Scouting Checklist #2: Questions To Ask
In Step #10, I provided checklists for questions to ask related to finding a rental, signing a lease, vetting a property purchase, or deciding to renovate or to build a new home of your own.
In addition to those property-related questions, during each scouting expedition you take, you want to ask everyone you meet, from taxi drivers to hotel desk clerks, from waiters to shopkeepers, from real estate agents to attorneys, from bankers to developers, a series of “background” questions, as I think of them. These are questions intended to help you to begin to get to know the place beneath the surface level.
It’s important to ask these questions of anyone and everyone you can. You’ll find that, often, answers will vary wildly.
Here’s the list. You aren’t going to ask all these questions of everyone you meet (you might not bother asking your local 20-year-old waitress which is the best bank for a foreigner interested in opening an account)… but this list will prompt your thinking…
- How many expats are currently in residence full time? Is the expat community growing? Does it fluctuate seasonally?…
- Where are most expats congregated? Why?…
- In which direction is the real estate marketing moving?…
- What’s selling? Who’s buying?…
- Are there any restrictions on foreign ownership of property?…
- Does the country impose exchange controls or restrict the free movement of capital?…
- What are the options for a foreigner interested in establishing full-time residency?…
- Which is the best bank for a foreigner to open an account?…
- What’s the current rate of inflation?…
- In which direction is the local currency headed versus the U.S. dollar (or euro, etc.)?…
- Are people generally happy with the current political leadership? Do they like the president, for example? Why?…
- How do the locals feel about foreigners moving to the country (and city that you’re considering)? Is there tension?…