Possible move to the USA, asking for insights

[cbum]

Hi Leman,
Been there, done that ;-)
We moved from Switzerland to Baltimore about 40 years ago. Planning to go back for retirement...
So our experiences obviously don't closely match what you are considering, but I can make a few general points.
The financial aspects have already been touched upon - you are looking at a very different reality than we were at the time, both in geography and time. We rented for the first year and then bought a house in the suburbs, with a 20' commute.
One critical aspect that has not been raised is what your family will look like over time: +/- kids.
One of the greatest unexpected "features" of the US is that the education system is primarily funded by local taxes, with the consequences that you would imagine. If you wanted to design a system that is structured to perpetuate inequality, this is what you would come up with. And as you probably know, the societal economic gradient here is staggering compared to most European countries.
So, your choice of location should take your future family into consideration - it will strongly affect the quality of the educational institutions. That element obviously can strongly interact with commuting considerations, which are likely much more pronounced in Santa Barbara than in Baltimore.
So I would advise planning for an initial temporary housing solution, giving you the time to know the environment before setting down roots.

 

[Lunaticum]

I see you're looking for insights, and it's cool that you got some advice from someone who made a similar move to Baltimore years ago.
Since this is an older thread, I'm not sure if the original poster, Leman, is still active. But in case you're still on the hunt for info, I recently came across a shipping company on threemovers.com that might have some useful tips and services for international moves.
It's always a big step, so having some guidance can make a world of difference. Wishing you all the best with your plans to move to the USA!

 

[Huntn]

I have no substantial info to provide, just reminisce. In 1980, I was a USN Pilot sold a house (1500SF) in South Texas for $47k, purchased a house (1200SF) in San Diego (Rancho Penasquitos) for $96k, which was the max I could afford at the time. We ate a lot of hot dogs to make the mortgage payment. About that time, I flew a cross country to San Jose, where a student‘s Dad had a 1500 SF house worth about $260k. We loved San Diego, we lived about 8 miles from the coast and did not need AC in our house, but maybe they do now… About 10 years after moving from San Diego, we went back to visit, and it had gotten even more crowded than when we lived there.

We also love central and northern California . In hindsight I was a fool to sell that house, which is probably worth close to $1M today. I have a nephew from Texas, who is a computer programmer for Google in Silicon Valley who makes $200+K a year, and he/wife/child can’t afford a house, and are just now getting over the cost of living shell shock.

 

[GermanSuplex]

See how our freedoms compare to yours and make it a culture thing. I’d kill to live in another country for a year or so.

*Oh, and find something you can do here legally that you may not be able to in yours. Then do it, just because you can!