A Change In Plans: House Hunters International

Oh my goodness gracious! I have been buried alive in relocation details, details, details. As a result, my House Hunters International series here has been put on the back burner for several weeks. Without further delay...

Our house hunting trip took place the week of January 17. I flew over and met Mike who had already been in Europe and beyond for 3 weeks. Our plans for that week included finding a rental house, meeting with a baby delivery doctor, visiting the hospital where the baby will be born, visiting the 2 American schools for Logan, setting up a UK bank account and ordering a company car. Believe it or not we accomplished that check list without any major glitches.

During the months prior to our house hunting trip Mike and I received a good bit advice from those in the know regarding where we should live in England. The villages consistently mentioned were Ascot, Sunningdale and Virginia Water. After visiting there was no question in our minds why these locations were recommended. From maps.google.com -

View Larger Map

See Windsor on the map? That is Windsor as in Windsor Castle. If we decided to live in this area we would be neighbors with The Queen. Logan could even go trick-or-treating at her house I bet. Do you think The Queen's castle is in a run-down neighborhood? Umm, no. This is a very, very nice area 20 miles or so west of London, 7 miles or so from Heathrow Airport, close to the American schools and a manageable commuting distance for Mike to his UK office in Basingstoke.

We were guided on our house hunting by a representative from a relocation firm contracted by Mike's company. In all we looked at about 15 houses and narrowed the selection down to 3 finalists. All in all we were very pleased with the selection of houses available from which to choose.

The specifications we were hoping to find in a house were:
1) 4 bedrooms with adequate number of bathrooms.
2) Backyard for Logan, baby brother and Dolly the dog to play.
3) Neighborhood where other kids might live that Logan could play with.
4) Area for Logan to ride her bike.
5) Tiled floors in some areas for Dolly to come inside (we only allow her on tiled floors).

HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL - HOUSE #1

Sunningdale

The listing for this house read -

Approximately half an acre of landscaped grounds, in a quiet cul-de-sac location, is this completely modernised and extended family home. The property has been refurbished to a very high standard and the accommodation includes a large entrance hall, spacious drawing room with adjoining dining room, large conservatory, study, cloakroom, recently re-fitted kitchen with integrated appliances, breakfast room, utility room, master bedroom with built-in wardrobes and en-suite bathroom, guest bedroom with built-in wardrobe and en-suite shower room, two further double bedrooms both with fitted wardrobes, family bathroom, double garage, secluded gardens set in approximately half an acre. Walking distance to Sunningdale High Street & railway station. Tax Band G, Council Tax £2,060pa. Status: Available 20th August.

The monthly rental on this house = £5,300 per month. Current exchange rate = 1 British pound = 1.6080 US dollars. Doing a little simple math = $8,500 per month in US dollars. Most everything is more expensive here.