141: The honest truth about housing when you move abroad

Everyone dreams about moving abroad. The cafes, the walkable streets, the slower pace of life. But then comes one of the biggest reality checks nobody talks about — finding somewhere to live.

Imagine trying to sign a lease in a country where you have no local credit history, no references, and no idea how the rental system works. Finding housing abroad is one of the most underestimated parts of the move. And today I am getting into the honest truth of what it actually looks like.

Here is what we are covering:

• Why housing abroad is different from what most Americans expect
• The two-phase approach that makes finding a home so much less stressful
• What renting actually looks like in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal
• The most common housing mistakes people make and how to avoid them
• Why your priorities will probably shift once you actually get there
• The emotional side of housing abroad that nobody really prepares you for

Your first apartment does not have to be your forever home. It just has to be your starting point.

Still figuring out which European city is the right fit before you even start thinking about housing? Take the free quiz below.

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Website: jordangiberson.com
Instagram: @jordan.giberson

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Americans might picture moving into a super spacious apartment with modern kitchens, and walk-in closets air conditioning, you wanna feel peace. You want to feel safe. So finding an apartment is super important to build a life that you love abroad. Hey, my name is Jordan Giberson. I'm a Texas girl living and thriving in London. The best thing I've ever done? Moving abroad, hands down. And I'm passionate about helping others do the same. Are you curious about finding a job abroad? You're in the right place, friend. I'll teach you the tried and true secrets of how to make moving abroad a reality for you and how to live a fulfilling life once you get there. We'll cover topics like choosing the best visa for you, how to get a job offer in another country, how to get over your fear of moving abroad, and how to live a life you love once you get there, this is The Move Abroad Podcast. Welcome to another episode of the Move Abroad Podcast. Thanks for joining me for today's episode, where we are talking about the honest truth about housing when it comes to moving abroad. I feel like everyone dreams about moving abroad, the cafes, the walkable streets, the slower pace of life, whenever we think about moving abroad, we don't necessarily think about one of the reality checks, which is finding somewhere to live. Whenever you move abroad to another country, you have no local credit history, you have no references, and maybe no idea about how the rental system works abroad, and you might be competing with dozens of other applicants. Moving abroad and finding housing is one of the most underestimated parts of moving abroad. So today we're talking about the honest truth of what it would look like to find housing overseas. So how would you actually find and secure housing abroad, and what should you realistically expect whenever you do? So the first thing that I wanted to discuss is that housing abroad is different. It's not necessarily better or worse, so I wanna set the expectations here. And sometimes Americans might picture moving into a super spacious apartment with modern kitchens, and walk-in closets, and central air conditioning, and large refrigerators, and your own laundry room. But a lot of times in European homes, they are typically smaller. They might be older buildings, but with a lot more character. They might have less storage space, no air conditioning. They might have a combination of a washer-dryer in one unit or no dryer at all, and they might have compact kitchens So is housing different between the United States or your home country and Europe? The answer is probably yes. I know I had a bit of a shock whenever I moved abroad to London, specifically whenever I was talking about the washer and dryer. I have not ever had a dryer while living in London for coming up to seven years, and it was definitely a bit of a shock to the system at first. I remember I used to have my washing machine, and I would wash my clothes, and I could not stand the thought of just drying it on a drying rack. I thought that was insane. So I remember carrying my wet clothes, like sopping wet clothes, after the washing machine, and I walked them to the nearest laundromat to put them in the dryer for a few minutes. And I did do this for a couple times, and then I was like, "Okay, I guess I'd better just try to get with the system and just use the drying rack." So I did eventually start using the drying rack, and now I love it. And now even whenever I go back to Texas and I have the option of using the dryer, I actually end up hanging my clothes more times than not. I might dry my workout clothes or my socks, for instance, but most of my things I end up air drying it anyways I do this now because it typically leaves you with your clothes lasting for longer and being a better quality. So anyways, just what you get used to, but there are definitely differences between apartments that I've seen and stayed in London or seen in European countries. I do feel like they have so much more character but, you also sometimes miss out on central air conditioning. That's not as typical in Europe. So it depends on where you go to and, maybe you're moving into a newer apartment building, for instance, or if you are building your home, you can add that in if that's something that you care about. But yeah, I think there's definitely differences between the housing and what it looks like in Europe versus the US. So one thing that you might consider whenever you are looking for housing abroad is that you don't have to expect your first apartment to be your forever home. I think this makes moving abroad and choosing a location and a home abroad a lot less stressful and with a lot less pressure. So instead of looking for your dream apartment immediately, you could perhaps think about it as a phase. So you could think about phase one would be temporary housing. I've known a lot of people that have lived in an Airbnb at first for a month to three months, or a serviced apartment, a short-term sublet, so you could sublet another apartment. So this is typically like one to three months while you're looking for your longer term home. The reason why I think this is a great strategy is because you have time to think about where you really want to be. You have time to really learn the city, to explore different neighborhoods in more depth, to understand transportation. If you need to be going to a certain place every single week, then you can decide like what neighborhood or area makes the most sense. You can discover where you actually really want to live and get a really good feel before you commit to staying somewhere. And the other reason why this is