Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Please email [housing@fsu.edu](mailto:housing@fsu.edu) from your fsu email account and request to cancel. When you are moving every couple of years, you may start to despise having so much "stuff" to move with you. Nope. This Reddit is NOT endorsed or supported in any way by the U.S. State Department. You can join our public Discord chat here: https://discord.gg/URvYjr3, Press J to jump to the feed. 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. A few interagency colleagues extended a year or two, and used their LQA to pay 4-5 years of a sweet retirement property. While of course nowhere near the level of an Ambassador's home, it was still quite large and fairly luxurious (at least to my eyes): 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and fully furnished for a single diplomat in their 20s. 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. This is assuming you arent sent to a DC post as your first tour. 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. 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. Either that or rent it out after. Don't worry. So, if they're living in the United States, coincidentally across the border from where you're posted, that's not an issue, because they're living in the U.S. and we're on our own when living domestically. If they were caught staying with their SMA family on work nights they risked having to repay SMA benefits received. It was also located in the heart of historic Dupont Circle near many of the embassies. Hate to belabor a point you've already made, but "it depends" is totally the rule. 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). I am just trying to explore my options and was curious. I'm currently in my mid twenties and single/unmarried and prefer living with roommates/friends than alone because of the livelier atmosphere. University Housing: Providing exceptional living opportunities for students to succeed academically. Learn more. I think the days of seriously oversized residences is going, if not gone - at my last overseas post (four years ago), it was getting harder and harder to get waivers to go over the set maximum square footage, even in a post where American-sized choices were almost nonexistent. But as I was typing away and considering the options, it didn’t feel right to divide the information. FSS - Foreign service specialists "provide important technical, management, healthcare, or administrative services" at overseas posts Learn more. The original intent was to break down the pros and cons of joining the Service into separate posts. This is what I wanted to do, but was not sure if it was allowed. The rules permitted you to use that payment towards a mortgage. Doesn't seem like the best option. Honestly, we are fine with the Drexel furniture (love Drexel hacks!) someone selling you a property at well below market value in return for some sort of favor. Please feel free to discuss current event topics, share study tips, provide prompts for timed essay exercises, etc. 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 would rather buy than rent but curious. Do not share anything that may be in breach of non-disclosure agreements. When I first wrote this draft, it started much differently. 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! Piggybacking on this - Are border posts, like Ciudad Juarez or Tijuana, also subject to the same RSO-provided housing regulations? In my life, I've seen the inside two different homes of diplomats. But don't sublease your USG housing. We just use the spare rooms for other purposes, and our cat loves having the run of the place. ), at least to some posts over the years. This presented a host of issues and led to policies about how officers were required to stay in their COM-assigned housing during work nights. If I were to do a post abroad would I be allowed to privately sublet the place to others? 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. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. It was a disservice. Is this true for post A-100 (CONGEN, Language) until you PCS to your post? Although I can't imagine any management officer was conducting bed checks to enforce this, I do understand some were caught and had to repay SMA benefits over the years. Buying property may not make sense unless it is your last tour and you plan to retire there. Just curious. If you're in a very poor country like my previous posting, the numerous hurdles would likely make this infeasible. Are you planning on buying and then selling a place every 2-3 years? This is a bit of an issue at some border posts. Do not share anything that may be in breach of non-disclosure agreements.