Life in chicago .

[Zero Cool 0]

Hi All,

Iam going to make a big move to Chicago USA this December, it would really help if someone in Chicago (IL) share their experiences,

• 
  
• How hard is it get a job? ( A basic one - what is the expected hourly rate )
  
• How is the quality of life in general ?
  
• how friendly are the people.
  
• How good or bad the public transportation?
  
• Property prices to renting Vs to Buying a house.. etc
  

Thanks in Advance

[MalaysianGirl 26]

Hi Zero Cool, I am not American and don't live in the US but I have visited Chicago. Chicago is one of the biggest cities in the country, if I am not wrong, and it's a fun place to visit because there are many things to see and do. The people I had met there seem friendly to me, maybe because there are many foreigners there and it doesn't seem strange for the Americans to see them. Public transportation is good; I had taken the Metro as well as the Metra to Indiana. Good service, on the whole.

Hope that helps somewhat.

[Nica_In_Love 98]

Hi All,

Iam going to make a big move to Chicago USA this December, it would really help if someone in Chicago (IL) share their experiences,

• 
  
• How hard is it get a job? ( A basic one - what is the expected hourly rate )
  
• How is the quality of life in general ?
  
• how friendly are the people.
  
• How good or bad the public transportation?
  
• Property prices to renting Vs to Buying a house.. etc
  

Thanks in Advance

Hey there! I've been living in Chicago for a year now, and I'd be happy to help you with your questions.

1. Well, it truly depends on the type of job you're looking for, but I can say it's not that hard. Minimum wage is $8.25 so you can use that as reference. Let's say jobs for Customer Service/Call Center usually offer between $13 and $16 an hour.

2. Quality of life in general is pretty good I guess. It can be expensive.

3. People are ok... some are friendly and some are not. Sometimes it depends on what area of the city you're in.

4. Public transportation is pretty reliable. I used to take the train every day to work earlier this year and never had problems. If you're going to use the train or bus everyday, you may want to get a 30 day pass to save a bit of money.

5. We've been renting and we don't have plans of buying a house just yet. A lot of people prefer to move to the suburbs because houses are cheaper there. The area we live in is pretty close to downtown and rent for a small apartment can range from $900 to $1100. Houses are more expensive, especially if they are remodeled. If you want to live in the downtown area, rent for an apartment can be anywhere from $1,600 to $2,200.

[Zero Cool 0]

Thank you soo much for all your insight ... I guess to lern to swim to need to be water .... Let's hope it will be a good move.

[Zero Cool 0]

Hey there! I've been living in Chicago for a year now, and I'd be happy to help you with your questions.

1. Well, it truly depends on the type of job you're looking for, but I can say it's not that hard. Minimum wage is $8.25 so you can use that as reference. Let's say jobs for Customer Service/Call Center usually offer between $13 and $16 an hour.

2. Quality of life in general is pretty good I guess. It can be expensive.

3. People are ok... some are friendly and some are not. Sometimes it depends on what area of the city you're in.

4. Public transportation is pretty reliable. I used to take the train every day to work earlier this year and never had problems. If you're going to use the train or bus everyday, you may want to get a 30 day pass to save a bit of money.

5. We've been renting and we don't have plans of buying a house just yet. A lot of people prefer to move to the suburbs because houses are cheaper there. The area we live in is pretty close to downtown and rent for a small apartment can range from $900 to $1100. Houses are more expensive, especially if they are remodeled. If you want to live in the downtown area, rent for an apartment can be anywhere from $1,600 to $2,200.

Thank you ... this really helps

Can you also tell me about Insurance both for medical and car is it expensive and is it must to have it ?

Thanks once again

[Nica_In_Love 98]

Thank you ... this really helps

Can you also tell me about Insurance both for medical and car is it expensive and is it must to have it ?

Thanks once again

No problem.

Car insurance is a must have, even if you have a used car, liability coverage is mandatory. Medical costs can be very expensive if you don't have medical insurance. My husband was able to add me to his insurance right after I came here because it was during open enrollment. To give you an idea, I had to get three fillings done at the dentist and the total bill was $900+ but I only had to pay $160 because the insurance takes care of the rest. Good luck!

[Zero Cool 0]

Thank you so much .

[Kimbear 53]

Hi All,

Iam going to make a big move to Chicago USA this December, it would really help if someone in Chicago (IL) share their experiences,

• How hard is it get a job? ( A basic one - what is the expected hourly rate )
• How is the quality of life in general ?
• how friendly are the people.
• How good or bad the public transportation?
• Property prices to renting Vs to Buying a house.. etc

Thanks in Advance

Well i've been here a year and a half now. I only just recently got a job and its at minimum wage which is $10/hr. Not much honestly

As for buying vs renting well right now the way the housing market is, you can get a good deal on a house, its way cheaper then renting, BUT thats if you can get a mortgage from a bank and have a down payment. I've been trying to buya house since January, and still dont have one, even thouh i made 3 purchase offers. Banks are very fickle now with who they will give mortgages too. Also, you wont qualify for a mortgage, only your us citizen spouse will so that might make it harder.

