Relocation & Expat Coach

Tip seven - budget!

One of the challenges of any move - locally, nationally or internationally.  The difference is that internationally you need to consider additional costs, over those you would have if you were to move locally or even nationally.

1. Visas - the cost of these is dependant upon where you have selected to emigrate to.
    Residence - if as a European, you are staying within Europe, then you will need to gain residence in the country you have selected to move to.  This incurs a cost - a lot less than visas for countries outside of Europe.

2. Property - what budget do you need to allocate to purchase the type of property you are looking foat your new destination?

3. Purchase costs - what are these?

4. Mortgage/Loan - what sort of mortgage or loan do you need to secure to purchase your property.  Advice we were given was that it was easier to organise this from your current country of residence, as you have a credit rating - in your destination country you do not have this.

5. Schooling - what costs will you need to cover in order for your children to attend the local schools, colleges, or universities?

6. Transport - what is the cost of purchasing a new car?
    What is the benefits and costs of taking your current car?

7. Flights to/from your country of destination!
    How many times do you have to fly in/out of your country of destination before you actually move?

8. Moving costs - what will it cost you to move your possessions to your country of destination?

9. What other costs should you have included in your budget?

10. What contingency have you added for those hidden, unexpected, not known costs?

Now is the time for you to capture in as much detail as possible your budget:
- be specific about all costs
- how you will measure that these costs are complete
- agreed / action-oriented - keep this list up-to-date.  Enter any new budget costs.  Enter all actual spend.  Acknowledge when the actual spend is higher than budget - update your contingency.
- realistic - be realistic about what it will cost you to move.  This is not the time to incur unexpected costs and start your new life with a debt.  Against each cost, enter the detail as to where the monies are coming from to cover the cost.
- time framed - clearly document what your timescales are for each cost associate with your move. 
- exciting - It is true that it we cannot live, dream, breathe, be engulfed by our goal, it probably won't be achieved.  Now that you know what it will cost you to move, yes it's probably scary! but holding onto the excitment of your dream, your goal, your aspiration, will allow you to address each element of this hint and tip.
- recorded - at no point in your whole process is it more important to capture the detail.  Write it ALL down - expected costs, actual costs, over-spends, under-spends, continually update your contingency!

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on [email protected]!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Continued property hunting in Madeira!

Not being a bank holiday, the following day found us meeting up with Maria - another realtor in Madeira.  Maria was from South Africa and had recently returned to Madeira.  We started our day with a coffee and a chat about the type of properties that we were looking for.

Marie took us to see a fabulously located house owned by a Dutch couple in their 90's.  After many, many years in Madeira they were returning to The Netherlands to be close to their family.  The house was divided into two, with the upstairs being set-up as a separate flat - for guests, bed & breakfast, etc.  The house was on about 600sqm of land, with a developed apple orchard.  The views were great.  We discussed whether the views could be changed with further development below this house.  It was confirmed that property cannot be sold in Madeira if it does not have access.  The land below this house has no access, therefore we believe that the views were protected.  This was a house that we could move straight into and unless we wanted to, there really wasn't anything to do to it.  A great benefit of this house was that it was on the edge of the lower tree line, so looking at a tourist business, the bed & breakfast facility provided as part of the design of this house could be used by those wanting to walk the levada's.  '

'Levada' is a Portuguese word which is derived from the word 'levar'.  'Levar' means 'carry'.  In this way levada is translated into water carrier or mini-canal; but are actually irrigation systems developed to move the water from the wet/rainy regions on the north of the island to the dryer regions in the south of the island.  The levada's date back as far as the early 16th century and now criss-cross the island and cover a distance of approximately 2,500kms.  The Levada Walks are well known with tourists as walks beside these mini-canals, which are not accessibly by vehicle, and allow you to meander across the island, up-down the mountains, at your own pace.

We stopped on our way to the second property we were to see with Maria to sample a local delicacy!  Freshly baked local sausage and bread on the side of the road.  Fabulous!  We had to wait as this is a popular stop for the tourist trade and the baking is done through-out the day on an open fire.  We sat in the open sunshine, chatting and enjoying our impromptu cultinary experience.  

The next property we saw was in Arco da Calheta - on the south west of the island.  It was two smaller houses being sold as a single property.  Fabulous idea, as we thought that this could be designed as our home and 'guest' accommodation - family, friends, guests - giving each party their own privacy; but on a single property.  The size of the land was good for the price being asked - approx. 1800sqm; but would need a vast amount of terracing as it was all down the slope in front of the house.  The views were incredible, and due to the steepness of the incline no-one could build in front of the houses and disturb the view.  There was a small piece of land beside the houses that would accommodate a small pool, BBQ, and seating area.  Parking here was a small challenge and again we would need to build a full drive-way/garage to allow us to park off road on a flatish piece of land.

