Networking Tips for New Expats in Singapore

by Alexandra Sheehan

The expat community in Singapore is a huge, dynamic group of individuals. You will have no problem whatsoever finding a group of non-locals to relate to and hang out with. However, because of its unique cultural makeup, Singapore has a very different social scene than what you may be used to, one of the reasons why it is such a great place to be an expat.

Making connections

The population in this country is largely composed of young professionals who zoom from place to place, enveloped in their smart phones and robotic in their demeanor. This can be intimidating for the new kid in town (or city), making it hard to break those initial barriers and actually befriending someone new. There are tons of resources which break these barriers for you, providing expats multiple outlets for socialization.

Meetup.com groups are very active and offer great ways to meet people and do interesting things. It is different from the intimidating idea of online dating, as it isn’t necessarily for people looking for love. These pressures are lifted from your shoulders, and all you have to do is RSVP, show up and have fun at an event. Groups are formed based on common interests or demographics, so it is easy to find someone you have something in common with. It’s also a great way to get new ideas on things to do, because, let’s face it, those tourist attractions lose their excitement after some time...

http://www.expatfocus.com/c/aid=911/articles/singapore/networking-tips-for-new-expats-in-singapore/

Interview with Simon Kerridge of Languedoc Property Finders

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your company

I have been in residential estate agency for over 20 years. I began in London in 1989 and moved to Pezenas in 2001. Languedoc Property Finders specialise in helping British buyers and sellers buy and sell property in the Languedoc region of France. We currently have offices in Pezenas and Narbonne and operate in and around those two areas. I believe that buying a property abroad should be fun. An adventure if you like, and we work hard to make the journey as enjoyable and stress free as it should be for both buyer and seller.

What has the property market been like this year?

This year has been an interesting one. Numbers of buyers are down but the buyers that are around are tending to be serious about buying. The difficulty is finding correctly priced properties for these serious buyers to buy. To put it simply, if you present a serious buyer with a correctly priced property then they will buy it. Too many sellers are basing their selling prices on "What they want for their property" or "What they need to sell for in order to buy what they want". This is an unrealistic approach. I may need to sell my Ford Focus for €100,000 in order to buy the Ferrari I want but we all know that is never going to happen. Estate agents are also failing to educate their sellers by way of feedback. It is all too common for sellers to only hear from their selling agents when they have a viewing to arrange. Sellers should expect a regular update from their agents in addition to feedback after every single viewing so that they can build up a true picture of what the market thinks of their house...


http://www.expatfocus.com/c/aid=1332/articles/france/simon-kerridge-languedoc-property-finders/

Interview with Andrew Queen, Golf Property Store, Spain

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your company

My name is Andrew Queen, and my company is the ‘Golf Property Store’ (www.polarisworld.org.uk or www.golfproperystore.com). I arrived here in Spain in 2003 after my family purchased a villa here (Villamartin). It really was for a 6 month trip away from it all. Soon after this I fell into the property industry working for a large property company that brought people in predominantly from the UK on 2/3 day Inspection trips. I enjoyed the job immensely and ditched all plans to return to the UK very quickly! After a few years the recession arrived and the days of subsidised trips were numbered. I met my partner soon after and my beautiful daughter Sofia arrived soon after that. Of course, the recession took its toll on the property business but I adjusted to the market and moved into the ‘Bank Repossession’ market, where prices were very attractive and mortgage conditions were preferable. This has seen us through the recession very well – people are always looking for a bargain regardless of the times we are in!

The one thing I did decide on very quickly was to concentrate our efforts on one area/product instead of spreading ourselves too thin. As such we concentrated on the Polarisworld Resorts in the region of Murcia – close to the Mar Menor. I knew the resorts very well after buying on one of the resorts myself a few years ago, and my daughter attends Kings College – a private British School attached to the Polarisworld resort of La Torre. With prices around 1/3 of the original costs it was a very good decision and we are currently in the process of expanding.

What has the property market been like this year?

In my honest opinion the market has definitely changed. Sales are at their highest for years and there is a definite mood of change in the air. Prices are creeping up on some of the resorts although there are still some fantastic bargains about...

http://www.expatfocus.com/c/aid=1333/articles/spain/andrew-queen-golf-property-store/

Why Don’t You Just Go Home?

