as part of the move. It's not really always in their interest to do it, because it means you can leave them once you have it! Citizenship (if you want it) can be applied for 5 years after getting your green card.

Personally, regardless of cost, I wouldn't have taken on a mortgage while on an L1. Depending on the visa, if your employment ends for any reason, your visa is going to expire and you'll have a pretty short window to wind everything up and get out.

I think they are open to the idea of green cards but i’ll start the discussion, I actually have a meeting with HR tomorrow.

I guess there is a slight risk involved but I’m fairly comfortable the role is secure, there is no chance of the company going down the pan and I’m not completely incompetent at my job .

[thainy77]

Just thought i would update this thread now things have progressed a bit.

We got our visas yesterday, blanket L1 for me and L2 for the family so i plan on moving at the start of May with the family to follow in July when the girls finish school.

I have a pre-approval letter for my mortgage, i need my SSN to have it fully in place, i'll obviously do that when i arrive next month. The broker has said it takes approximately 30 days to close upon signing contracts, is this realistic? it seems a lot quicker than my experiences in the UK.

Looking forward to guns and pick-ups!

[thainy77]

Matt Harper said:

Not sure why Texas would be a more protracted process, but I closed on my house in 6 days.

st! That is quick!

[thainy77]

.Flyer said:

Welcome to the neighborhood; I'm just outside Houston.

We made the formal offer on our house on November 1 and completed December 14. It could have closed much quicker, but this suited all parties. Watch those closing costs!

Looking at your profile we are in the same industry, no surprises there being as it's Houston.

Good to know, we'd like to close fairly quickly so that we can have a house in the school catchment area we want prior to the new school year starting in August. The company covers the closing costs thankfully.

Edited by thainy77 on Saturday 13th April 13:11

[thainy77]

.Flyer said:

Yes, no surprises there!

Where are you looking to buy?

That’s a great benefit, the company covering the closing costs; I was shocked how much it was, and how many there were. Won’t be moving house for quite some time that’s for sure.

We are looking in Katy, primarily Cinco Ranch and Fulshear.

We've been told to expect around 3-5% so it's not an inconsiderable amount.

[thainy77]

I'm in! Now for the fun stuff, i'm going car shopping at the weekend, any pointers?

I'd like a muscle car of some description, the GT350 is current favourite but with the GT500 coming out at the end of the year and it being a manual I have some concerns. Other option is a Challenger Scat Pack Widebody but i don't like the interior of that at all. Is there anything similar that i may be overlooking? The car will be a daily.

[thainy77]

Matt Harper said:

I've got one of these - I'm curious to understand what it is about the interior that is so distasteful.

I would also encourage you to drive one, if you haven't already. The additional wheel/tire, brakes and adjustable shocks absolutely transform it compared to the regular Scat Pack (I've owned both).

It is also extremely well balanced considering its heft and the 392 Apache is a fantastic big-inch motor - very flexible, mountains of torque and massively tunable and responsive to upgrade/modification. With some light mods and DR tires, mine runs 11 second quarters without fuss.

There is also the added bonus of a huge trunk and usable rear seats compared to Mustang or Camaro.


Old - 2015 392 Scat Pack in TorRed


New - 2019 392 Scat Pack Plus Widebody in White Knuckle

I appreciate i am coming from European cars but the amount of plastic and the size of the front seats in the Challenger put me off, don't get me wrong, the Mustang isn't much better. Even the font on the dials and displays are a bit gimmicky. Having said that i like the exterior of the Challenger more than the Mustang.

I have had a poke around both and have seen the difference in space, to be honest the rear seats would probably not be used and the trunk space isn't really a problem. I've also wasted a few hours on the Dodge website creating my own Challengers, i'll try and get a few test drives in this weekend.

That's a very nice looking Widebody!