Question for people who live/have lived overseas

[XemaSab]

On the show "House Hunters International," the homebuyers often seem very middle class, but they usually look at very plush places. For example, right now there's a young couple who moved down to Colombia and don't have jobs, but they're looking at places that are like $1250 a month that look like $2 million dollar apartments in New York.

I've often wondered why they almost always look at very expensive-looking housing and almost never look at a more typical city apartment.

I was wondering if in a country like Colombia there just isn't "middle class" housing, like everything is either very upper-class or very lower-class with no in between.

Any thoughts?

[hvn_nbr_2]

1. Your theory is probably much of it, maybe not all of it

I spent a few months in Brazil for a job once. (This was 35 years ago, so take with a grain of salt. OTOH, I don't think social systems change all that fast.) I stayed in hotels the whole time but there were others that I worked with that were there longer and got apartments, so I learned a little about living conditions beyond hotels. Basically, there were very rich and very poor and very few in between. The housing that was such that Europeans and Americans would stay in it all had servants' quarters within the apartments!

But some of what you see on a TV show is probably "for TV." Also, if prices are significantly cheaper than at home, people probably have a tendency to look at more luxurious places than they otherwise would.

[cemaphonic]

2. My dad has a friend that lived in Senegal for 6-7 years.

And it was exactly that - tiny squalid highrise apartments (or even more shabby mud/brick one-story homes) or large colonial-era mansions with full staff which he could easily afford on a ~90,000 USD salary.

As an African-American couple from Atlanta, they were initially extremely uncomfortable with the idea of living in a mansion, surrounded by African servants, but they quickly realized that the local community really depended on those jobs.

[Kaleva]

3. A brother is married to a woman from Uganda

Her family would be middle class here but in Uganda, she grew up in a very large home with servants. Others in Uganda aren't so fortunate as they live in shacks or even in cardboard boxes on the sides of the roads.

Would be an interesting episode if a couple was shown searching for an extra large cardboard box that had a great view.

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Japan has a large middle class

There are lots of middle-class-type accommodations available, which become less expensive outside of major urban areas. They are generally somewhat smaller than their American counterparts, but unless you get the Landlord from Hell, everything should be in decent and working condition. However, there are very few furnished apartments, so you have to provide your own furnishings (which can often be obtained from ex-pats who are returning to their home country).

[DaniDubois]

5. In many places there isn't much in between

I've found many Americans fear living among "the locals" when they first move out of the country. They choose "safe" area's which are always higher priced like the ones you describe. After you get to know your way around and get a feel for the local community you get a better idea of where and how to live in "safe" area's that are half that price, but you might have to give up the backyard.

[left-of-center2012]

6. I think (no, seriously - I do)

I think a lot of countries don't have a middle class.

[RedCloud]

7. Houses are built to last in the tropics...

There probably aren't a lot of people who can afford high prices and hence the lowering of rates.