This is your decision to make. "It depends", New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the foreignservice community, Dedicated to individuals who work for or aspire to work for the U.S. Foreign Service. But as I was typing away and considering the options, it didn’t feel right to divide the information. In my life, I've seen the inside two different homes of diplomats. We just use the spare rooms for other purposes, and our cat loves having the run of the place. Some posts in more-developed cities have an allowance for finding your own suitable place to rent, so that could work out to your advantage if you choose a safe, hip apartment building or housing complex. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. When I visited an FSO friend a few years back he told me they weren't even allowed to use the public transportation in that city. This Reddit is NOT endorsed or supported in any way by the U.S. State Department. Hey everyone, I took the FSOT back in July. This Reddit is NOT endorsed or supported in any way by the U.S. State Department. I don't have a definitive answer but my educated guess is absolutely not. Do not share anything that may be in breach of non-disclosure agreements. As always, it depends. Although, some people really enjoy having things of their own to comfort them in a new place. Do not share anything that may be in breach of non-disclosure agreements. My own experiences have mostly been positive - two lovely villas in different African posts, a great apartment in Cairo, and in my last post, a centrally located house with a living room so large it required three full sets of standard post furniture (which were fortunately available, if not entirely well-matched). It was a disservice. Buying property may not make sense unless it is your last tour and you plan to retire there. Some countries won't allow you to buy at all, in others security concerns would limit where you can buy, etc.. You wouldn't rent no matter what. Please feel free to discuss current event topics, share study tips, provide prompts for timed essay exercises, etc. QEP Results were said to arrive in 7-8 weeks. Honestly, we are fine with the Drexel furniture (love Drexel hacks!) There's nothing saying your family has to accompany you to your post of assignment and then where they choose to spend their time instead is up to them. We sold or donated most of our furnishings before we left for our first post and have not regretted it. Almost all of your overseas assignments will be 2-3 years. Learn more. This Reddit is dedicated to individuals seeking employment with the U.S. Foreign Service and are currently preparing, or wish to prepare for, the Foreign Service Officer written and oral assessments. It was, to be expected, large, gorgeous and well-appointed. I know at least one person who had assigned housing at a post where there was a famous beach town about 45 minutes away. But that is all a function of the unique nature of SMA at our border posts and beyond the scope of the original post, More posts from the foreignservice community, Dedicated to individuals who work for or aspire to work for the U.S. Foreign Service. This is what I wanted to do, but was not sure if it was allowed. ), at least to some posts over the years. I'm on week 8 and haven't heard anything. Are people generally pleasantly surprised or disappointed when they move into their new home overseas? Hate to belabor a point you've already made, but "it depends" is totally the rule. As I understand the FSO housing is usually quite large and spacious. What happens if you're still in the middle of a lease by the time you are actually moving to overseas? Also haven't been super good about keeping my ear to the ground on what is happening or what may have changed due to waves arms vaguely at everything.Seems like redditors who were suppose to complete the OA in the Spring were left in limbo. With this very limited experience in mind, I'm wondering what one should expect and, perhaps more importantly, what one should NOT expect for FSO housing overseas. What follows are essential aspects of a career in the Foreign Service you should consider in your decision to join. Every housing pool has a tiny apartment no one wants. In addition to the issues others have raised, I also believe that, if you purchased a property in a country to which you were accredited, the purchase would have to be approved by the Department, to ensure it did not violate any ethics rules, i.e. I'm aware that there's probably a lot of "it depends" on forthcoming answers here, but I'm just curious to hear about people's experiences. But hubby and I do have one or two rather nice pieces of furniture that we would love to be able to bring with us (if I manage to pass everything and get into FS! When you are moving every couple of years, you may start to despise having so much "stuff" to move with you. If you're in a developed country there will be more investment opportunities. Subletting your housing is a huge no-no, and living long-term with people not on your orders can be a security concern. Do not share anything that may be in breach of non-disclosure agreements. Nope. someone selling you a property at well below market value in return for some sort of favor. You can join our public Discord chat here: https://discord.gg/URvYjr3, Press J to jump to the feed. That's a bit of a different process. But, were you to want to rent/buy a different place for them to stay in your country of assignment, then you'd run into the same issues others have flagged. Just curious. If you're in a very poor country like my previous posting, the numerous hurdles would likely make this infeasible. Do not share anything that may be in breach of non-disclosure agreements. and carting around our own things is just too much of a pain to unpack and rearrange. He bought a home in the beach town and basically lived in it, only staying in his assigned housing occasionally.