If you own a second home abroad, it is fairly likely that people are going to draw certain conclusions about you and your circumstances without being fully aware of the facts. These can include assumptions about your financial situation, your lifestyle, or your desire to have endless visitors. Whether you are working full time, or have retired, if you have an overseas property, you are bound to come across some pretty irritating misconceptions about your personal circumstances. Here are some of the more common ones, accompanied by some strategies for dealing with them without offending anyone’s sensibilities.

Whether you have a second holiday home abroad, or have moved abroad permanently, you will tend to find that many of your family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances will assume that you are absolutely rolling in cash. Even if you have saved for years and years, putting time, money and effort into making the right investments in order to be able to afford it, or have a job abroad and a large mortgage to pay, not to mention food, utilities, and home insurance, people will still assume that you have ‘lucked out’ in some way, almost as if you did not deserve it. They might say things like ‘you are so lucky to have a place in the sun’ or ‘i’d move over there too if I won the lottery’. A good way to deal with snide comments such as these is to say something like ‘it nearly makes all those years slogging away at X worthwhile’ or ‘the estate agent got us an unbelievable deal – do you want their email address?’ Saying something like this will answer their remarks without making you seem too defensive.

When you first move abroad, there can be a temptation to be somewhat over-eager in inviting people to come over and stay with you. This can contribute to the more general misconception that people who own homes abroad will love having visitors to stay all the time. This is not to say that having visitors to stay can’t be a wonderful thing – enjoying the sunshine during the day and drinking cocktails in the evening – but you probably didn’t move away to end up running a full-time island hotel for the free and exclusive use of your friends and relatives.
The only way to really keep a lid on this kind of thing is to be strict in the management of your diary and learn how to say ‘no’ to people. For instance, if you’re planning a week away with your partner to mark a birthday or an anniversary, you shouldn’t feel obliged to take anyone else along. A good solution, if you have moved abroad permanently, is to find a good, reasonably priced local hotel or B&B. This will allow you to see your friends and family when they come across without having to run around after them the whole time.