helpful to do one to three months in temporary housing like Airbnb, serviced apartment, short-term sublet, is that you have time to get a local phone number, to get a bank account, to get the job offer, to have a better understanding of the neighborhoods, and the ability to view apartments in person. So I think if I were to move abroad again, this is a strategy that I would use, and I did view apartments in person whenever I was moving to London, and I think that it was helpful to do this. I've known people that have just done viewings online briefly, and they did a virtual tour, and they just signed an apartment a lease for an apartment by just viewing it online. And I have known people that have success stories by doing this, and I know people that have said that's the worst thing that they've ever done. I remember talking to an American who was moving abroad to London, and she was asking me about neighborhoods and housing and what made sense, and I was like, "Look, I don't think that I would sign an apartment without viewing it. You really need to view it in person." You just never know the vibe of the street, inside, the feeling that you get, the weird smells inside the apartment. You just don't know so many things until you see it in person. A video can only show you so much. You're not gonna be able to see oh, there's like no natural lighting. I didn't even realize that until I was there in person. That makes a big difference for my quality of life. So a lot of times I think it tends to be a mistake whenever you aren't able to view it in person, and she did come back to me after moving in, was like, "I signed the apartment without viewing it in person, and you were so right. I shouldn't have done that, and it's been a nightmare." So I don't want that for you. If you've been thinking about housing and what makes sense, I do think that doing short-term accommodation and then, looking for an apartment after you live there is the best way to go. Obviously, it's not ideal to move somewhere temporarily whenever you just want to start settling in once you move abroad, but I think that it's worth it to have short-term accommodation. So whether you choose to do temporary accommodation first, or you decide, no, I'm just gonna do a virtual viewing, and, I'll just have them send me the videos, and I feel like I can have a good, feel for it, then, it's completely up to you. So I think you have that option for you if you do the short-term accommodation or if you just sign in the beginning, and I think that's one of the big decisions that you'll have to make in terms of finding housing abroad. So what does renting abroad actually really look like? So whenever you're going to rent abroad, I assume whenever you move abroad, you'll probably be renting instead of buying something abroad. You want to experience the city and life abroad before you actually buy something more than likely. Maybe you'll decide to buy abroad first. You could totally do that. But we'll talk about renting for now. So what does it actually look like to rent abroad? Landlords might commonly ask you for proof of your income. They might ask for employer references. They might ask for previous landlord references. They might want to double-check that you do have the right to live there. So they'll check for your visa and make sure that you do have a visa. They might ask for a holding security deposit. Every country is different. So maybe in like Germany, it might be super paperwork heavy and competitive, and in the Netherlands, maybe apartments, they might disappear after hours because they get snatched up so quickly. In Portugal, it might be more expat friendly. It just really depends on the country and what the rental market looks like regardless of where you're moving to, you should do research on the country that you're planning on moving to and the city also to see what the process might look like and how competitive it is and what to expect, instead of assuming that the process is going to be the same across the board. Even across different cities, like I bet the rental market in Manchester, United Kingdom, is super different from London, and that Berlin, Germany, would also potentially be really different from Munich. So I think, you're going to see similarities between countries, but also to look into the specific city that you're moving to and what the rental market looks like and what to expect. And just doing a quick dabble online, don't go into a super deep rabbit hole. We do have to be careful whenever we're doing research about moving abroad that we don't go down a super deep rabbit hole, but to inform ourselves on what the process might look like to be able to be informed while we're looking for a rental abroad. I was trying to think of some typical housing mistakes that people might make because that might be something that you are curious about in terms of, renting abroad. And I could only really think of a couple, and one is to rent before you've actually arrived and not doing a viewing in person. That is something to really consider whenever you are choosing your home that you're going to be living in and being in every single day. You want it to be somewhere that you feel really comfortable in. Trying to rent before you've arrived because you don't know the neighborhoods, you don't know the feel of the street, you might not know the exact commuting times. Just have a really good feel for the place and what it feels like. And then the second is to fall for scams. There are so many scams today, and we know that you have to be really careful about scams. Just keep that in mind is different scams that could happen to you. So maybe if there are prices that are like way below market value, that might be a bit of a red flag. If landlords are asking you for money before you actually do a viewing if they're really pressuring you to wire money, if maybe the owner is claiming they're overseas and it just feels a little bit sketch or a bit off, then listen to that little voice in your head because it very much might be a scam. A legitimate agency, so a lot of times landlords, they will work with an agency that will take care of their properties. So make sure that they're arranging viewings, make sure they're providing formal contracts for you. Make sure that they're following the any regulations around deposit procedures. If anything seems a little bit sketch, then just be wary of that because there are definitely scams, especially for people that are moving abroad and don't know what the process might look like. And something else I think is really interesting in terms of finding somewhere to live abroad, is that your priorities might change. Whenever we choose, a lot of times it's, we went there on vacation, and maybe we stayed in a very central neighborhood while we were visiting that place abroad. And that was perfect for visiting. But I think sometimes we think that we want a really trendy neighborhood or the city center living, but then six months later, you might care a lot more about having a grocery store nearby