Now that you’ve done your research on the criteria for the country to move to here, it’s time to dig deeper at city and (surprise?) neighborhood level. 

Why? Well:

• Two cities of the same country can be very different: Vancouver is very different from Toronto (even Canadians say that) and Munich is a different sorry than Cologne (believe me, I lived in both)
• The neighborhood and its characteristics will directly influence the quality of your life and your everyday life experience.

Remember Mira & Stefan’s Story? 

Without being aware of it, they rented a place to live in Surrey, BC, Canada, which was the center of the Indian community, full of facilities and events dedicated to Indians. This place would have been perfect for an Indian family arriving to Canada, but for Mira & Stefan coming from a European country, it wasn’t the best choice and they decided to move to another city.

So, do you want to make the best decision about the city and neighborhood you’re going to move to right off the bat? My wild guess is that you do, because this is why you’re reading this. This already brings you steps ahead of any person moving abroad, isn’t that great?

What should you consider when choosing your future home city?

1. Demographics: population, density, gender, average age, minorities (nationality, religion, sexual orientation, etc.), occupation, income
2. Cost of living​, including what percentage of your income will be taken up by the rent​​
3. Quality of life: including crime rate, safety, etc.
4. Job opportunities, employment rate, and average income
5. Housing prices and trends
6. Cultural hub: events, history, and tourism
7. Cleanliness and/or pollution
8. Aesthetics: buildings, streets, parks, nature
9. Traffic, public transportation & parking
10. Predominant leisure activities
11. Level of pollution
12. International airport
13. Friends or family in the area

… aaand what other criteria do you have?

And what should you take into consideration when choosing your neighborhood?

1. Facilities in the area: grocery store, school, hospital, pharmacy, park, church
2. Type of neighborhood: more expensive, family-friendly, hipster, touristy, financial district, ‘Little Italy’, China Town
3. Demographics: population, density, gender, average, age, minorities (nationality, religion, sexual orientation, etc.), occupation, income
4. Public transport & connections to other parts of the city
5. Proximity to city center
6. Landscape & aesthetics (why not?): buildings, streets, parks, nature

… and don’t stop here, find additional ones that are important to you!

Do your due diligence and look into this when making such important decisions which will influence every day of your life from now on. It’s really worth your time and effort. We truly admire you and cheer you through this process. You know what’s best for you. Go for it!

For more tips and awesome resources for your smooth move abroad:

• Sign-up for the newsletter to receive the upcoming posts and videos with awesome tips on how to move abroad faster and cheaper and free tools
• Get your Master Guide Moving Abroad: The Essentials, to receive a complete walk-through the whole process of moving abroad, a must read if you want to have a smooth move and a great bonus: The Budget Guide, woohoo! – find it here.

Be 10 steps ahead of everyone else! Have you signed-up yet?

At Smoovster we put great emphasis on how to choose the best location to move to. Why? Because it's the most important decision of all and it influences everything else, duh!

And if you don't do it right the first time, it will cost you a lot of money, time and energy to “fix it”. But don’t worry, this is why you are here and Smoovster has made it it’s mission to guide you smoothly through this process. Let’s do this!

How do you approach the process of making this decision?

By getting yourself as informed as possible about the place you’re moving to, of course. The more you know, the more informed your decision will be and you will:

• Be able to decide where it’s best for you to move
• Reduce your chances of being negatively surprised by things you don’t like and
• Prepare yourself better for the whole endeavor of moving to and accommodating in your new country.

Enough with the “theoretical” talk now!

By what criteria should you choose the country you’re moving to?

1. Politics: trends, government (also potential government changes), internal & external directions
2. Authorities: bureaucracy, people’s trust in authorities, reliability
3. Justice system: laws, reinforcement of laws
4. Economy: trends, forecasts, stability
5. Healthcare system: reliability, expenses, access, duration of maternity leave, disabilities
6. School system: accessibility, reliability, traditional vs. modern, international renown of universities, child care
7. Pension plans: options, average pension after ‘x’ years of work
8. Citizenship: process, duration, double citizenship, sponsoring family members, compulsory military service
9. Distance from home country: flight duration & cost, additional connections, time difference
10. Openness to immigrants: programs, percentage of immigrants in the overall population, how are immigrants perceived, welcoming culture
11. Attitude towards minorities: different nationalities, religions, sexual orientation
12. Language, including if people can speak another language, in case you don’t know the local one
13. Regulations around bringing kids, having kids, marriage, common law and divorce
14. Legal drugs
15. Climate, including potential natural disasters

This is our checklist. What would you add to this?

