UK to Chicago (Naperville, Evanston, Skokie: 2015, rental, house)

[damba]

Originally Posted by uktous19

Thank you. Is this a standard % for rental approval? I.e. if I work at rent as 25% of gross salary I should be safe?

Are there any other costs/taxes I should be aware of when renting? I.e once all the fees have been paid to the realtor etc is the only monthly house outgoing the rent (obvs bar utilities etc)

Renting isn’t a slam dunk. Those are just general guidelines. More experienced landlords than me reading this here can hopefully chime in on how foreign nationals are vetted for rental purposes.

There will be some sort of security deposit too, paid in full before you set foot on the property.

[Hiruko]

Employment verification/reputation of the relocation service.

We don't rent anything below the 'executive level' ($4k+) at this time.

[OPRFmama]

Originally Posted by uktous19

Thank you. Is this a standard % for rental approval? I.e. if I work at rent as 25% of gross salary I should be safe?

Are there any other costs/taxes I should be aware of when renting? I.e once all the fees have been paid to the realtor etc is the only monthly house outgoing the rent (obvs bar utilities etc)

Landlords generally want their tenants to make at least 3x the monthly rent, so 25% would be an even safer estimate.

We don’t have council tax here (the landlord pays the property taxes), so you’ll be paying rent, utilities, and renters insurance (should be around $30-50/month, not a huge expense), and also you’ll likely need to put up a security deposit (commonly 1-1.5x the monthly rent, but landlord may ask for more if they can’t verify your credit history).

Also, landlords are usually the ones responsible for paying the Realtors, so you shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for a renters agent to help you.

I mainly work in the near west suburbs (Oak Park, River Forest, Riverside, etc), but I do know that the north shore suburbs are pretty pricey and very desirable. I just did a quick search and 3+ bedroom homes are renting for $2000/month and higher, with most of them being in the $3000+ range.

(Hope this was helpful! My wife is English & moved here 5 years ago.)

[gelert]

My two cents: basic home would be 3-4K in areas like Wilmette or Glenview. Highland Park is too far from the city for my taste.

[uktous19]

Thanks everyone - I'm now knee deep in a spreadsheet trying to work it all out.
The company has essentially said to my husband that they will increase his salary by 25/35% but we're trying to figure out if this is enough hence my being annoying and not having a budget confirmed. I will go through all the areas but perhaps assign 3500 to it (3 bed with good elementary school) and see how that works out.

One more question - thank you - I keep reading about the western suburbs having a different feel to the northern areas - could anyone help me understand? And where does Evanston sit in this - does it feel more Western?

[damba]

Originally Posted by uktous19

Thanks everyone - I'm now knee deep in a spreadsheet trying to work it all out.
The company has essentially said to my husband that they will increase his salary by 25/35% but we're trying to figure out if this is enough hence my being annoying and not having a budget confirmed. I will go through all the areas but perhaps assign 3500 to it (3 bed with good elementary school) and see how that works out.

One more question - thank you - I keep reading about the western suburbs having a different feel to the northern areas - could anyone help me understand? And where does Evanston sit in this - does it feel more Western?

That is a much more flexible budget. You have a lot more choices now.

Evanston arguably could present even more value being closer to the city, with good schools/beaches/public trans along with a laundry list of other great amenities. Not at all like any of the western burns. With Northwestern University there, it has an even different feel from the other north shore communities. More ‘small city like’.

[847mom]

Evanston is by far my favorite suburb. I actually meant to recommend it as well, I just left it off by mistake. If you like a more urban suburban feel, it will do nicely for you. It has very strong schools and fantastic downtown areas and lake front access with much culture.

The Western suburbs are more traditionally suburban. Some are very lovely but alas no lakefront. Hope this helps a bit. You will have so many options, happy hunting!

[uktous19]

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to reply.

Evanston sounds like a popular choice and makes sense - I've had a v brief look at the schools and they don't seem as good as other areas so if anyone has any insight/recommendations on these I'd appreciate it.

With the rental costs - v simplistically, if we assume rent at 3.5k a month then this means net pay needs to be 14k? So $168k annual salary after taxes? I'm trying to come to terms with the huge disadvantage of renting over paying a mortgage (I know the property taxes are a nightmare also though).

We obviously won't have any US credit history either so am trying to find out how that works for rental and whether the company can act as a guarantor.

Thanks again for all the help here, it's much appreciated

[damba]

Originally Posted by uktous19

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to reply.

Evanston sounds like a popular choice and makes sense - I've had a v brief look at the schools and they don't seem as good as other areas so if anyone has any insight/recommendations on these I'd appreciate it.

With the rental costs - v simplistically, if we assume rent at 3.5k a month then this means net pay needs to be 14k? So $168k annual salary after taxes? I'm trying to come to terms with the huge disadvantage of renting over paying a mortgage (I know the property taxes are a nightmare also though).

We obviously won't have any US credit history either so am trying to find out how that works for rental and whether the company can act as a guarantor.

Thanks again for all the help here, it's much appreciated

Gross pay not net. You are good to go.

You stated that you are only here for three years(?) Rent, don’t buy. Only a much longer stint in the USA would allow you to break even given the high transaction costs to buy.

Evanston school rankings only look slightly less good on paper because of socioeconomic reasons. It’s a less homogenous suburb than most of the others. More interesting in that regard too.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by uktous19

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to reply.

Evanston sounds like a popular choice and makes sense - I've had a v brief look at the schools and they don't seem as good as other areas so if anyone has any insight/recommendations on these I'd appreciate it.

With the rental costs - v simplistically, if we assume rent at 3.5k a month then this means net pay needs to be 14k? So $168k annual salary after taxes? I'm trying to come to terms with the huge disadvantage of renting over paying a mortgage (I know the property taxes are a nightmare also though).

We obviously won't have any US credit history either so am trying to find out how that works for rental and whether the company can act as a guarantor.

Thanks again for all the help here, it's much appreciated

Evanston schools are still excellent. You can't go by ratings since Evanston has a larger share of poverty than the other North Shore communities.

ETHS competes well with New Trier.

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...gh-school-6729

https://patch.com/illinois/evanston/...kes-elite-list

In Illinois, the top five schools — and seven of the top nine — were Chicago Public Schools with selective enrollment. Stevenson High School (No. 6) was the top suburban high school in the ranking. Other north suburban high schools coming in ahead of Evanston Township High School in the state's top 30 included: Libertyville High School (No. 10), Deerfield High School (No. 14), New Trier (No. 15), Glenbrook North (No. 16), Buffalo Grove (No. 20), Vernon Hills (No. 23), Glenbrook South (No. 24), Lake Forest (No. 25) and Highland Park (No. 26).

Frankly, I rate ETHS as better than those schools given its student body.