No one likes a whiny expat. There are books upon books written for expats relocating to yet another new country, and one of the most common themes is “Don’t criticize”. Australians even coined the term “Whinging Poms”* for the legions of Brits who’d go out there and then complain about everything from the heat to the spiders. Reminds me of an old joke - A Brit had almost saved his fare back to the UK but needed another quid to buy a ticket. He asked an Aussie "Can you give me a quid to get back to the UK?" The Aussie said, "Sure, here's a fiver- take four other whinging Poms back with you."

*Whinging is a word of British origin meaning whining or complaining. The “g” is soft, like a “j”. A Pom is a semi-derogatory name for Brits; the etymology is somewhat vague but this is a great explanation.

It’s not surprising that natives get a bit irritated when they hear non locals putting down their customs, food, language, education system, and so on. How would you like it if someone moved in next door to you and then basically denigrated everything you did, said or ate? I’m wondering though, at what point the criticism becomes acceptable? When it is appropriate for an expat to voice a criticism of his of her host country? How long do you have to have lived there, and under what circumstances?

http://www.expatfocus.com/c/aid=1328/columnists/toni-hargis/why-dont-you-just-go-home/

It's The Mosquito Season In The Dominican Republic

I have absolutely no idea why God invented mosquitoes. I cannot see they do anything useful at all apart from being a tasty snack for lizards and tarantulas. However, living in the tropics they are all over the place and you would think you would get used to mosquitoes and not let them bother you. You don’t. When I first arrived in the Dominican Republic around 12 years ago, when I was bitten, which was often, I would get a large lump and it would itch like crazy for days. However I think your body must build immunity as now when I get bitten I just get a little lump which goes after an hour or so. I still don’t like them though.

In the early days I would spray anti mosquito spray all over my body from head to toe, just like all of the tourists, but if you live with mosquitoes all year round, besides being very expensive, I can’t see that it does you any good to cover yourself with chemicals day after day.

So you try and have preventative measures such as screens on the windows and mosquito nets. Also good are mosquito coils which you burn. They are especially good outside in the evenings under the table to stop the little critters munching on your ankles...

http://www.expatfocus.com/c/aid=1323/columnists/lindsay-de-feliz/its-the-mosquito-season-in-the-dominican-republic/

Video interview: Casey Bahr, American expat blogger in Costa Rica

Casey's blog: adullroar.blogspot.com
Casey's Expat Focus column: www.expatfocus.com/casey-bahr

See below for interview transcript:

Expat Focus: So Casey, you’re currently living in Costa Rica. Could you tell us a bit about the culture and what it’s like to live there?

Casey: Well, it’s like any other Latin American country, in that it’s fundamentally a Latin culture, and Catholic. And what that means is that there’s a little less emphasis on time and more emphasis on relationships. So when you interact with people, you’re expected to engage in some pleasantries and conversation before you really get to the point about what you want to talk about...

 http://www.expatfocus.com/c/aid=1326/interviews/2013/casey-bahr-american-expat-blogger-in-costa-rica/

How the US Shutdown Affects Currency Exchange Rates for Expats

by Simon Hilton, senior foreign exchange consultant at World First and official Expat Focus foreign exchange partner

In the past few months, we’ve seen the strength of the US dollar take a bit of a tumble. At the start of July, USD was up at 0.671 against GBP, but in recent weeks, we’ve seen it fall below 0.61. And it’s not just the pound against which we’ve seen the US dollar struggle, having also lost ground to the Euro and Australian dollar (AUD), amongst others.

Add to that the political deadlock which brought about a US government shutdown, and it’s certainly been an unsettled picture. About 800,000 federal workers in America were told not to go to work while museums, national parks, services and government buildings remained shut in the wake of a lack of consensus over the US budget and the debt ceiling.

So what has this meant for the US dollar? Well, a temporary lack of credibility and a loss of confidence in USD has ensued, creating a feeling of uncertainty and wariness amongst potential investors, which, in some cases, has actually deterred them from investing...

http://www.expatfocus.com/c/aid=1325/articles/financial/how-the-us-shutdown-affects-currency-exchange-rates-for-expats/