Foreign Perspectives

Archive for the ‘Relocating’ Category

I’ve been going back and forth to Northern Ireland for quite a while now but in the past year it’s started to change quite dramatically.

For instance, the elve taking the money for the Santa photos was Polish and just about all the waiters/waitresses in the hotel were Polish. In fact, Polish workers are seen just about everywhere in Northern Ireland now.

The immigration to Northern Ireland is probably more striking than it is elsewhere in the UK in that there was virtually no immigration to Northern Ireland as recently as three or four years ago. So far, it’s not really changed much about the province but I’m sure that’ll change as the new immigrants settle into live there and start wondering about a few of the peculiar things that go on.

Actually, no, it isn’t.

Obviously you can take it as read that it will be much warmer in the south of France during the Summer than it is in the UK but once you get into the December to February period it’s almost always the reverse situation that applies.

For instance, in the last week I was running around Belfast sweating with the heavy coat that you’d think would be required at this time of year in Northern Ireland yet in fact that coat is the one that you actually need in the south of France at the moment.

So, don’t just make the assumption that if it’s warmer somewhere in the Summer that it will be just as much warmer in the rest of the year because often it isn’t.

As usual when there’s a Spanish holiday, we were pretty much completely full over the last couple of days and yet nobody took a breakfast!

In some ways that suits us as it gives us a bit of a break from the need to get up very early to do the breakfasts.

But why don’t they take them though? They certainly take breakfasts in hotels in Spain so why don’t they take them in France? Although it’s hard to give a definitive answer I suspect that it has a lot to do with the absolutely pathetic excuse for a breakfast that you get in most French establishments although funnily enough the price is the same or even higher than for breakfasts in the Spanish equivalent and in Spain you get a very full breakfast for that money.

So, it’s probably down to the French not really “doing” breakfast as a proper meal.

I used to think that there was a limit as to how bad an accountant could be. After all, they’re members of professional organisations which aim to keep standards high and strike off those who fall too far below the accepted norm.

Perhaps that’s true elsewhere in the world, but not in France.

Our “accountant”, for want of a better word, still hasn’t finished the 2006 accounts despite telling us just about every month since April that they’d be ready “next week”. We gave them a couple of weeks, called and were told that they needed just one more piece of information to complete them.

Once supplied, by magic another piece of information was now missing.

We were even told last week that the accounts would absolutely definitely be completed by Monday. Yup, one more piece is missing. Just one this time: a single cheque.

So, we’re off to see them tomorrow.

Unless you’re a “house person” or an “apartment person” there are many factors that you need to take into account in making the apartment/house decision.

Is this going to be your home or are you buying it for an investment is perhaps the most important question. On the whole, investment properties are generally assumed to require apartments rather than houses in that they’re usually aimed at a transient population who don’t want the hassle of looking after a garden. This isn’t always the case though and in areas where there is rapid price inflation of property which isn’t accompanied by a similar rise in salaries then you could be better looking at houses as families often find themselves priced out of the market in such circumstances. This is good for property investors in that you get a more stable base of rental clients than is typical in most areas.

That paragraph provides the first part of the answer for you too. If your stay is likely to be of a short duration such as for a university course or for a short-term contract then clearly apartments are the way to go. That avoids all the hassle of looking after the surroundings of a house and yet you can still get lovely surroundings in some of the apartment developments.

Have you any children or planning to have them? If they’re fairly young, usually it’s best to be looking at a house in that they’re usually larger in comparable circumstances. Of course, that extra size means more initial expense. For example, in the estate which we bought our property the two bedroom houses are around 15% more expensive than the two bedroom apartments.

Rent or purchase? If your move is temporary then rental is the way to go and that will usually push you towards apartments as there are usually more apartments for rent than houses in most areas.

Purchasing implies a longer term stay but if you are moving into an area distant from where you currently live you can find yourself with a choice between a rental apartment in an ideal area or a house purchase into a less than perfect area. If this applies to you and you need to move relatively quickly the thing to do is to rent the apartment in the ideal area first and make your purchase when a suitable property appears on the market. Despite what people think, you don’t need to move directly from one permanent home to another.

City or country? Whilst you get both houses and apartments in cities, you usually only get houses in the country. Therefore if you hope to live in the country, whether it be miles from anywhere or in a small village, then you will almost certainly have to choose to live in a house.

That’s just a brief overview of some of the main deciders; I’m sure that you can add to that list!