UK based Family looking to emigrate to USA (Rochester) (New York: sales, apartment)

[shibainu]

Originally Posted by i'minformed

that "tiny sliver" of the city, is the entire zipcode of 14607, Which inclues the Park Avenue, Upper Monroe, NOA (neighborhood of the arts) VERY nice and highly sought after neighborhoods .....other zipcodes that are very nice, safe, and definitley not "ghetto" are 14604 (eastern half of downtown) 14610. 14620, 14612 (Charlotte), and the eastern half of 14609. There are also pockets of very nice neighborhoods in some of the "bad areas", such as Corn Hill, in 14608. Basically the whole Southeastern quadrant of the city is very nice and well maintained, the Northwestern quadrant is nice for the most part, only kind of "dirty" closer to Kodak Park , and even some parts on the fringe of the northeastern quadrant, and the 19th Ward are nice and "non-ghetto". You take pictures and videos of the crescent and plymouth exchange areas and think that shows that the whole city of Rochester is "ghetto"....but the only thing it shows is how ignorant you are.

Talking to many police officers during the time they had there sherriff/ state police campaign. They were stating crime has gone up in the monroe ave area. I believe in the past year there has been a least 2 to 3 murders in that area too. That is very high for a small population(14,000).oh, I have read your post about the east ave claims about all the mansions being there. Yeah if you want one you can buy one. I have seen about 4 to 5 of them are for sale near the george eastman house.

[garmin239]

I'm not aware of any murders in the monroe area other than that freak shootings outside of marks and gitsis. Things like that are rare and don't have anything to do with the types of murders that happen in other areas that deal with the drug trade. The two shootings on monroe are not common.
What happened was that the police began to push all the riff raff out of the park ave area and east end since many people were complaining. The bums/scumbags moved their operation to the monroe area and you saw a jump in muggings and property crime on monroe in late 06/early 07. Now the police are concentrating their efforts on getting the dirt bags out of that area. Who knows where they will go next. Hopefully many of them will be jailed.

[talk2night]

Well thank you all so much for your early replies - it seems to have gone a little off track and turned into a 'pro-anti' rochester discussion which has gone slightly over my head. A lot of the earlier posts have been very helpful and informative. In reply to few post:

i'minformed
Rochester, and Upstate NY in general....has MUCH more afforable homes than the rest of the country...so no, homeprices in the area do not reflect national averages. Taxes in upstate NY are higher than average for the US...but I'd imagine they are probably much lower than anywhere in Europe. With $360,000 american currency....you could have a brand new, HUGE house, with at least 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, on half an acre of land in most Rochester suburbs....not to mention a full basement. Homerpices will almost certianly be higher throughout the US, including Rochester, by 2013, but it will still be very affordable,

We wont actually have $360,000 cash to bring over - I wish. Our house here is worth approx that and should hopefully in 2012/13 be worth around $400,000. Once that was sold, the total profit combined with other savings we'd probably have around $150,000 cash to come over with. A proportion of this would be obviously to buy a property or as a deposit on a house. We have been looking at spending approx $200,00-$300,000 on a property.

On a property of, say $250,000, is there a specific % deposit required? We would probably look to put down a $75,000 deposit down if possible and then have a mortgage for the rest. Our current house is a medium sized terraced in a average area of Liverpool so after looking on various real estate websites we can get a lot better house for $200,000 in Rochester than we can for $360,000 in the UK.

This then leads me to the choice of where and why to relocate to?

shibainu:
Why do you want to move to Rochester besides some distant family being
part of the reason?

Rochester is currently 'top' of our destination list purely through the fact it is where I am familiar with. I spent my childhood summers in Rochester on 6 occasions. I have around 20 members of family over there and the ones I'm closest to is an Aunt and Uncle who live on Titus Ave in Irondquoit. During my time there I loved the area and thought it was really nice - long walks to Seneca Park and playing golf in Durand Eastman Park. I also remember it being close to the harbour/beach which was also beautiful. They lived right opposite the small shopping area that has a Wegmans on it (there used to be a small old fashioned record store as well a few doors down on the opposite side of the road). The hose was amazing and the area I always remember as being great - but after reading forums I have the impression that Irondequoit (and the NE area) is generally looked on as one of the worst? I also have familt in Webster but cant really remember too much about there. . .the other main region I'm familiar is Greece. I have an Uncle and cousins that live in Spinley Court, Greece. This is a place I really like and probably prefer (If i remember rightly) than Irondequoit. If I remember as well there was a Crazy Golf centre quite close to their house (Ridge road rings a bell?) After looking round real estate their is lot of quality housing in Greece at affordable prices?

