Perfect Expat Home: How to Find it in Your Host Country

Do you have your priorities in check?

Image by Ferenc Keresi from Pixabay

INTRODUCTION

It’s exciting to move to a new country. Heck, it can even be exciting to change homes when you’ve already been living there for a while! But you must have your priorities in check in order to come up with the most appropriate criteria for selecting your new residence.

For the sake of this discussion, it doesn’t matter if you are planning to move into an apartment, rent a room somewhere, have roommates, move into a home or villa, etc. The process I will outline can be used in all situations.

Read on for my recommendations on how to put together your criteria for finding a new home in your expat city.

START WITH A LONG-TERM ATTITUDE

I suggest starting with the long-term picture in mind. This is because you should always try to keep an open mind to the possibility that you just may fall in love with whatever your life becomes once you get settled in.

Maybe it’s because of the city itself, or something as small as the neighborhood you live in, or perhaps even a local resident or other expat that has captured your heart over time.

Finding somewhere you feel you can stay for the long term can be the anchor that gives you daily comfort and lessens the stress you may experience along the way. And if some things don’t go as planned (ex: work, relationship, etc), being where you want to be will always help you get through those times and keep a more upbeat attitude about life in general.

Beware of developing a “temporary mindset”. It’s challenging enough to live abroad in a new culture and maybe a completely different language, to begin with. You don’t want to be approaching this expat lifestyle as a sort of fad where you constantly fail to allocate sufficient time, energy, and effort, to properly integrate into your new society on a basic level at least.

Whatever your goals are as an expat, you need to invest yourself in what you are doing there. This will only have a positive impact on your quality of life and reaching your goals.

DEVELOPING A CRITERIA FOR THE LIVING CONDITIONS THAT SUIT YOU BEST

Below is a four-step process that will assist you in building your criteria for choosing a new residence in your expat city.

STEP 1 — IDENTIFY YOUR EXPAT GOALS

You want to live somewhere that best supports your goals, whatever they may be. These can be short, long, or ongoing.

Which are you most concerned with?

• Commuting time from home to work
• Reliable internet connectivity
• Access to restaurants and other eateries
• Air quality
• Noise levels
• General activity level where you live
• Socializing/dating options
• Security
• Availability of co-working spaces
• Proximity to a mall, supermarket, etc
• Proximity to a gym, park, bike paths, hiking trails, etc
• Neighborhood (more traditional or modern, popular with expats or not)
• Public transport options
• Proximity to airport (domestic vs international flights)
• Local expat life
• Local nightlife
• Desired level of local immersion (culture/people/language)
• Costs of living
• Local access to foreign goods
• Weather conditions
• Completing a program of studies
• Access to your consulate or embassy
• Local landmarks, museums, etc
• Permission to have guests over at your home

It’s very likely that some of the above will be mutually exclusive.

But regardless of what your primary concerns are, anything you plan to do above and beyond basic tourism that would last, say, up to 30 days in the same location, should be considered a long-term need on your end because those environmental conditions will have a lasting effect on your overall quality of life, including your mental well-being.

STEP 2 — KEEP IN MIND ANY COUNTRY-SPECIFIC GOAL YOU HAVE OR MAY WANT TO PURSUE

There are things that you must inform yourself about in detail before moving to a new country if you are to succeed with them in the long run.

Do you need to plan for any of the following?

• Local income tax rates
• Visa availability and lengths (business, work, study, retirement), including visa runs
• Residency options (temporary/permanent, a path to citizenship)
• Work authorization (domestic or international income)
• Local real estate property ownership
• Local business ownership
• Medical insurance (travel package or local)

STEP 3 — OTHER IMPORTANT FINANCIAL AND DAILY LIVING CONSIDERATIONS YOU MUST ADDRESS AFTER MOVING TO YOUR NEW HOME

• Banking requirements: Local bank cards that you can use for making local, online, and international purchases. Bank accounts that allow you to hold foreign currencies like USD or EUR
• Local smartphone apps for ordering food or ride services, and making online purchases: they sometimes work only with specific domestic bank cards and/or require researching workarounds to get them to work for an expat
• Where to get emergency, routine, and ad-hoc medical care (language, specialties, etc)
• Health check requirements for visa or work permit
• Mail and package deliveries

STEP 4 — CHECK YOUR PRIORITIES: PRIORITIZE AND TRY TO ACHIEVE BALANCE

Whether you want your expat life to be filled with temporary options that you enjoy having, or something more stable and consistent, and whether you have a short or longer-term outlook, it helps to be able to see the forest from the trees. Simply put, some actions and decisions are more conducive to being successful than others.

The environment you live in, and the people you surround yourself with as an expat — much like the things that made up your life back home — will undoubtedly have a great impact on what you can accomplish, or fail to do while living abroad.

Before we look at specific examples, it’s important to note that there is one requirement that trumps all of the others if you want to ensure your quality of life and decision-making.

This is where it all starts: you must try to be as healthy as possible. And this is of even greater importance for expats who live in a foreign country. For the purposes of this discussion, we’ll keep this topic uncomplicated by defining this as not doing anything in excess and staying active. In other words: make sure that whatever actions you take and goals you pursue cannot result in you becoming physically harmed, or negatively affected psychologically.

Here’s a table with 6 common categories of expats along with the factors that are worth taking into consideration at a minimum when each is trying to build the criteria for finding a new home.

Image by author

CONCLUSION:

In this article, I showed you a four-step process to assist you with finding a new home in your expat city.

A variety of important factors were outlined including some related to health and medical care, having legal living and working permissions in a foreign country, banking and purchasing goods in a foreign country, and generally creating the environment that is the most suitable and conducive to meeting your short and longer-term goals.

By thinking through this process carefully and attempting to leave as few stones unturned as possible, you will significantly increase your chances to be satisfied and happy with your new digs!

All the best,

Pascal

PS: You can go here for more living abroad and travel articles or read more about me here.