Book Reviews: Country Guides, Property Guides & Finances Abroad

Because Spain is one of the most popular places in the world for expatriate Britons to live, there are of course many guides on the market that aim to assist anyone thinking about making the move.  So, how on earth can you determine which is the best-written guidebook available all about living abroad in Spain?

Well, you can either buy them all from your local bookshop or ask your library to source them all for you – or you can take a recommendation from a site like Shelter Offshore where we have probably read most of the books on the market as part of our ongoing research!

If you were to ask us for our recommendation, ‘Living Abroad in Spain’ by Candy Lee LaBalle would be very high up on the list of good guidebooks, well worth a read.  This is another title from the Moon Living Abroad range, and it has been written by an author who loves Spain today as much as the first day she arrived over eight years ago…despite the fact that her rose coloured glasses have long been replaced with 20:20 vision, and she is no longer under any sort of illusion about what modern day Spain is really like!

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I was so excited when the postman came calling the other day, because he brought me a big fat parcel all the way from America.  In it were the latest titles from the Moon Living Abroad Series for me to review for you! 

The first book I grabbed from the pile was Living Abroad in Panama, because Panama is a country that really ‘speaks’ to me…I have a strong urge to take a much closer look at this stunning nation.  So of course the first book I can now review for your consideration is by Miriam Butterman and it’s really all about going and Living Abroad in Panama!

As with all the Moon Living Abroad titles the book is broken down into 4 main sections.  You have your Welcome to Panama section covering everything that a would-be expatriate needs to research and know before they even set foot in the country.  Then there’s the Daily Life section that helps you adjust to living abroad – followed by the Prime Living Locations section that breaks the country down by region for you.  And finally the Resources section is invaluable for anyone serious about going to live, work or extensively travel in Panama…

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We are offered a handful of books to review on a regular basis, selecting only those we feel would be of interest or use to you, our readers.  When How to Books came up with a new title called ‘Start and Run a Residential Letting Agency,’ we were instantly interested because we saw this as a potential book that could lead readers towards perhaps finding a way to make their life abroad continue to be viable if they have been hit by the global recession.

We’re aware that many expats are struggling having lost jobs, contracts and commission payments, and that some are looking for new ways to make money abroad.  This book suggested to us that while it’s not the usual title we might select to review, it could be a resource of use to such expats - so we willingly accepted it and decided to read it and see if indeed it would be a good resource for you perhaps.

We were very pleasantly pleased with our decision, because our instincts were right – this is not only a fantastic book that’s well written and exceptionally detailed…it can work as a tool for anyone at home or overseas who’s looking for a new and viable opportunity.  Just think – if you live overseas in a popular tourism or business locale, you could have a wealth of property letting opportunity right under your nose.  All you need is the guidebook to show you how to start and run a residential letting agency…!

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Sales is one of the hardest, most underrated, over insulted professions in the entire world…what’s more, selling is hard even at the best of times, so for those who are in the selling game during a recession such as this one, the goalposts just got moved out of sight!  What’s more, consumers – i.e., a salesperson’s customers – just became even more savvy, even less likely to pay book price and even more likely to haggle.

If you moved abroad at any time in the past 10 years and took employment in the likes of real estate, chances are you were in a selling role.  Sales of property as well as holiday homes, holidays, commercial space and even sightseeing tours were all incredibly popular jobs for expats over the past decade.  They are often roles which require those who speak English and who can communicate with others from the same nation, and they are roles that expats are naturally drawn too as they can be easy to come by. 

Now, with the global recession biting hard, such roles are still relatively easy to come by, but earning any salary in the form of commission is nigh on impossible as no one is in a purchasing position!  However, a new book entitled “Selling in Tough Times – Secrets to Selling When No One is Buying” could just be an expatriate salesperson’s must have title of the year!  Whilst this is not the sort of book we usually review for our readers, this is actually an exceptionally valuable book to consider if you are in the sales game and you do want to get an edge in the toughest market conditions.

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