The rest of your questiosn really depend on where you live. Some areas are nice and quiet, others have many different nationalities which do not always get along, and others are bad if you go more south. I here public transportation is good, but i've yet to use it, i just drive my husbands car or go out with him.

[Blondie-CO 8]

Hey -here's "about" what it costs for "basic" car and health insurance (I am in Boulder, CO) but it should be relatively similar around the US

Car: about $110/month

Health: about $110/month (I just saw an ad in the paper for basic HI for $69 from HumanaOne)

I would budget using these figures. I pay $84/month for car insurance and $89/month for health insurance (medical, dental, vision). Always better to budget too high than too low.

I hope this helps. Chicago is a wonderful city -enjoy!

[Kimbear 53]

well i'm not sure about health insurance we have it with hubby's work but our car is with geico and its 45/month.

[jjbandero 39]

My hubby is from Chicago, I haven't lived there, but I have visited many times. I agree with the other posters re. lifestyle and public transport. Regarding car insurance, most companies base it on a bunch of factors, the type of car you have, where you are leaving it at night (nice neighbourhoods will lower the price), how long you've been driving and whether you've had any claims previously. You may also get discounts if you're a member of a special organisation. When I first came to the States, I actually went to the RTA in NSW to get proof that I did not have any traffic violations against me, I also got a letter from my insurance company stating that I never had a claim with them. I was able to convince the insurance agent that these were legitimate records of my driving and insurance record and they gave me a discount. I'm also a Chartered Accountant, which I argued was the equivalent of a CPA here, so they knocked off a little bit more (5% I think). If you have this type of information available, it's worth a try getting them to accept it

As for health insurance, I would recommend at least getting something basic, perhaps your husband has insurance through his work, even though it may not be open enrollment when you arrive in the US, most plans generally have clauses that if there's a major change in your life e.g. getting married, they will allow the change in insurance. The cost really varies from State to State and plan to plan, also the size of your employer (whether they have bargaining power with the insurance company) and how much they are willing to subsidize. Again using myself as an example, both hubby and I have insurance through work, but my employer is much larger, and costs less, even for the both of us, so he is on my plan. Most companies are fine with you adding a spouse, but they will not subsidize the spouse at the same level, so don't be surprised if the insurance more than doubles if both are under the same plan, e.g. for the employee alone,it may be $100 per month, but for the employee+spouse it may be $250 per month.

Good luck!

[Kazulie 132]

Well i've been here a year and a half now. I only just recently got a job and its at minimum wage which is $10/hr. Not much honestly

As for buying vs renting well right now the way the housing market is, you can get a good deal on a house, its way cheaper then renting, BUT thats if you can get a mortgage from a bank and have a down payment. I've been trying to buya house since January, and still dont have one, even thouh i made 3 purchase offers. Banks are very fickle now with who they will give mortgages too. Also, you wont qualify for a mortgage, only your us citizen spouse will so that might make it harder.

The rest of your questiosn really depend on where you live. Some areas are nice and quiet, others have many different nationalities which do not always get along, and others are bad if you go more south. I here public transportation is good, but i've yet to use it, i just drive my husbands car or go out with him.

Minimum wage is $8.25. Ridiculous, I know, but at let you make more than minimum wage!

[N M 96]

Also, you wont qualify for a mortgage, only your us citizen spouse will so that might make it harder.

Not quite. The OP certainly won't qualify immediately - It does takes time for a new immigrant to build up a sufficient credit score to get a mortgage. But not that long.

And there's certainly no stipulation that only a USC can get a mortgage.

I had absolutely no credit score until April 2010 when I got my first gas card. Just 13 months later, I had a FICO score of 800 and pre-approval for a mortgage. 3 months after that, the purchase was complete and I had the actual mortgage. It was totally dependent on my score too. My wife had stopped working by this point (after our baby was born), so the mortgage is in my name and qualification depended on my income and credit score.

It just takes a LOT of discipline (NEVER miss a payment deadline, NEVER go above 40% of you credit limit, etc). Start off with a gas card, or a credit card designed for those with no credit history (Capital One do one), then a few months later get another line of credit, then a few months later get another (each time you apply, go for cards with higher credit limits).

The hardest thing may be saving up the deposit.

Good luck.