Is it not the outrageous costs of houses that is the problem? — wages do not match cost of living in this country alright… but you have the likes of @Tim_Riggins et al shouting ‘full - employment’ at every opportunity… despite the reality of what is really happening.
I went over on spec with Mrs J as her work moved her out there for a few years. For the first year or so I mainly partied, and returned here for work in spells(it was during one such spell that myself and @Rocko put 25€ ew on sublimity to win the Champpion hurdle @ 50s). Crucially I was networking hard (signed up for a few diffferent football teams). I’d done a Celta course so I started teaching English in a couple of places, I wrote cartoons for a Chinese cartoon company(a weird Chinese type of simpsons) and picked up a few other bits including most importantly, head of TFK’s growing Asian office. It’s there i did some of my best work. The most interesting gigs were teaching a load of Chinese 19/20 year olds dying to go to Shannon College(I shit you not), teaching the kids of some of China’s wealthiest people in Beijing middle school no 166 ( i think). Another was a sales seminar to hundreds of market vendors prior to the Olympics.
During this time of splendour one of the lads on the football team was looking for lads to coach volleyball in his school. One of those opulent international schools. I said I’d help out. I never thought I’d have much use for my School’s All-Ireland volleyball winner experience but the world works in funny ways. I was well used to working in schools and with kids so he offered me a full time job the following year teaching on the proviso that I qualified as a teacher. I signed up with Sunderland to do their PGCE (english H Dip) and went in. I did three years in the school and loved every minute. Superb facilities and so many resources. They worked you hard. 8.15-6 many days and a lot of saturdays, and because it was an expensive private school the parents had ridiculous access to you, including your phone number. The lifestyle that went with it was outrageous. Everyone was out all the time, eating in superb restaurants, diving holidays in the Philippines, Off to Thailand every second break, we went to Australia a couple of times to hook up with Mrs J’s sister.
The expat life is highly transient but fantastic. You make great friends but everyone moves on eventually. It opens you to new experiences, cultures and worldviews. It can be very fake though. In Asia in particular, you’ve got language and economic barriers that are hard to break through. But I’d recommend it for everyone. Sure you only live once and you need a different perspective on life too.
I wanted to stay. Mrs J’s contract was up but I’d been offered a couple of promotions in work and her Chinese was very decent and I reckoned she would get a great expat job out there, with all the benefits but you have to fish around for them. But Home beckoned(she was pregnant). So we siad Zaijian and moved home.
We got the chance to move again last year and nearly went but in the end decided we had to stay. But I’d do it again in a flash. If you get the chance, whore yourself to tke LinkedIn shit and have a go. Ireland isn’t going anywhere.
What was the pay like? Decent for there but didnt transfer back here? As in, you hear of plenty going to the mid-east to teach and save … could you do the same in China?
Both. A couple of brokers we dealt with didn’t have access to all financial institutions. Maybe that’s because they were shite, or do some lenders not bother to use them (other than perhaps an in-house brokerage subsidiary type thingy?) Yeah, so a broker collated info on a number of places and we checked other options directly before going with the best one.
PAy was great. Simliarish salary to here with a load of side benefits and very little tax. Got flights, medical, accomodation and that sort of shit too. YOu coluld save a fortune nif you weren’t a piss head with no smarts for life.
I’ve the bones of ten years spent climbing a greasy pole and have finally gotten myself a well paying number with a good work life balance to go with it and would be loath to walk away from it now.
I did contemplate moving to Dubai or Singapore a few years back when I relocated back to Ireland but never really followed through with it.
People weren’t struggling for mortgages in 2006, were they?
Houses prices were not as high
Wages are now higher, and we are close to being at the same employment level
I think it’s a problem though without question. The lack of 100% mortgages and more restrictive lending rules is locking a certain segment out of the market.
This makes it more attractive for cash buyers to come in as home ownership decreases and you have people on relativity high salaries that can pay high rents. That makes it harder to save. It’s a vicious cycle.
House prices were higher during the boom and salaries lower- people weren’t struggling to get mortgages if they had a relatively well paying job. Restrictive rules are locking certain people out of the market.
A single person on €60k in Dublin will struggle to buy somewhere without a significant lump sum (over and above the 20%).
It’s protecting the country from the shitshow caused by excessive lending the last time around - If people were given more money they’d be no better off as the people they are competing with for houses would also have more money to bid with. End result - higher house prices, more debt but same struggle to get on the ladder. All being told the restrictions are definitely a good thing in the round.
Ultimately, prices will have to moderate to wages - there are only so many cash buyers etc out there. I’m looking in Dublin for the last year and prices have definitely stalled - probably as bidders reach their ceiling. There is a bit of an impasse where sellers still think that their houses are worth more than buyers are prepared (or able) to pay but lots of houses dropping prices or selling below asking now. Equilibrium of sorts?