James Grey
12-30-2007, 08:38 PM
Expat Advice by James Grey: Renting an Apartment Overseas
I have rented quite a few apartments overseas and also bought a few homes – I actually just closed on a new house in Jakarta, Indonesia. I wrote this for anyone that is thinking about moving overseas for a wile or even permanently – I hope it will help someone out.
Finding a place to live overseas is a daunting task to say the least – I almost always end up hiring a local to help me out (more on that another time). The first condo I rented overseas took allot of learning the local market – I stayed at a friends house wile looking (you could also stay in a cheap guesthouse) for several months.
You really need to go there and spend several months looking and actually living day to day there (buying food, smokes, printer cartridges, ect..), I can not stress this more – you never know if you will actually like living there, lots of places are fun to visit but I would never want to live there – (Europe and South America comes to mind)
Also be advised – unless you have legal residency finding a lease can be difficult – Many property owners are afraid that you will just disappear. In some countries it is not even legal for a property owner to rent his apartment to an “undocumented” expat (just like in the US).
And in some countries (like in Southeast Asia and the Middle East) you will have to pay 100% of the rent in advance, so budget for that. And no, that wasn’t a typo – 100% of the rent for a years lease, as in 12 months – all at once, in advance, before you can even move in!
Finding a place to live and wading through the murky waters of leases in 3rd world countries is just 1/10 of the battle – getting the water, cable, internet, ect… turned on is 100 times a bigger pain in the ass then signing a lease – in Indonesia it can take months to get your Internet turned on, and it costs almost 200 bucks a month just for 512
If you don’t want to pay everything upfront or deal with getting the utilities turned on then you can look around for guesthouses (called different things depending the country your in – in the US their called “Bachelors Apartments”) – basically these are one room semi furnished apartments.
In Southeast Asia they are mostly rented by middle class professionals just starting out (the are also popular as “love shacks” for married men) – they usually only require first and last months rent. The advantage is all of the utilities are already on and you don’t have to pay a years rent in advance. In places like Thailand and Indonesia you can find a nice one for around 150 to 200 bucks a month USD
But again – you must live in a country for a wile before you ever sign a lease or decide to live there – living in a country is NOTHING like visiting there
~James Grey
I have rented quite a few apartments overseas and also bought a few homes – I actually just closed on a new house in Jakarta, Indonesia. I wrote this for anyone that is thinking about moving overseas for a wile or even permanently – I hope it will help someone out.
Finding a place to live overseas is a daunting task to say the least – I almost always end up hiring a local to help me out (more on that another time). The first condo I rented overseas took allot of learning the local market – I stayed at a friends house wile looking (you could also stay in a cheap guesthouse) for several months.
You really need to go there and spend several months looking and actually living day to day there (buying food, smokes, printer cartridges, ect..), I can not stress this more – you never know if you will actually like living there, lots of places are fun to visit but I would never want to live there – (Europe and South America comes to mind)
Also be advised – unless you have legal residency finding a lease can be difficult – Many property owners are afraid that you will just disappear. In some countries it is not even legal for a property owner to rent his apartment to an “undocumented” expat (just like in the US).
And in some countries (like in Southeast Asia and the Middle East) you will have to pay 100% of the rent in advance, so budget for that. And no, that wasn’t a typo – 100% of the rent for a years lease, as in 12 months – all at once, in advance, before you can even move in!
Finding a place to live and wading through the murky waters of leases in 3rd world countries is just 1/10 of the battle – getting the water, cable, internet, ect… turned on is 100 times a bigger pain in the ass then signing a lease – in Indonesia it can take months to get your Internet turned on, and it costs almost 200 bucks a month just for 512
If you don’t want to pay everything upfront or deal with getting the utilities turned on then you can look around for guesthouses (called different things depending the country your in – in the US their called “Bachelors Apartments”) – basically these are one room semi furnished apartments.
In Southeast Asia they are mostly rented by middle class professionals just starting out (the are also popular as “love shacks” for married men) – they usually only require first and last months rent. The advantage is all of the utilities are already on and you don’t have to pay a years rent in advance. In places like Thailand and Indonesia you can find a nice one for around 150 to 200 bucks a month USD
But again – you must live in a country for a wile before you ever sign a lease or decide to live there – living in a country is NOTHING like visiting there
~James Grey