# Cost of living on Rhodes



## iansheff (Nov 3, 2008)

As the title says what is the cost of living like on Rhodes? I would like to move over there, I have been quite a few times on holiday and really love the place. Obviously I am looking to find out a much as I can about the cost of living there compared to living in England. I will also look at trying to find an apartment to rent for a month or two first to make sure that it is what I want as I realise it is totally different living there to having a two weeks holiday. Any information would be appreciated.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

I lived on Rhodes for 7 years, 93-99, so I am familiar with living there although it has been a while.

First, I would say that asking about cost of living depends on what you consider living. What I mean is, some people in England live on 10k a year and others will tell you they can't get by on less than 30k. It depends on what your standards are, what you can put up with and what you can't. So while a comparison website might tell you that the average cost of living is 30% lower on Rhodes than in England, that alone is simply not enough information to be really meaningful to YOUR expectations.

Beyond that, there are other factors that are at least as important if not more important than cost of living. When someone talks about moving to another country, the big unknown is whether they will 'stick' or not. Unfortunately, there is no way to know that beforehand.

During my time on Rhodes, I saw many people come to the island planning to stay. I have no real statistical data to offer you but I can tell you from my personal observations, about half were gone within the first 2 years and only 1-2 were still there after 5 years. Obviously, those aren't great odds.

The single biggest obstacle to sticking I have seen is the ability to accept 'different'. Loving a place on vacation is nothing like living in that place. When you move there and start having to deal with all the day to day realities, you quickly discover the differences. Some people simply can't deal with those differences. They start talking about how it is 'better back home' or how it 'makes more sense', etc. Once the negativity starts, it's easy to see how it can progress.

Some other things also make it more or less likely you will stick. Will you need to earn a living or do you have an income from elsewhere? ie. retired with a pension. If you will need to work, what education, qualifications, skills, etc. do you have to help you find work? Or are you thinking you will work in a bar in season and take the winter off like many residents do?

A friend of mine on Rhodes used to say there are 2 reasons why people move there. Some are running away from something and some are running to something. Those running away usually find that whatever it was is still with them. In many cases what that meant was if they were a loser at home they will be a loser on Rhodes. I'm not suggesting that applies to you iansheff, I'm just telling it like it is.

People who arrive with a limited amount of money in their pocket obviously have more pressure on them than those who arrive with enough to pay their way for a longer period. All these things contribute to your chances of 'sticking'.

You mention trying renting for a month or two. I always advice people that they should rent for a year and preferably 2 before doing something like buying property. It's easy to buy, much harder to sell. Until you get through that first 'honeymoon period', it is not a good idea to buy anything. That's if you were thinking of buying of course. You haven't said what your circumstances are. The more relevant information you provide, the more relevant responses can be.

I'd be happy to provide more info if I can iansheff, if you provide more info to comment on.


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## iansheff (Nov 3, 2008)

Hi thanks for the reply, I am not sure yet whether I would look for work or not, I would rent my house in England out and see what income I received from that. I am a teacher so maybe could get the teaching English as a second language qualification and earn some money teaching English. I have looked for rentals, one I found wanted a minimum of 12 months rental. I do not want to stay in holiday apartments as they are usually small and offer nothing in the way of entertainment. I do not want to go out every night, so somewhere with a TV or Wi-Fi would be what I want to rent.


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## concertina (Oct 18, 2012)

I do think that taking a rent from the UK and living outside of there is a good idea but finding a job in Greece is almost impossible,remember that the youth here flock to the islands in the summer for a few months work.You would need private medical insurance as not even A&E is on offer to you if you are not paying into the system through your employer.Many islands now have very little or non existent health care facilities due to severe funding cuts.Perhaps young people dont think too much about this but I was reading of the problems on Samos where they have only one paramedic ambulance and it was called to a young guy involved in a motorbike crash and also called to an older man with a suspected heart attack,both sadly died.Samos does have a hospital but sometimes they cannot treat people as they have no gloves.Believe me, living permanently is not the same as being on holiday and as boring as it may sound,living in lots of different countries may possibly(Im not sure)lead to problems later when applying for ones pension,especially spells of unemployment.Of course none of us really think that those older years could ever happen to us,youth must be eternal.....not so...prices on islands will be higher for everything but we should all perhaps look to reduce our consumerism and adjust our needs leaving us more financial leverage in our lives.If you have a reasonable rent from the UK it may be possible to do something here but only if every penny is carefully accounted for and you live perhaps in a small studio flat and buy your food at the local open markets.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Well if you said what kind of income you expected to get from your house ian it would make it easier to suggest whether it might be enough or not. 

Your cost of living will depend on your standards as I've already said. If you want a bigger place as you mention then you will pay more rent. 

There are plenty of English language schools on the island as well as teachers who give private lessons in their home or the student's home. Normally, I would say that one more teacher is not impossible however given the current economy I have to think that parents will have had to cut back on extracurricular lessons of all kinds and there may well be more teachers than students at present. 

If you had enough income to get you through the winter months and found a tourism job in the tourist season to pay the bills for half the year, that might be possible but again, more people than jobs. Don't even think about trying to find a job online before you get there. It's a question of knocking on doors and asking.

For a place to stay I can give you a first hand reference to one place where I lived for 5 years. They have had long term rentals as well as vacation rentals for many years. I rented a 2 bedroom apartment from them, so while some units are small, not all are. The family are very honest and fair, I trust them completely and that's important. Have a look at their website and if the apartments shown appeal to you then phone them (use Skype) and have a chat. The prices you see on their website are for tourists and you will get a different price if you are asking for several months. Make it clear you may stay longer.

The property is in a more residential area but you could walk to shops in the village etc. in about 15 minutes. To me the location is great because you can choose to go into the hussle and bussle of the tourist areas or not as you please. I would suggest getting a scooter though. 
Niki Hotel Apartments


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## iansheff (Nov 3, 2008)

I am unsure about the income yet but I was wondering how much things like electricity, taxes, Internet and home insurance cost per month.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

I think you are putting the cart before the horse. 

If you tell us that you will have an income of 500 pounds a month, the likely answer is that is not enough. If you say 1000 pounds it's a maybe and if you say 2000 pounds it's a yes as long as you accept what that will allow you to afford.

Asking people to detail costs before knowing what kind of number you are looking at for income is asking them to possibly waste their time. It only takes you one phone call to an estate agent to find out what kind of rent you can expect for your property. Make the call, let us know.


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## concertina (Oct 18, 2012)

iansheff said:


> I am unsure about the income yet but I was wondering how much things like electricity, taxes, Internet and home insurance cost per month.


Well,OldPro is right and some great advice,electricity,well we find now that its cheaper in our small flat to put on the air conditioning unit in the winter(on hot air)and great if you can find a place with a solar panel for your hot water,April,May,June,September,October you still want a hot shower,July August no of course,saves money.We have a deal with Wind,internet,national and most international for 29 every month and some time free on mobiles nationally.You can phone home and talk all day which is great not to worry for the bill as you are talking,well probably sweating if the person is a massive talker.We got our bill down with Wind by telling them we would go elsewhere if they didnt reduce the price when the contract was due for renewal.Home insurance,well people dont usually bother here,I think its possibly very expensive.And just by way of advice,bring with you smoke alarms,two types,one for flames and one for smoke detection,just cant find them here,nobody has them.The property tax is paid by the owner,not like the UK...the tenant.Great street markets for your food,I go at the end when they reduce the prices,sometimes in the summer I get 6 kilos of toms for 2 EURO,I give some to neighbors.At the end of the day its as OldPro rightly says....it all depends on your life-style and only you know that.


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