Although these were two great properties, neither ticked all boxes.  We had made the decision last night that the only properties we were going to pursue were those that ticked all boxes - at this stage in our investigations we did not believe we need to compromise.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on [email protected]!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

Tip six - decision!

Now you've made your mind up - you are going to emigrate!  It really doesn't matter the reason that you are going to emigrate - be it for work, projects, new environment, grass looks greener on the other side - you've made your decision!

1. Where are you looking?

2. What type of environment are you looking for?

3. What social life do you want?

4. What are the impacts on your immediate family (those travelling with you)?

5. Work - school!  What do you need to do to ensure that these requirements are met?

6. How does this decision impact the family remaining behind?
    How does this decision impact your relationship with the family remaining behind?

7. What research do you still need to do?
     When will you visit your country of destination to complete this research?

8. Who do you now need to start to talk to?

9. Who can help you make this move?

10. Which action will you select to do first?
      When will you complete this action?
      Who do you need to discuss this with?  Who can help you?
      How long will it take you to do?
      When do you need to start?

It is probably more important now than any of the writing in your journal that you've done to:
- be specific about what your answers.  It's probably the right time to write in bullet point format rather than in paragraphs.
- clearly document how you will measure the success of each of your actions
- agreed / action-oriented - be absolutely clear on the actions you need to take to ensure that you keep on your select path
- realistic - how easy will it be to keep on your path.  What will you do if you find that something stops you.
- time framed - clearly document what your timescale is for each task/action, and what your timescale is for each decision you need to take.
- exciting - now that you have made your decision, how excited are you?  It is true that it we cannot live, dream, breathe, be engulfed by our goal, it probably won't be achieved - so being clear about your decision is important. 
- recorded - it's important to capture your goal ... write a sentence (preferably not a paragraph) about your reason for selecting this destination.  This will allow you to focus - clearly focus.  Now write it on something or put it somewhere where you will see it regularly.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on [email protected]!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91

The fun starts now in Maderia!

The next day was a public holiday, so we thought that we might have a chance to 'be tourists' and visit some of the sites.  See a little more of the island - understand more of it's history.  This wasn't to be.  10am the mobile rang and it was our first estate agent (or realtor as they are called locally).  We hurriedly got up and left the hotel to meet with the local representative from Madeira Property Centre.  Wow this was an experience. 

We had explained exactly what we were looking for - a refurbishment project with land attached.  

The first property we saw was exactly what we asked for, but ... not what we expected!  The buildings were all but derelict and probably had to be pulled down.  Yes, it had land; but from the house, the land disappeared over the edge.  It was now that we realised that all property on Madeira is on a slope - after all Madeira is a volcanic island.  Price wise this property was within our budget.  One of the reasons we turned this property down was that the road to the property was a challenge - no off-road parking without breaking into the boundary wall and putting in an underground garage.  OK, we asked for a refurbishment project! 

The next property we saw was in Ponto do Pargo - a fabulous property if you were looking for an investment or holiday property.  Ponto do Pargo is on the west of the island (about as far west as you can go), with views over the seas to the USA!

One of the things that was a surprise was that we were not handed any details about the properties, so to keep a record of each property we saw we took masses of photographs - external and internal.  This property was in a reasonably good state and with a little work you could move right in.  Great views!  This property overlooked the new golf course development.  The whole area is in great need of development and the new golf course dsigned by Nick Faldo will bring this in.  This property looks over this course, so the views are guaranteed; but the price (albeit within our budget) reflects this.  Although a fabulous property, it didn't have the land that we were looking for with our new environment.

There are very few days, from our experience, where the skies aren't this blue.

After having a drink with Martinho (Maderia Property Centre's local representative) we wound our way back to the hotel in Funchal.  We started to talk about what we had seen.  There were two topics of conversation - the first was about our cars - we planned to bring at least one of them with us and having experienced some of the roads we had been on today, we wondered if the car would actually be narrow enough to get down the road!  More learning.  The second was about the properties we had seen.  We made a decision on the first and the decision was 'no'.  For the second property we sketched out plans of how we could redevelop the house - the only reason we did not pursue the house was the lack of land that went with it.

Want to make a success of your plans to move?  Want to work with someone who will not judge the reasons you want to make your move, who will not guide you down a specific path?  You have this opportunity to work with a qualified and accredited coach who has done it!

Just email Barbara on [email protected]!

Find Barbara's biog on http://www.internationalcoachinginstitute.org/coach_referral_service/display_detail.php?trf=91