Americans are taking Scouting trip See if they can handle it move to a new country. But finding a new home abroad isn’t as simple as vacationing there.
Alex Ingrim is originally from Washington, but left the United States to study in France, where he met his now-wife Louisa.
Over the past 17 years, Ingrim, 36, has lived in France, Canada, England, Malta and now Italy.
He is a financial advisor with Chase Buchanan USA in Florence, which has about 70 clients. He advises fellow Americans on the tax and other financial planning involved in moving to Europe.
Here are his tips for a research trip abroad to find a new home.
1. Visit in off-season
If you visit your dream destination during the peak travel season when the weather is nice, be sure to book a follow-up trip during the winter or off-season.
This way you can get a better feel for what it’s like to live there full-time.
“A resort in Spain’s Costa del Sol or in Cyprus can feel very different in the winter than it does in the peak summer season,” Ingrim told CNBC Make It. “Going in the winter gives you a more realistic view of everyday life.”
2. Stay for at least 6 weeks
If you really want to start a new life overseas, stay there for at least six weeks.
That’s the minimum amount of time it takes to start shopping and doing household chores as if you were living there, Ingrim said.
“If you go for two weeks, you’re not really fully grocery shopping,” he said. “You can fix this by covering some of the cracks in your routine with tape.”
However, “if you go for longer than a month, you have to think about different issues. You can’t just go to a laundromat, for example, you need to have a place with a washing machine.”
Another point of note: many homes in Europe do not have dryers, so hanging clothes to dry will be more common.
“There are a lot of little things you can say, ‘Oh, haha, we had so much fun on vacation,’ and it’ll just annoy you to death six weeks later,” Ingrim said.
3. Deal with boring things
When you’re out of the country for an extended period of time, you can get out of vacation mode by taking care of daily errands at the grocery store, bank, electronics, or repair shop.
Eat at cafes and restaurants where you’re on a budget when you’re at home, not just where you splurge when you’re traveling. “Try to understand the realistic budget for your lifestyle,” says Ingrim.
Also consider how your spending habits may need to change and how this may affect your lifestyle.
“One thing we often hear from people is that they have to go out and buy food every few days,” Ingrim said. “They live on the third floor and their apartment doesn’t have an elevator, so they wonder, ‘How am I going to carry so much food up the stairs every other day?’
It may seem trivial, but it’s a valid consideration and lifestyle adjustment that may impact your stay, Ingram says.
4. Live in the house you want to live in
Plan to stay in an Airbnb or other homestay that matches the type of full-time accommodation you can afford. “This way you can directly judge the quality of construction, space requirements and functionality of a European kitchen,” says Ingrim.
As for choosing a community, prioritize the amenities you want and need nearby.
One of the first places to start is with transportation – are you going to drive, or will you rely on public transportation? If you don’t drive most of the time, is your neighborhood walkable?
Then consider how you like to spend your time and whether your surroundings support that, Ingrim says. Is there a restaurant you really want to visit? Are there any useful stores?
If you have children or plan to have children, check out areas with reliable school districts.
“It determines the look and feel of your residence, and then how does it fit into your daily lifestyle in the neighborhood?” Ingrim says.
Don’t forget about your hobbies, such as whether you want to go to a nearby gym (which is less common in Europe, adds Ingrim), or whether you want a neighborhood with lots of bike paths.
“Whatever it is, see if it’s accessible,” he said. “Otherwise, it will definitely be troublesome to look for it in the future.”
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