Anyone got any further ideas/information about these areas or advice on other parts?

shibainu:Tax rates are about 30-33 dollars per $1,000. Monroe County is in the top 5 for highest property tax in America.

Is this income tax ? If so is it supposed to be 30-33 dollars per $100.

Also any information on Property Tax? we (as far as I know) having a thing here in the UK called 'Stamp Duty' - this is paid to the Gov when purchasing a property and is 2% of the sale value. Just another question is when looking on Real Estate websites a listing has all its details and say for example on a house worth around $250,000 it says 'taxes - $9000'. Can anyone explain what these are? Is it as above?


karen824
Andy,
I don't think I can answer most of your questions but I do know that if you are teaching in the areas of math or science you may have a better chance of finding employment in the U.S.--those subjects seem to be in higher demand than, say, English or history. But you didn't mention what level of school you'd be interested in teaching--the requirements would differ depending on whether you're talking about younger vs. older children (elementary school vs. middle school vs. high school--not sure how that translates to the English system?)
I think if you have a second language, especially Spanish, it might also help you find teaching work.
But as others have said, your first step should be to figure out whether your degree would allow you to work in this country as a teacher or what additional coursework you'd have to complete to meet the requirements. One thing you might consider is looking into teaching at a private school. (I think that means the opposite of what it does in England--I mean a school where the students have to pay tuition.) The private schools do have to meet state standards but I think they have more leeway in whom they can hire.

The Rochester city schools are unfortunately not very good. I would definitely suggest that you look at some of the suburban areas, many of which have excellent school systems for your kids, and aren't too far from the city of Rochester (in case you find employment within the city school system.) Just off the top of my head, Brighton, Pittsford, Penfield, Perinton, all have excellent reputations. There are many others.

Good luck!

Karen

I have always been interested in working with and looking at teaching older kids (around 12-18 years old). I have done camp america 3 times and found I generally work better with older kids and young adults. I would even consider lecutring in a college or University also. My options are wide open at present and I am willing to go down any route to enable the best move for my family and our new life in the USA.

Ishibainu:
Andy I have found some data for you on teachers Salaries and Job outlook.
This from the NYS DOL(department of labor)
Secondary School Teachers in the finger lakes(rochester area) have a Very Favorable outlook. The average salary is $52,760 and average job opening a year is 260 for 2004 -2014. The required training is a Bachelor's degree.

My degree will give me a Bachelor of Science at the end of it so hopefully that will be enough to enable me to work.

---------------------------------------------------------------

After a fair bit of research and help from forums I have found out that a English degree IS accepted as a qualification in the USA and that a English based teacher training qualification is actually looked upon more favourably than a US one (anyone confirm this?).

I have been advised that my best route is to finish my degree and become a fully qualified teacher here in the UK then apply for US based jobs. To be successful for one of these jobs I would need 'sponsoring' by the potential employer and a work permit arranged. The problem is that the system requires the emploer to prove why they are looking to employ a 'foreigner' over US Citizen (a system I think is correct). Therefore I have been advised I would need to be able to offer a lot of 'extra' curricular qualities. I am a qualified Soccer coach here in England as well as being a qualified First Aider. There are more things I would be looking to get involved in also so I have various other qualities/characteristic to offer the US/communinty I hope to live in. My wife is also a qualified Hairdresser and Beauty therapist - she would also be looking to work and contribute to society. Our children would obviously be attending school as well - so in no way would we ever be looking to 'sponge the system'.

Any further comments or advice are greatly appreciated.

Andy

[rochacha]

Irondequoit generally has a bad reputation in the Rochester area, but it really is one of the best secrets. Irondequoit is a huge town and there are some great areas and some not as great areas. It generally is looked down upon because (1) it has a very diverse population in an area where a lot of people talk all politically correct but still create unfounded opinions based upon the local population; (2) the housing stock is generally older than the newest sprawl neighborhoods (think 1950's or older); (3) it is on a number of bus routes into the city and has a main road leading into the worst part of the city, a city that is greatly underserved by shopping venues, and as a result you often run into people in Wal Mart or Wegmans that you would not find in Pittsford.

