How to deal with rent when living in two countries?

[Winston]

Question:

When you live in two countries, part time in one and part time in another, how do you deal with the rent situation? I mean if you are renting a place, you will have to keep paying rental payments every month, even if you are in the other country, which is really a waste of money. So how do you deal with that?

Do you find a way to rent a place for only a few months at a time? If so, how do you handle the furnishings? I mean, most apartments and rooms are unfurnished, which forces you to buy a ton of furniture and appliances, which cost a ton of money, only to sell it for a fraction of the price when you move out. That's a bad deal. It's better to rent a place that's furnished, but most places don't offer any furnishings, at least not in the Philippines. So what do you do about that? Or do you guys buy up a condo in each country that you live in?

[Contrarian Expatriate]

This is something I've thought about for a long time. I personally have a condo that will be paid off by my retirement time, so I will only have to worry about rent in my other city. I am leaning towards just long term hotel stays abroad.

My suggestions are below:

-You could select two areas that have seasonal or short term rental periods. That way, you can rent for six months at each location. Short term rentals usually have abundant selections of furnished apartments.

-You could also develop a relationship with small independent hotels at each location which would permit you to have extremely low rates for a stay of six months or so. I have had hotels slash 60 to 70 percent off their rate when I stay for long term.

-You could also just rent cheaply at both locations.