While the majority of people aspire to become property owners someday, the majority of us also automatically start browsing the market in our home countries when we look to place ourselves on the property ladder. Most of the time this is out of sheer habit. We’ve lived in the same place most of our life, and we intend to stay for the rest of it.
But sometimes a country overseas could actually meet your needs, requirements, and tastes a lot better. So, if you’re compelled by the allure of the unknown and the pull of wanderlust, now might be the time to make a change. Here are a few steps that you can take to minimize wasted money and cut costs associated with making a big move abroad.
Visiting the Country First
The number of people who plan a long distance move abroad without having ever actually been to the place they intend to call their new home is astounding. It’s absolutely essential that you visit the place you plan to move to before actually starting to plan the move. Why? Well, how do you know that it’s for you if you’ve never been there? Many of us are more than guilty of romanticising places and attributing them with qualities that we’ve picked up from films, books, or music.
Often, these sources are fictional or emphasized, so the clues may as well have been picked from thin air. If you want to understand just how misleading our own minds can be when it comes to imagining places that we’ve never been to, take a look at “Paris Syndrome”. This is a phenomenon that is common amongst Japanese tourists visiting Paris. Japanese culture tends to romanticise the City of Lights to an extreme.
Many visitors consider Paris to be an aesthetic city where everyone roaming the streets will be supermodels, everyone will be in love, and everyone will be wearing the latest high fashion garments. When they arrive and it is, in fact, a beautiful city but a major city nonetheless like any other, their illusions are smashed and their hearts are broken.
Like pretty much any capital city, there tends to be litter, hurried individuals coming across as rude when rushing to their workplaces and appointments, and the people are real with flaws like the rest of us. The effect that this shattering of dreams can have on individuals is considered so severe that Japan actually has a 24 hour hotline for people who feel they are suffering from the symptoms of “Paris Syndrome”.
So, wherever you may be planning on moving to, make sure to visit before actually purchasing a property and moving on out there. This will help you to ascertain that the move is 100% right for you and save a whole lot of costs that will be incurred if you decide that it’s not for you and you want to head straight back home.
Ensure that You Meet Entry Requirements
In the same way that your native land is likely to have requirements regarding who can move in and who can not, the majority of countries are likely to have their own set of immigration rules and regulations. So read up on these and make sure that you fit the criteria before setting your heart on the location.
Certain countries have more strict or stringent immigration rules than others. Australia, for example, has strict rules on skilled migration. They operate on a points system that only allows those with a nominated skilled occupation to take up residence within its borders. Once you’ve passed this, you will also have to complete a further skills assessment, health assessment, and character assessment before being permitted entry.
For certain countries, you might have to save to meet a minimum financial requirement to enter the country. These are generally enforced to ensure that you have sufficient funds to support yourself once you are within the borders. While you may have to take some time out to save, practice patience and see the hard work as an investment towards your future and your happiness.
Also, take personal details such as a criminal record into account before setting your heart on a certain country. Many places will not accept people with a criminal past as a citizen of their own. Again, ensuring that you can actually live in a given country will help to save you from wasting money planning and organizing a move only to be detained at the borders.
Consider HDB Properties
Now, overseas property markets can vary a little from your own. But generally speaking, government or HDB built housing tends to come at a much lower price than other forms of completely private housing. If your chosen housing is HDB, you can also guarantee that it will have been finished to a high quality and is designed for safe occupation for the foreseeable future, as all construction will be highly regulated. This will help to reduce costs that could be incurred through having to completely renovate or make structural changes to a property that turns out to not be quite so sturdy or safe as you’d imagine.
Ensure You Have Work Before Moving
Some people will try to move abroad and try their luck at finding work once they’re already out there. This, of course, can be problematic. You’re not guaranteed to walk straight into employment, especially if you’re looking for roles in a specific or specialist field.
Instead, to save yourself from falling into debt or struggling financially once you’ve moved, you should ensure that you have a position secured before moving. Either this or you should try to find a job that you can complete online from your new home that will be able to tide you over until you find a more permanent work placement in your new country of residence.
These are just a few simple tips that should ensure you minimize outlay and keep yourself in a good financial standing as possible when making the big leap to a new home overseas. So, bear them in mind at all times!