Better to find apartment before or after move?

Hi! I'm new here and considering moving to London in a year or so. I'm an obsessive planner, so I'm trying to think everything out before I start doing things like applying for a job transfer and getting my cats certified for immigration.

Anyway, I was assuming I would need to find an apartment in advance of arranging shipping for furniture, etc., so they would have a delivery address up front. However, it would be a lot cheaper to find a place once I arrived, so if it's possible to arrange shipping first and then find a place, I'd love to know!

I live in New York right now, so I'm used to needing a good 6-8 weeks to find an affordable apartment I can live with. Does it generally take this long in London?

Any suggestions or issues I should be aware of in making the housing transition as smooth as possible?

Thanks!
Katryn

I had a job before I came, so I was able to use my work address for shipping. Since I found a place to live before the stuff arrived, I refused the shipment when it was delivered to work and then was able to change the delivery address. Good thing, too, because I have NO idea how I would have got ten big, heavy boxes from work to home without a car.

However, I didn't ship furniture, just some boxes of household goods through UPS.

so far, i've been looking for an apartment and trying to secure housing before i move over. like yourself, i'm an obsessive planner and could go about this no other way. it will take a while to set yourself up (finding a place, reference checks, figuring out a move in date) and that's assuming you've found a place. i'd suggest looking ahead of time.

-jo

To get a place before you come over, you either have to take one sight unseen (not recommended) or make a special trip a month before you move and spend a few days looking around (and if you don't find a place before you have to return to the States, you'll be really frustrated that you didn't plan for a couple more days to look). So it's up to you, but that's a lot of extra expense and frustration that you could easily avoid.

I would recommend you book a b&b or serviced apartment for a week for when you first move here, and you can use that address or your work address (if you have one, this is best) for the shipping address. Also, get a travel cell with a UK number (or buy a regular pay-as-go when visiting the UK) before you move so that you will have a UK number to give the movers and estate agents. It takes a few weeks for your things to arrive from the States, and if you don't have a place by then, they can put your things in storage briefly. But unless you have some special requirements, you'll surely find a place by the time your stuff arrives. Look online and line up some viewings and estate agents before you arrive, and you'll find something within that first week. It's possible it won't be available immediately and you may have to wait a week or two to move in, so I'd make sure to have found a couple of back-up lodgings you can call if the one you're staying at isn't available for an extra week or so. And you may want to wait to move in until your stuff arrives, anyhow, if you don't want to camp in an empty apartment. We got an unfurnished apartment, but moved in before our furniture arrived because we brought an air mattress and battery-operated inflater in our luggage (these things would cost you MUCH more in the UK).

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone!

groovy_yank, that's pretty much what I was thinking. I have relatives in Brighton that I could stay with while I look for a place in London and I just can't see paying rent on a place that I won't be living in for a month or so.

Good to know about the air mattress -- I was thinking I would buy one when I got there.

Good to know about the air mattress -- I was thinking I would buy one when I got there.

Fyi, we got a queen-size elevated air mattress for $40 at Wal-Mart and a battery operated pump for $15 at Target (it worked like a charm, and no need for a voltage converter as with the plug-in models).

Here, the elevated (or double-layer) mattress in just the tiny single size costs $80! And believe me, you'll want the elevated one -- they are nearly as comfortable as a regular mattress and fine to sleep on for a few weeks. An electric air pump here costs $40 (I translated these costs to U.S. dollars). A mattress and pump will use a fair bit of luggage space (count on it taking up maybe 20 or 30 pounds and a lot of room, I can't recall the exact weight), but if you can spare the space, it will save you a lot of money by not buying those things here.

costco UK has an elevated queen for £25, with built in electric pump. you do have to have a membership though, but US memberships work here.....