However, the Irondequoit Police Department is one of the best in the area and definitely tough to keep the less desirable parts of the city from spilling into the town.

The other day put my child in the bike carrier and rode a mile down the new paved bike trail through a beautiful park Durand-Eastman Park, and played in the sand on the beach. On the way back we took a little detour down past the 1920's amusement park Seabreeze and had a burger on "Hamburger Row" (broken link). Earlier in the month, we went to the zoo and the House of Guitars for a little shopping. All without leaving the town (ok, technically, Durand is city property). The point is, try finding another place around that offers all that in your own backyard.

OK, this has gone long enough, but I made my point. The Democrat and Chronicle has police blotters for all of the area towns...take a look for yourself and make the judgement as to how much worse it is.

[rochacha]

I'll take a quick shot at your questions...

Originally Posted by talk2night

On a property of, say $250,000, is there a specific % deposit required?

It depends on your mortgage lender, but 20% down is best to avoid paying mortgage insurance. You can probably go down to 5% down depending on your credit score and the lender. One thing to keep in mind is that mortgage interest is deductible from your income taxes, so if you get a 6% mortgage rate, it effectively is around 4.5% or so when compared to non-deductible interest.

Originally Posted by talk2night

shibainu:Tax rates are about 30-33 dollars per $1,000. Monroe County is in the top 5 for highest property tax in America.

Is this income tax ? If so is it supposed to be 30-33 dollars per $100.

This 30-33 dollars per $1000 is property tax. It includes county, town, and school district taxes. Income tax is a graduated tax (the more you make, the more you pay), but figure generally 25% federal and 5% state I believe (just guesses). Property tax is deductible from your income tax, but consult a tax site about that.

[talk2night]

Originally Posted by rochacha

I'll take a quick shot at your questions...



It depends on your mortgage lender, but 20% down is best to avoid paying mortgage insurance. You can probably go down to 5% down depending on your credit score and the lender. One thing to keep in mind is that mortgage interest is deductible from your income taxes, so if you get a 6% mortgage rate, it effectively is around 4.5% or so when compared to non-deductible interest.



This 30-33 dollars per $1000 is property tax. It includes county, town, and school district taxes. Income tax is a graduated tax (the more you make, the more you pay), but figure generally 25% federal and 5% state I believe (just guesses). Property tax is deductible from your income tax, but consult a tax site about that.

Thanks very much for your advice . . . Plenty more advice needed though.

Opinions on Greece and Irondiqouit greatly appreciated

[just_sayin']

I would HIGHLY recomend Greece....it has the same Charms that Rochacha mentioned about Irondequiot, without the crime problem (Greece has actually been rated one of the safest cities in America many times....it was number 3 a few years ago). I'm bias because Greece is where I grew up, and where I am moving home to TOMORROW...but I really think Greece offers the best quality of life for the price in the Rochester area....and I think it has the strongest sense of community. Greece, like Irondequoit, has a large shorline on Lake Ontario...but also has newer housing stock, on generally bigger lots.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by talk2night

Rochester is currently 'top' of our destination list purely through the fact it is where I am familiar with. I spent my childhood summers in Rochester on 6 occasions.

Summers are really nice in Rochester, but I hope you're prepared for the rest of the year's weather.

[rochacha]

Originally Posted by i'minformed

I would HIGHLY recomend Greece....it has the same Charms that Rochacha mentioned about Irondequiot, without the crime problem (Greece has actually been rated one of the safest cities in America many times....it was number 3 a few years ago). I'm bias because Greece is where I grew up, and where I am moving home to TOMORROW...but I really think Greece offers the best quality of life for the price in the Rochester area....and I think it has the strongest sense of community. Greece, like Irondequoit, has a large shorline on Lake Ontario...but also has newer housing stock, on generally bigger lots.

To bring up another Rochester stereotype, the problem with Greece is that it makes you a WESTSIDER I don't see a crime problem in Irondequoit though. According to 2003 FBI data, Irondequoit has .29 times the national average in violent crime and .89 the national average in property crime Moderator cut: link removed. That is higher than .13 and .55 respectively in Greece, but hardly a "crime problem".

[acnemaster]

Property taxes are $33 per $1,000 of assesed value. So for every $100,000 of assessed value you are looking at $3,300 in annual taxes. That is not high either. In little ole Oneida County you pay that much. Rochester is actaully a cheap town to live in.