Relocation Agent advice?

Hi,

A few people have recommended using a relocation agent for my move to London from New York with my husband.  We're totally on our own with logistics...

any recommendations?

Theresa

If you can find a person who actually moved into the area themselves, that would be of great benefit, because they can tell you what its actually like to move there- but that being said, if you can't find one you you want to look for someone who 1.) Has a ton of knowledge with the issues that arise with recent immigrant- such as having no bank account- so therefore no one wants to rent to you, but you can't get a bank account without having a place to live 2.) They should have a good relationship with the various estate and letting agents- but be totally independent so they can give you an unbiased opinion of the properties 3.) One who will start to seek out places before you come, so that you can start looking at places right away 4.) One who knows the benefits of each areas- schools, public transport, etc  5.) One who can help set up with banks, getting a national insurance number, so on and so forth

Mine was awesome! But unfortunately, mine is not from London, so therefore, I can't offer advice. 

When I get back to work next week I may be able to help you out...the wife of someone at work does this job.  She's helped out a lot of people, many American..

Theresa - Do you have a moving company yet?  Some of the bigger ones, like Crown, may have contacts that offer relocation services on the London side too.  Do you know what area you'd like to live in?  I think it was you that mentioned it in another post but I can not remember...somewhere not to far from Earls Court, I think?  We had a great relocation agent, as did friends of ours.  I can check in to see if they handle only corporate (employees of big companies) moves or individual too.   

No, we don't have a moving company but I've looked into Crown.  I guess you recommend them?  They offer relocation services...

Hi - Sorry, I wasn't clear.  While Crown did move us for several of our moves, our relocation agent was independent of them.  Crown did a great job for the moves, though on the London side, it was a different company who moved our things -- not sure why but just assumed Crown movers weren't here...  I have recently found London office numbers for them though, so who knows.

My thought is that you may be able to get relocation services directly from your moving company.  We didn't use Crown on moves that we personally paid for because we found them to be a bit more expensive than many of the other companies; but, these moves weren't in London so can't attest to comparative costs in relation to Crown here. 

I think the main concern you had was that you wouldn't have time to hunt for flats...is that right?  Even with our relocation agent, we spent a good deal of time going through flats to find the right one.  If your budget is nice and big, it may not take too much time at all though -- and could even possibly go directly through the listing agents (those advertising the particular property at their firms).  Have you been looking on any of the local websites with listings yet?

The quote I received from Crown actually shows that they do offer other relocation servies like flat-hunting, bank account set-up help, etc...  They offer a free in-home consultation regarding moving so I may try that to get more info.  And no, our budget is as small as possible.  We're getting NO help from our employers.

I looked into options for apartment hunting and it seems to be much less expensive to just find a temporary-stay flat (through hostelworld.com) for two weeks when we arrive in July rather than flying on a separate weekend in May or June.  Flights are over $1,000 each from New York.

Thanks again for all your help! It is so greatly appreciated.

I'd be careful about using a relocation agent that is attached to a letting agency, they might limit your hosuing options to what they can offer and not scout round the other agencies or newspapers. But no harm in taking up the free consultation.