or access to public transportation. That might be something that you wouldn't have considered as an American moving abroad, but then you move there and you're like, "Oh man, there's no bus stops nearby," or, The train station is really far away." Or like I live really far from the airport, but that's something that's really important to me. You might also care more about having a really peaceful street or having parks nearby or running routes nearby, or you might care a lot about a short commute or a sense of community in the neighborhood that you're moving to. So I think that's another reason why temporary housing can be such a smart first step is that you can get a feel and think about the list of what are your main priorities, because I think whenever we have the lens of looking at that neighborhood and saying, "Could I live here? And what would my local grocery shop be, and what would my local gym look like? And what do I care about in my local community?" Like for me, I care a lot about having a sense of community. I care a lot about families nearby. I love the feel of that, of really beautiful parks nearby me. Like I care about some of those things. I also care about proximity to the river because I love rowing and I love being close to the river. It's my happy place. So I think, we all have different priorities whenever we're thinking about a place to move to. You might have been in a really trendy neighborhood whenever you visited that city abroad, but it doesn't mean that's the neighborhood that would be best for you to live in. Make sure that you have that lens of what would life long-term look like here for me? Or if I'm planning on living abroad for a year or two, does this fulfill all of the things that I need to love living in my local neighborhood? So just things to consider and that your priorities of a trip abroad might be a little bit different for living. So just to really keep that in mind and to have that lens whenever you're thinking about where you should move abroad to, that you want to be living in. And one more thing that I think would be really helpful to talk about is the emotional side of housing abroad. Housing is going to look different. You're not just choosing a place that you're going to rent. You have to remember you are probably not going to have a car. You might decide to have a car depending on where exactly you're moving to, but a lot of times you have public transportation and you are living in your community. You have the walkability to walk to get your hair cut, to walk to your local cafe. You have public transportation more. You're walking to maybe local parks. You want to have access to travel maybe, so you wanna be closer to the airport. You're having A different pace of life. So your neighborhood that you're living in is going to provide a very different feel Your experience might be quite different than whenever you were in the US when you might have had a car and had expensive gas and maybe higher parking fees, and you're like driving from place to place. But in Europe, you might be living in and amongst your neighborhood, and I love this about European lifestyle. It's not just about the apartment. It's about the location and the proximity to your community and your neighborhood And one other thing that I would really highly recommend is when I first moved to London, I was like, I'm not gonna be here that long. I'm not gonna really settle in too much and invest in my time here." And then I ended up living in that apartment for five years. So I didn't really decorate, and I wish that I would have. I wish that I would have invested a bit more into making it feel like a true home. And that's one of my biggest recommendations for you in moving abroad is to not think of something as a short-term thing I wish that I would have invested more in my first apartment, and I think that I probably would have enjoyed being in the space a lot more. So over time, you might decorate and that's something that I would really recommend. You'll be establishing routines and finding your favorite cafe and getting to know your neighbors and just gradually building a life that makes this new place feel like a home. And I do think that one of the most important pieces of feeling a sense of belonging and feeling really good whenever you move abroad is your home is so important. It's your safe space. It's the place that you go home to, and you want to feel comfort. You wanna feel comfortable sitting on your couch. You wanna feel peace. You want to feel safe. So finding an apartment is super important to build a life that you love abroad. I think building community is probably the most important to feel a sense of belonging and to have your people. You really think about building a successful life and building a life that you love abroad, I think that housing is super important. Housing and community are probably two of the most important things whenever we think about building a life abroad that we love. This in the later stages after you've kinda figured out the visa and the city and, how you'll be making money and all of that. But don't let finding the right housing for you be something that's left behind or something that you kinda just book something quickly and don't really think about it. I think you should think about the neighborhood that you're living in because it will set you up for success or set you up for a bit harder to find success in building a life that you love abroad. So in concluding, I would say to go into it with realistic expectations. You might not find the most magical, perfect dream European apartment that you first envisioned maybe. But I'd say, don't pressure yourself on finding the perfect apartment before you arrive. My number one recommendation. Find temporary housing before you find your, apartment that you'll be living in longer term. Give yourself time to learn your new city and, remember that it's just a goal to find apartment that will make you feel like you're at home. You wanna find somewhere that you feel comfortable in. You wanna be in a safe neighborhood that feels like you have peace, and that your home feels like home. And I would also recommend not waiting too long to decorate it and make it feel like a home to you so that you can really enjoy it instead of thinking of it as a short-term "I'm only gonna be here for a year, so I'm only gonna get a sofa. I'm not gonna bother getting a rug or throw pillows or a bit of art to hang on the walls." I would recommend treating it like a home that you're going to be in for a year or two, and to really enjoy it so that you enjoy your experience of being abroad. Because building a home abroad is something that is really important to feel really settled, and feel like you're building a successful life abroad, and that's what I want you to do. I want you to, build a successful life abroad that you love, so I hope that you found this episode helpful. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. I will catch you here again next week, same time, same place. I'll catch you then.