Moving to Cape Cod from London UK - Pls Help.. (Boston: rentals, health insurance)

[Simon W]

[Hello to everyone on the forum.

I am an American citizen who has lived in London (UK) my whole life. I am lucky enough to have dual nationality. Now I have a young family – (2 kids under 3), my wife and I are determined to take a long break from our hectic London lifestyle and spending 9 – 12 months in Cape Cod

I have visited Bostonand The Cape many times – Boston very recently but the Cape not since my childhood so I really know nothing about the towns there. I stayed in Falmouth on my last visit so thought that would be a good starting point for me, plus being closer to Boston / NYC (both places I have family) would be preferential I think

Do you have any advice for me on where to look for homes to rent? Any agencies I can get in touch with? Are there Cape based web sites advertising numerous properties to rent such as we have in London? I have only been able to find vacation rental sites rather than long term rentals. We would like a 3 or 4 bedroom family house with a garden in a nice neighbourhood. I have no real compass for how much this might cost, but was budgeting somewhere around $2800 per month in rent. Does that seem realistic? In addition to the rent payable, are there other costs associated with renting? EG Local authority tax? Refuse collection etc?

I understand I would need to take out a private health insurance policy. Is this governed by state or federally? Any ideas on how much it might cost for a 4 person family?

I’d also be very interested to hear your thoughts about other Cape Cod towns (not just Falmouth) that you think I should investigate. The important thing is for us to be in a safe, friendly neighbourhood and enjoy the delights of your beautiful country. I'm sure we'll love it.

Thank you so much for any attention you can give this

[scarletfire]

We found a terrific rental a few years ago at capecodrentals.com. You might also try craigslist.

I'm fond of Brewster - great walking/hiking trails, clean ponds, great library, lots of community activities, quaint feel, and it's not so overrun like some other parts of the Cape. I'm also partial to Wellfleet because it's part of the Cape Cod National Seashore so has remained unspoiled in parts & has a nice artist community and gorgeous beaches and ponds (plus one of the few remaining drive-ins!) but that is further along on the Cape and would not be a run ride every day to/from Boston.

[Simon W]

Thanks for your reply. I'll check out those other towns you mention.
Any other opinions out there guys?

Thanks.

[Hollytree]

If your employer does not provide health insurance and you are below age 65 you'd need to buy insurance from any one of a number of private insurers. This will be very expensive for a family plan, potentially upwards of $500- 1000 a month depending on your deductible. Do you belong to any professional or alumni organizations which may offer group health plans?

However, your rent budget is quite adequate- you might get a fine house around 2000- 2200. Trash collection should be included and there are no other taxes including in renting. You will need to budget about $75 a month for electricity and more for your gas or oil heating bill. Many rentals include water, if not, you'll need to pay water. Try to get gas heat and a well insulated house if you can. Winter bills for heat can be upwards of $200 a month. Winters on the cape are not severe, however.

Hope this helps- prices are ballpark estimates!

http://www.healthinsurancesort.com/q...-insurance.htm

[professorsenator]

You could save big bucks on health insurance by buying only a catastrophic health insurance policy that does not cover routine doctors visits, prescriptions, etc. but would cover you in the event of a major unforeseen illness, accident, etc. These policies can be very reasonable and might be perfect for your situation.

[RMP059]

Falmouth is a very nice little town, they've done a nice job making the downtown upscale, lots of nice restaurants. You should be able to rent a great house for your budget. As someone else said, you can probably get away with closer to $2000 per month. Traffic is pretty rough in Falmouth during the summer though, probably one of the worst for traffic, barring p-town. And there are a lot of areas of Falmouth that can feel very isolated, well away from any kind of shopping, and a car is needed for the simplest of errands if you rent a house out of the way. Personally, I wouldnt live on Seacoast Shores, or much further out past where Brick Kiln road crosses Sandwich Rd. But if you're ok jumping into the car to get the morning paper, it might not be an issue for you.

Other communities to consider which will probably be cheaper than Falmouth and are still not way down on the Cape: Mashpee (again, many houses are sort of out in the boonies), Marston Mill (ditto, has sort of very rural, small town flavor), Centerville (nice beach and not so isolated), Hyannis (there are some sketchy areas of Hyannis, much more urban in flavor, but I like it, a good realtor will steer you away from the rougher areas). Im not a fan of the northern coast of the cape, so I don't have much experience with them.

[Simon W]

Thank you very much for the advice. Useful stuff there. As far as searching for rental units available, should I be speaking to individual realtors / estate agents, or are there web sites around which show a selection of properties available from multiple agents? I have e mailed a couple of realtors but not heard anything abck.

Thanks. Simon

[Hollytree]

Look here for year round rentals ( a lot of the cape is rented seasonally):
cape cod / islands apts/housing for rent classifieds - craigslist