Tips On Buying A Second Home Abroad

What You Need To Know Before Buying A Second Home Abroad

First Published Date: Oct 21, 2009

Buying a second home is something that, for a lot of people, means they have truly arrived on the scene. Buying a second home abroad adds that little bit to the mix, giving you a spread in the world, a base from which to travel further. For a Canadian or American, the immediately obvious choice would be a home in the Caribbean, while anyone living in Europe has an enviable range of choices too, as do Australian residents. But before you choose to move to a new country, you need to keep aware of some important principles.

Firstly, it is essential to do some research before you move anywhere, but all the more so when you are moving to another country. However many similarities there may be between your first home country and your second home country, there will be subtle differences that can be quite disruptive if you have to face them every day. They are always surmountable, but only if you do prior research and make sure you are equipped to face the changes.

Secondly, it is necessary to become a part of the community wherever you move to. This does not mean you have to hold a party immediately on moving in and invite everyone to it. What you do need to do, though, is be active. Even if it is just going out for a walk in the morning to buy the newspaper, dining out every so often, or joining some clubs locally, it will vastly aid the settling in process.

You should also learn the language, if you are moving somewhere that has another language. There are many ex-pat communities in countries all over the world. Without a doubt, there are varying levels of welcome extended to them by the host communities, and by far the greatest level of welcome is that which is extended to those who can be bothered to learn the local language. It is simply common sense. If someone makes the effort to speak a second language, it demonstrates a level of courtesy which will be appreciated and reciprocated.

You should not expect to fit in immediately in your new country. No matter how prepared you are, how prepared you feel you are for the change of moving to a new country, there is always a settling in period. It is something which always makes demands of a person, because there is a total change. Things you have taken for granted are no longer there, little things that you didn’t realize you appreciated about your home country will suddenly become big things. Does it slightly irritate you when you are treated in a certain way in your home country? When the locals of your new home country fail to treat you in that way, you will resent it slightly. A lot of little changes go together to make a big change. Does this mean you shouldn’t go for it? No, it certainly doesn’t. The challenges we face in life make it what it is. Go for it.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Oct 12, 2009.