Housing

When you teach for an international school overseas, your housing is, for the most part, taken care of. As housing is often a big chunk of a teacher's expenses in the West, "free" or almost-free housing, is a huge perk when teaching overseas and can quickly increase a teacher's disposable income.


House vs. Apartment
In most major cities around the world outside of America residents, even families, usually live in apartment houses instead of single family homes. America seems to be unique in the concept of urban sprawl; other countries combat this by building up instead of out. Think New York City as opposed to LA. The advantage to clustered housing so close to the city is that people often don't need a car to get around. When living overseas you'll likely live in a nice apartment building, often complete with a private terrace and a doorman, although usually without a swimming pool or gym, as is typical in U.S. apartment buildings.

Shared Housing
Single teachers overseas often share housing. Some schools that provide housing to teachers will automatically house two single teachers of the same sex in the same apartment. Even when the school provides a housing stipend, teachers often rent an apartment with another teacher to save money.

Utilities
Gas, electricity, and water expenses for teachers overseas are handled in the same manner as housing. International schools usually pay for all a teacher's utilities, often without a teacher ever even seeing the bill. In some cases, instead of paying directly for their utilities, schools will help remunerate teachers for utilities with either a stipend or increased salary.