Heliotrope wrote:
> If I would know anything about mortgages for expats, I would have surely
> responded, as would many others on here I think.
>
> All I know about mortgages for expats is that it's not very easy but that
> it is certainly possible (I once heard someone mention HSBC but I forgot
> who and also can't recall if their experience was positive), but beyond
> that I have no knowledge to share.
> Also, I would be more wary to recommend a financial service than I would
> for example a moussaka recipe, since the impact it can have on someone is
> pretty huge - if someone follows my recipe the worst thing can that happen
> is that they eat a mediocre meal (although it's hard to mess up a
> moussaka), but if the financial service I recommend turns out to be bad it
> can impact someone's retirement.
>
> You've probably already Googled it and are looking for first-hand
> experiences and recommendations here.
> Perhaps try a large general expat group (so not specifically for teachers)
> on Facebook or Reddit instead and ask for suggestions there, as you might
> have more luck there with a bigger audience.
> In my experience a lot of ITs put off buying a home because they haven't
> settled on where to retire, and of the ones that do own a house a sizeable
> share will have purchased it while still in their home country.
>
> I suspect that I'm included in what you describe as the 'most vocal ones',
> but it's not chest thumping for me - it doesn't do anything for me what
> another anonymous person thinks of my anonymous forum persona. I'm honestly
> trying to help where I can, which is my main motivation, other than asking
> the occasional question myself.
> My high post count (currently #6 in the number of posts-ranking) is
> unfortunately in large part due to me pushing back against some things that
> are posted by a certain forum member, things that I believe to be incorrect
> or (in my view) immoral, and I do this mostly because I don't want teachers
> new to the forum to think these things are true or normal. I strongly
> suspect members like @Thames Pirate or @Sid have the same reason for
> engaging.
> I admit it does go on for far too long in a lot of threads (hard to deny
> really), but regret about engaging him often comes too late, since messages
> can't be deleted or edited a few minutes after posting. I do think untruths
> should be countered but there are smarter ways to do so without getting
> sucked into page-long debates that do little to help the OP.
>
> I hope you find a way to finance a property.

Hi Heliotrope,
Please excuse my lack of refrain. I was frustrated. The reason I signed up with ISR is because their motto is, "keeping each other informed", and all I've seen is a bunch of bickering these past few years. I do concede to the fact that maybe nobody has any input, but it's nice when someone like you would at least say, "hey, have you tried this?". It might not be the answer, but 2 heads are better than one, and however many heads are on this forum is even better (albeit for one head, I suppose). I really appreciated your positivity, and it was a nice response to read. I'm not sure why, but I didn't even think about joining some kind of expat group.

Anyway, all in all, it's nice to get a reply, even if it's to suggest another avenue for information, rather than crickets.

@Marieh
Yeah, I've been doing a lot of digging and I can't find anything less bureaucratic than what you describe. It's crazy. This is probably a good time to be saving anyways. lol