Renting an apartment ASAP?

[gokhan8282]

What are you guys planning to do? Are you planning to rent an apartment ASAP after you applied for the Green card?
Or are you guys going to live in a hotel for 2-3 weeks.

Which cities are you planning to live in?

There are two probabilities for me? First stay in the hotels till i find a job .

Or look for a job in a specific state and rent an apartment there.

The cheapest apartments are 1000$ per month.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Extended stay hotels (where you can get weekly or monthly rates) are probably a good option to start with unless you have had time to properly look for apartments. For long term renters they are cheaper than normal hotels, and you don't have the same issues as far as I know as you do with apartment leases etc.

 

[Mijoro]

I plan on staying in a hotel for 2 weeks while I set up my apartment. I will be looking at long term leases and even now have started checking Trulia and Hotpads for apartments/condos to get an idea of the kind of rent I can expect to pay.

Do as much home work as you can to work out where you want to stay and then find out which suburbs are low crime etc.
You need to figure out transport, will you use public transport or drive. If you are going to talk public transport then check out the walk score/ transit score on the apartments you are renting.

 

[Britsimon]

Extended stay hotels (where you can get weekly or monthly rates) are probably a good option to start with unless you have had time to properly look for apartments. For long term renters they are cheaper than normal hotels, and you don't have the same issues as far as I know as you do with apartment leases etc.

I've used extended stay rentals when I have been contracting. In most states the costs are reduced because the longer stay removes the "tourist" taxes that you pay on hotel rooms. Generally speaking though the costs of extended stay options are much higher than apartments, but they do not require contracts, deposits or references.

 

[c1984]

I've head anecdotes that rental properties can potentially be even cheaper than long term leases in touristy areas during the off season period.

 

[Mijoro]

Honestly I would look at getting out of a hotel as quickly as possible. Do your homework before you arrive. You should have a good idea of where you want to live given the field of work you need to be employed in, from there go to sites like city data and ask or search for decent neighborhoods from locals. Check out sites like hotpads and trulia so you can get an idea of how much rent will be in those places, that way if you go into a real estate agent to sign a lease you will have an idea of the amount your rent should be for the area you have chosen.

 

[SusieQQQ]

I've used extended stay rentals when I have been contracting. In most states the costs are reduced because the longer stay removes the "tourist" taxes that you pay on hotel rooms. Generally speaking though the costs of extended stay options are much higher than apartments, but they do not require contracts, deposits or references.

I've head anecdotes that rental properties can potentially be even cheaper than long term leases in touristy areas during the off season period.

Honestly I would look at getting out of a hotel as quickly as possible. Do your homework before you arrive. You should have a good idea of where you want to live given the field of work you need to be employed in, from there go to sites like city data and ask or search for decent neighborhoods from locals. Check out sites like hotpads and trulia so you can get an idea of how much rent will be in those places, that way if you go into a real estate agent to sign a lease you will have an idea of the amount your rent should be for the area you have chosen.

Agree entirely an apartment is preferable but if you don't know the city, or are unsure where you will end up working etc, you run the risk of tying yourself down for months in a place that doesn't turn out to be convenient.

 

[Britsimon]

I've head anecdotes that rental properties can potentially be even cheaper than long term leases in touristy areas during the off season period.

Hmm that is possibly true. Take Florida for instance. I have some properties near Sarasota where the season is the winter period. There are plenty of people who will pay high rents during the period from December to about March/April. Landlords who keep those houses make almost a yearly income from the main season - so yes they may consider a short term contract for the off season at a reduced cost...

 

[c1984]

Hmm that is possibly true. Take Florida for instance. I have some properties near Sarasota where the season is the winter period. There are plenty of people who will pay high rents during the period from December to about March/April. Landlords who keep those houses make almost a yearly income from the main season - so yes they may consider a short term contract for the off season at a reduced cost...

I'm glad despite my poor wording people are getting the idea that I was trying to convey. Let me try again for the sake of others.

I've head anecdotes that during the off season period in touristy areas short term lease can potentially be even cheaper than long term lease.

 

[Vichel]

I agree with SusieQQQ's recommendation of extended-stays as they'll have everything you need - furniture, pots, dishes, cutlery, sheets, towels, etc. We've used them. You'll save money by cooking at home versus staying in a hotel for weeks, eating out all the time. It's nice having a bit of space too. Being holed up in a hotel room every night for more than a few days can get a bit claustrophobic. Or at the very least, find a motel/hotel with a kitchenette.

 

[gokhan8282]

I am thinking to stay in a hotel which is 100-150 miles to New York which is cheap. So i will be able to drive to NY in case of a job opportunity. After finding a job then i can look for an apartment to rent. By the way how much are the hotels? The cheapest ones are 1000 per month. Any cheaper suggestion?

 

[Britsimon]

I am thinking to stay in a hotel which is 100-150 miles to New York which is cheap. So i will be able to drive to NY in case of a job opportunity. After finding a job then i can look for an apartment to rent. By the way how much are the hotels? The cheapest ones are 1000 per month. Any cheaper suggestion?

There is a good site called Craigslist - you can find a room in a shared house/flat around NYC for less than $1000 per month - take a look at some of these.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/roo/

The downside is that they normally ask for references, BUT since you are often dealing with an individual these things can be negotiated.

