Job Discussion Forums

guty · Joined: 10 Apr 2003 Posts: 365 Location: on holiday

Inpired by the TEFL is a farce thread, how many of you have been able to buy a home on your TEFL salaries?

I was fortunate enough to have a good TEFL job in the right part of the UK (land of the rising house price) and got a mortgage there in 2000.
Previouly I had bought and sold a small flat in the Czech Republic (in my girlfriend's name) using money earned elsewhere.

My question is, what are the countries where the salaries, and the laws have meant a TEFL teacher can buy their own home? And of those who have, how many have earned the money elewhere and how many on the spot?

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

I won't bother to repost my answer from the TEFL is a Farce thread. Instead, I'll simply write that Mexico is one such country where this can be done.

Twisting in the Wind · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 571 Location: Purgatory

We bought a home outside Los Angeles on basically my ESL salary alone. It's in a desert area where housing prices were depressed in the early '90's due to a confluence of economic and political factors. I was working 2 classes with occasional extra classes and tutoring. You can find homes in the US and buy them on TEFL salaries alone but it's not easy. We did not even have a credit card at the time! It has to be in a depressed area, maybe a fixer-upper. There are special programs for teachers and cops in the US to buy homes in economically-disadvantaged areas. Now, after 10 years, the value of our home has sored.

Twisting in the Wind · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 571 Location: Purgatory

soared

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

soured?

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

scored

Say, whatever happened to that word association game that was running at something like 4,000 pages? Or is that in another forum?

EDIT: oh, it's in the China Off-topic forum, at 105 pages

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Yep, aim to finish paying off the mortgage within 10 years of moving to Japan/Korea.l

once again · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 815

I have bought my own flat in Hong Kong whilst working as an EFL teacher, and have a pension plan and savings. We get paid well in HK, not as well as accountants and bankers, but it is easily liveable if you want to choose this kind of career.

saloc · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 102

Managed to buy a house in Japan through teaching English.

Boy Wonder · Joined: 29 Mar 2004 Posts: 453 Location: Clacton on sea

Saved around �30K from stint in the Gulf intending it to be to good use on property in the UK.
However when I saw how much a one bedroomed flat cost (last summer) in my neck of the woods I almost passed out outside the Estate Agents window.
�115K no way will I go South East UK.
Therefore I plan to buy abroad outright somewhere cheaper and then do another Gulf or Far East stint in order to take a mortgage out in the UK...but a lot further north than where I used to roam.

I just didn't fancy doing TEFL with a �100,000 mortgage round my neck for the indefinate future!

malcoml · Joined: 28 Dec 2004 Posts: 215 Location: Australia

A friend of mine had no problems doing it. He taught English in Japan for about ten years. He started in a school and then suddenly got a massive amount of private work. He married a Japanese girl and they bought an apartment. They set it up as a little school and had students coming and going all day. He claims he was sending home about 10 000-15 000 aussie dollars a month and most of it was cash.
Property prices crashed and the high profits ended in the English teaching industry. He ran away from his Japanese mortgage and came back to Australia and had enough money for two houses.
He was shocked at how expensive it had become here though.

eslHQ · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 43 Location: Korea

I am currently looking for a house/villa/apartment in korea. It's legal and cheaper than the states. We're looking at paying about $400 USD/month for a decent size brand new place. One draw back is the deposit. You must put up between $1000 and $100,000 as a deposit. You get it all back after you leave, but it's tough coming up with that kind of change...

Deconstructor · Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Posts: 775 Location: Montreal

I bought my first house with my wife 7 months ago in Montreal. My monthly mortgage is less then the rent I used to pay. This is a great investment and the APR is only 4.82%.

Unfortunately I couldn't have bought it on my TEFL salary working at language schools. I got an ESL job at a French public school.

ContemporaryDog · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 1477 Location: Wuhan, China

Houses on most parts of the mainland are more than affordable compared to western prices. My long term aim is to get a decent job in Hong Kong, and then lataer buy somewhere in a good city in the PRC.

At the moment an upmarket 2-3 bedroom apartment in Wuhan central will set you back around 28,000 sterling. In the countryside you can buy a house for a few grand.