Tyson Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Just wanted to throw this in the pot..... Where is the best country to buy a property abroad and why. Also i would like to know the cost and standard of living. Any good for retirement etc. Share your experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Hungary or Romania - 2,000 acres in Moldovan border of romania with 12 bedroom lodge and 3 miles of salmon river was euro 74k...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidgh Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Hungary or Romania - 2,000 acres in Moldovan border of romania with 12 bedroom lodge and 3 miles of salmon river was euro 74k...... Vampires thrown in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Pretender Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Portuguese real-estate looks competitive especially as there's speculation that their housing market is bottoming out. Never been mind but I'm sure it's lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Tyson, I can't even begin to give you an answer without a lot more information. Are you looking for a retirement home, a holiday home or just an investment? Would you buy a property without having spent more than a day or so in the country? Are you prepared to live in isolation or do you need people near you? How are your language skills? Are you aware that you'll probably have to pay 100% of medical costs? (I'm assuming you're not that old, but may be wrong) If in the Euro zone are you aware of the exchange rate? Our move to France was after visiting, sometimes 3 or 4 times a year for 35 years. I have French born cousins over here. We knew what to expect and weren't surprised to find it as we expected. In short you need to do a lot of research and talk to other Brits who have done what you propose. Just beware that not all the Brits abroad may be your sort of people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid life crisis Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Sister in law has had a house built in a walled compound at a town called Bonnievale, a couple of hours noth east of Capetown. Apparently the ex pats there are mainly British and German She loves the place and spends the 6 months of our winter over there and the summer in England. She says things are really cheap out there compared to here. Has even offerd us free use of the house when they are back home SWMBO is not keen incase it kicks off over there, the thought of gangs of fuzzywuzzys brandishing clubs and spears on the other side of the wall, if things do go pear shaped She has probably seen Zulu too many times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M444TTB Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 A chap I know bought himsel a house in Herschbroich, which is 5km from Nurburg! Pretty cheap to buy a decent size property too. He rents it out to make it pay until he moves there properly one day. Waking up to hear a VLM race is brilliant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I hear Afganistan is pretty cheap atm , if you dont mind dust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 yep vampires came free - along with loads of trees if felled and sold to austrians.... ship the chip down the danube to Germany.... 105E per tonne.... happy days.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 South Australia is nice too... want a house there one day near Jindabyne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Anywhere is cheaper to live than the UK except Australia and New Zealand they are doing well it seems. France Spain and Portugal are near and with Euro standards of health, housing etc. Going further afield real life is so different to here, you really need to try before you buy for a year. Renting is way I would go about it. Keeping a Bolt Hole in the UK is becoming a big plus with Expats, you just don't know if you would have to come back for health, family reasons. Sell up completely in the Uk and live abroad and you will not be able to come back and carry on as normal. Summer in the UK and Winter overseas is the way I would go-- if I ever bl**** well retire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Living in France is getting as expensive as the UK. Our weekly food bill has risen from about 100€ a week to 180€ per week over the 7 years we've been here. The exchange rate has fallen from 1.48€ to £ to 1.23€ to £ (today). If you're drawing your pension the UK government will pay the French for you to join the French social security. You don't pay NI but contribute towards your medical bills. We pay the doctor 23€ per visit and the medicine is paid for from 100% to about 70%. But you pay the real price, not the hugely inflated NHS price. Of course if you're retired you wouldn't pay prescription charges in the UK anyway. Nor NI. So it's difficult to compare. Most people in France have Mutuel insurance to pay their contribution. We worked out it's about the same as paying so haven't taken it out. Major emergencies are paid 100%. So HM heicopter, 16 days in intensive care and 6 weeks in the ward came to about 700€. The same as her food bill would have cost. The real cost was over 50,000€ (it's shown on your monthly statement). Income tax is much lower than the UK (for retired people) but the new president has introduced a money import tax so we had a 3016€ bill for that this year. Our income tax was 306€ The tax on our land and the building came to 1200€ this year about double than 3 years ago. All in all I guess we are better off in France than the UK but there isn't much in it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User0083 Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 After meeting Hames and getting 24hrs in his life... I've found the fastest way to Adelaide! Wife's Cardiac ICU specialist and has been 8yrs, 12yrs as a nurse. I'm about to be medically discharged from the Army, then do Arbitrary course, 3yrs experience, while planning my escape to oz! Know an ex Commando who I went through basic with out there and he's loving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgey Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I lived in Italy for 2 years recently (it was supposed to be a permanent move) - I learnt a few things. 1) You really do need to find if the culture of your chosen culture works for you. Italy did, though where I lived all everyone did/does is eat and get drunk - which wears thin after a couple of years. 2) You need to learn the language - which can be tough when you get older. If you live in a heavy expat zone then you can get away with it, but it's so much better to learn an integrate. 3) After a life time of scoffing at people who move country and then live amongst other Brits - I have changed my mind. In Italy I had 2 English friends. When they moved I really missed the English company. It is easy to underestimate how important it is to have people of a similar mind set to socialise with. Years of being with other Brits has a permanent impact on you. Until you are properly fluent in another language (by properly fluent I mean being able to understand subtle nuances in conversation, and to be able to talk to one person whilst listening and understanding what a group of others near by is saying - i.e. probably over 5 years of learning/practising) you will always feel "outside" any conversations that you will have with locals - particularly so in groups. My Italian is easily good enough to talk one on one, but I'm still missing loads of vocab, and in groups as bars I'm stuffed - it's all just too quick. On top of that you will find that other nationalities idea of "funny" is not the same as ours - which can make pub conversations tedious sometimes. Back on the main topic - all I can tell you about Italy is: - Stunning in the countryside - Lovely welcoming people, who ALL want to cook you dinner and practice their shocking English on you - House prices are relatively low in the countryside. I looked a a large old stone house with 2 bedrooms, massive other rooms, 2nd floor terrace with vines all over it - think is was about 70k Euros. You need to look for a "rustica" - that's an old house. Unless you like new builds of course. The Italians don't like their old rusticas and prefer to live in modern ugly square identical bungalow villas. No idea why. - Mafia is very real still but only from around Rome and down, all the way to Sicily of course. North of Rome its fairly non existent. - The industrial North hate the "lazy corrupt" Southerners. - shopping for essentials is the same as here price wise, though obv. local specialities are cheap. - everything else is expensive - they don't have the "Argos" culture over there. They don't buy cheap crap, only very expensive high quality stuff. I found myself buying things on ebay in England and having them posted over to Italy! - Pizzas are 4 Euros - at a table in a restaurant! :-) - In the far North (Montebelluna, Valdobiadinne, Milano) it gets hot in April and cools in October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgey Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Sister in law has had a house built in a walled compound at a town called Bonnievale, a couple of hours noth east of Capetown. She has probably seen Zulu too many times I stayed a few months in a gated/electric fenced estate in SA near Pretoria - I loved it - the standard of living is so much higher, and the weather is of course lovely. We went out to restaurants, bars and malls all outside the estate with no issues or fear, though you do have to keep your wits about you and know what you are doing. i.e. you never stand anywhere near a security van when they are emptying cashpoint machines - frequently ambushed by chaps with MP5s! I did consider it as a new home but like you said, the stability is an unknown. One thing I did notice - make no mistake, aparthiad very much still exists - particularly once you are a few miles outside the main cities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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