Want to stay somewhere a bit longer? You might have decided to emigrate, or perhaps you are living the digital nomad dream. These are our best tips for finding a home when emigrating to a new city…
If you’re staying a couple of days you’ll normally be fine with a hostel or hotel. But what about if you fall in love with somewhere when travelling, or perhaps you’re thinking about living the digital nomad lifestyle? You’ll need to find long term accommodation eventually…
It might be that you find some work, fall in love with a place – or maybe a person, or that perhaps you’re just tired of life on the road.
Having had our share of nomadic moves, these are our recommendations for great ways to find rental options for long term stays when moving to a new city or country.
Stay With A Friend
This is often a good way to find your feet. Having a friend in town often takes the hassle out of making yourself at home and usually means you can get straight in with the local social scene.
Sometimes it’s more tenuous connections. Get on Facebook and ask who knows someone in *city* with a spare room and you might come up trumps.
Of course, this isn’t always an ideal choice for a long term home, but it can be very useful way to get started in your emigration.
Gumtree or Similar
Sites like Gumtree have global variations and often have options for short or mid term accommodation ranging from a few weeks to a few months.
Make sure you view a place before committing to moving in. There are quite a few scams out there so keep your wits about you. If the landlord is asking for all the money up front or there is an awkward arrangement with the deposit then make sure you check the local laws regarding it.
We’ve used Gumtree a few times here at GT Towers and have had mixed results from excellent to passable. Usually short terms of a few weeks.
Besides Gumtree see also Craigslist, Mercadolibre and Leboncoin.
Hit The Ground
No… We don’t mean sleep on the streets (well, hopefully not).
Looking around a neighbourhood where you want to live you will often find adverts in shop windows, on houses, in cafes etc with options for mid term accommodation. This might mean a lot of walking around and knocking on doors. If you’re not too good with the local language too this can be a bit awkward.
Put the word out amongst the local expat community too as this often turns up a few leads. Word of mouth is priceless… And free!
Airbnb
Well on it’s way to being the go to for travel accommodation, Airbnb is a great option when looking for longer term digs. OK, it’s not usually the cheapest option, with the rent often being easily a third, or twice as expensive as local rates.
But you’ll often find lots of choice and if you’re trying to find a home in a new city when emigrating, this will give you lots of flexibility. Digital nomads and regular travellers will also love the fact that Airbnb usually comes with all the bills included, so you don’t need to worry about setting up the internet etc.
Roommate Sites
So Airbnb is great, but as mentioned it can be a little expensive. And, sometimes you can find yourself living with a parade of temporary housemates in some places.
Its often cheaper to apply directly to people looking for roommates. Our favourite is Easy Roommate which has global options and often a great selection of locals looking to fill spare rooms. Scroll right to the bottom to see all their country options.
The other bonus of being a roommate is that you don’t have to pay to set up all your utilities like internet, taxes etc. Just move in and pay your share!
Other home sites
If you want a home to yourself, then you might not mind paying a little extra. These sites are all great if you’re looking to emigrate and you want a ready made home to move into, as they usually include all bills and extras like wifi all ready to go.
Local Estate Agents
If you know you’re going to be in town long enough then the best option is likely to be a local estate agent. However it’s usually better to commit once you’ve touched down and lived in the city for at least a month or so…
The benefits are, of course, that you pay local rates for property and you’ll be able to choose exactly where you want to live. Hence, it’s better if you’ve experienced your new town a little before hand.
Of course you’ll need to set up all the utilities like internet and electricity and pay local taxes as required, but it’ll be your home, which is kinda priceless. Especially if you’re gonna be living in town longer term.
Search online for ‘estate agent+city’ for a list of the best ones or check sites like Expatica or ExpatForum and ask what the best options are.
Other Ideas…
Laws vary and you may or may not find these options available. But if you’re at a loss, try some of these options.
- Caravan: Buy a caravan or camper van. Ideal if you want to move around.
- Camp: A nice tent with a secure lock can make decent digs for a short term stay. Not so good in cold countries.
- Squat: Not necessarily recommended but is sometimes an option.
- Hostel: Some hostels will do a decent price for a long term stay. Ask at reception.
Do Your Research…
If you want to research the cost of living in various places before you set up, we use Numbeo or Expatistan which both list average prices for various goods and utilities including rent.
Any other ideas for mid to long term accommodation options? Think there’s some wildly inaccurate information or very important stuff missing? Please comment below…
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