And… there’s more! Doing your research on the country is not enough. The next levels are doing your research on the city and… the neighborhood, as well:

• Sign-up for the newsletter below to receive the upcoming posts on how to choose the perfect city and neighborhood for you, on where to look for the most reliable information regarding where to move to and many more surprises like this
• Get your Master Guide Moving Abroad: The Essentials, to receive a complete walk-through the whole process of moving abroad, a must read if you want to have a smooth move – find it here

You've got this and we've got your back!

This is not an easy one, huh? But it’s one of the most important. Finding and living in a house you love and fits your needs is indeed essential!

Well, then good that you’re here and congratulations on deciding to take a thorough approach, to make sure you make the best choice from the start. You know that guiding principle of ours: do it right the first time! Why? Because it’s such a waste of time, money and energy to move around with all your stuff. Having a mid to long term home is a huge contributor of you and your family feeling stability and peace.

Let’s get to it!

What are the decisions you need to make before even looking for a place to live?

• Renting vs. buying a place
• Type: house, townhouse, apartment or other
• Building age: consider even its seismic degree
• Number of rooms desired: bedrooms, plus living room, bathroom(s), patio
• Neighborhoods to exclude
• Acceptable price range: rent vs. mortgage per month
• Furnished, partially furnished or not furnished
• … what else is important to you?

OK, phew! That wasn’t that hard. Once the above are decided upon, what are the additional criteria to take into consideration when moving?

1. Parking: some homes have parking space included, but some don’t; for the ones that don’t, make sure there are other free parking options around the building
2. Storage: in some countries, you have the options to look for places with extra storage space, which can be very handy
3. Laundry: it can be in-apartment or shared; it may not include a dryer; when shared, you will probably need to pay every time you use it, either by coins or card. Make sure you are aware of the process around it
4. Kitchen utilities: in some countries, homes (including the ones for sale) have the stove, refrigerator or dish washer included
5. Other utilities: the electricity, water, gas, internet, cable, etc. might be included in rent or maintenance costs, depending on the building or municipality
6. Building restrictions:, e.g. pet-friendly (some buildings don't allow pets), age restrictions (some buildings no kids allowed... believe it or not), other rules, such as those regarding noise (not allowed to listen to loud music after 22:00, so that's it for your parties)
7. Public transport: connections to other parts of the city
8. Location (besides neighborhood), i.e. distance to: your work place, kids' schools or daycares, stores, hospital and pharmacy, community centers, restaurants and entertainment, sports facilities, parks & nature, church or other
9. ... aaand don’t stop here, is there anything else that is of importance to you?

Always feel free to add criteria and items to our checklists or decide that some criteria we've included are non-essential to you. We promise we won't mind :).

The purpose of including as many criteria as possible in our checklists, is that you need to make an informed decision about what is important and what is not to you. You can then avoid surprises, expensive mistakes and disappointment, isn't that what you want?

But things don’t stop here. We need to dig even deeper on the following topics together:

• Your best sources of information regarding finding a place to live in
• The market-specific aspects and language you need to be aware of
• The logistical aspects when renting, respectively buying a place
• How to choose the perfect neighborhood

These topics will be covered in future posts, so sign up for our newsletter below, as well as in great detail in our wonderful first Master Guide, Moving Abroad: The Essentials, which contain a wealth of information – it’s a must read if you’re moving abroad. Get it here.

We’ve got work to do, Smoovster! Stay tuned for more awesome content. Why should you do that? Because you want a smooth move abroad!

PS: Remember to sign-up for the newsletter. You won't miss out on any article, video or free tools we're creating for you!