 

[NAV2014]

There is a good site called Craigslist - you can find a room in a shared house/flat around NYC for less than $1000 per month - take a look at some of these.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/roo/

The downside is that they normally ask for references, BUT since you are often dealing with an individual these things can be negotiated.

Hi Britsimon

can we get house for rent without GC & SSN ? (As initially we do not have that-once we enter to US first time)

 

[usamommy2015]

The last time I was in USA, I booked through Airbnb.com. I had a BAD run in with one of the rentals (Story for another day) and Airbnb refunded me all my money. You basically live with people who have a spare room. AND you can negotiate. How awesome is that?

 

[SusieQQQ]

If you want to/can live in someone's spare room, yes... We have a family of 4, could be a bit of a squash

We booked a 30-day stay at an extended stay hotel. We got really good rates for booking for 30 days plus (not all of them do, so shopping around helps), and it's easy to shorten or lengthen one's stay as necessary (we keep the same rate as long as we stay at least a week... Even though you can't get that rate for booking for a week,, go figure!) plus we get a room that is a basically a 2-bedroom apartment (2 bedrooms 2 baths full kitchen but still free breakfast! Plus free wifi, gym, pool etc) which means we won't be going crazy all in one room. And if our search for a permanent home goes faster or slower than we think, we can easily adjust the length of stay. Of course it's more expensive than a normal apartment rental per month even with the 30- day rate but it's hopefully just for a month, it's highly convenient, its serviced, they do things like a free grocery shopping service for people staying 30+ days, etc and all in all an easy way to spend our first month. So for those who are not so cash strapped, especially if you need a bit more space, this is a decent option I think.

 

[Britsimon]

If you want to/can live in someone's spare room, yes... We have a family of 4, could be a bit of a squash

We booked a 30-day stay at an extended stay hotel. We got really good rates for booking for 30 days plus (not all of them do, so shopping around helps), and it's easy to shorten or lengthen one's stay as necessary (we keep the same rate as long as we stay at least a week... Even though you can't get that rate for booking for a week,, go figure!) plus we get a room that is a basically a 2-bedroom apartment (2 bedrooms 2 baths full kitchen but still free breakfast! Plus free wifi, gym, pool etc) which means we won't be going crazy all in one room. And if our search for a permanent home goes faster or slower than we think, we can easily adjust the length of stay. Of course it's more expensive than a normal apartment rental per month even with the 30- day rate but it's hopefully just for a month, it's highly convenient, its serviced, they do things like a free grocery shopping service for people staying 30+ days, etc and all in all an easy way to spend our first month. So for those who are not so cash strapped, especially if you need a bit more space, this is a decent option I think.

Those are an excellent option. If you go over 30 days you should be charged less tax. I used to do the same thing when I was travelling for work. It made sense to have an ongoing 30 day rental even if I was only using 5 nights a week. That balance tipped if I went down to 4 days a week.

 

[Britsimon]

Hi Britsimon

can we get house for rent without GC & SSN ? (As initially we do not have that-once we enter to US first time)

The GC is not the problem, the SSN does make it harder. You can do it, but you might have to pay more deposit and so on. Even with higher deposit it is risky for the landlord to accept someone without credit history. A neighbour of mine had tenants that he gave a break to because their credit scores weren't great, but he took a risk on them because they seemed nice. They stopped paying the rent after 2 months and because of the legal eviction process here it took almost 4 months to get them out and they had by that that time trashed the house. So, landlords will take some convincing.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Those are an excellent option. If you go over 30 days you should be charged less tax. I used to do the same thing when I was travelling for work. It made sense to have an ongoing 30 day rental even if I was only using 5 nights a week. That balance tipped if I went down to 4 days a week.

It's not just the tax - it's something like 35% less, it's a big saving. Other places are clearly just the tax benefit and the only "special" thing about the 30 days rate is that the rate rules are less restrictive. So it really does make sense to shop around properly for those thinking of this.

 

[Britsimon]

It's not just the tax - it's something like 35% less, it's a big saving. Other places are clearly just the tax benefit and the only "special" thing about the 30 days rate is that the rate rules are less restrictive. So it really does make sense to shop around properly for those thinking of this.

Yep understood - it works well because you are combining the weekend rate with the weekday rate - and around here (TriValley) weekend rates are about half the weekday rate. That is precisely why I kept a room at a hotel in Dublin for months in the late 90s.

The other thing of course is that the extended stay places allow you to treat the place like your own home - so you can make it more comfortable than a regular hotel room experience. The kitchens are typically a bit limited, but they do for breakfast and light dinners - but you will still eat out for most of the time because you'll be exploring. In terms of price by the way, I would imagine that would be a shock for some people. I'll guess you are going to pay around 120/150 per night so a one month stay would be over 4k. I am paying 3k for our rental house (although it is small of course) so by the time you factor in bills for a rental (included in the extended stay) it really isn't a bad deal...

 

[SusieQQQ]

Yeah I figure if you take into account utilities, maid service, the breakfasts etc... It's expensive but not stupidly so. The main thing that swung it was the flexibility vs other temporary accommodation options.