Planning and preparing an international move can be quite stressful and time-consuming. Luckily, if you hire a company which specializes in international removals, they will be able to help you with a lot of the administrative issues as well as the actual removals and transportation.
This can be extremely helpful when you’re working on a tight schedule or when you simply cannot spare the time to think about everything yourself.
However, because so much of the end result will depend on the company you use, you will have to be very careful in your choice and do a lot of research prior to hiring anyone.
- Not only this, but to ensure that you will have no trouble settling into your new environment, you will need to make quite a few preparations, before you even begin planning the actual trip in terms of visa arrangements (if any) and transportation.
- Because you will not be able to go on viewings prior to moving to the new country, your best option will be to stay with friends for a few weeks or up to a few months.
- Naturally, you don’t want to overstay your welcome, but this initial period will give you a chance to devote some time to going on viewings and choosing the place that’s right for you.
- Naturally, if you do this, most of your belongings will not be able to go with you, so you will need to look into storage options.
- A lot of international removers also provide storage services and, with the right company, you may even be able to get some sort of package deal and save a bit of cash.
- This is why it is absolutely crucial that you do your research in advance.
Ask around, talk to friends and friends of friends and, as a last resort, you may even go online and check out your selected companies’ reputations, according to the reviews people are leaving on forums and message boards.
Do not rely on the stock testimonials on the companies’ websites, as these are rarely accurate reflections of reality. Try to seek out as many sources of information as possible. After you’ve narrowed down your options to only two or three companies, it will be time to get quotes from each one. In order to give you an accurate quote, a representative of each removal company will have to visit your home and estimate the size of the job.
Make a list of questions to ask during these visits – anything and everything that you can think of. And remember to ask if you will be able to get a package deal or some sort of discount for moving and storage services – international removals can be quite costly, so it is important to try and save money wherever possible.
After you’ve gathered all of the relevant information, it will be time to select a company, based on that. At this point you should have all of your visa and travel arrangements sorted, so that you can work out an exact date for your move with the company.
You will probably also have to make a down payment to secure your chosen date. This is why it is important to check your company’s reputation carefully – it is very easy to fall victim to a scam at this point. After all of these arrangements it is only a matter of packing your things and doing the small preparations leading up to the big day.
Anthony is an expert in the field of home maintaining, removals and storage. His publications you can check at http://www.houseremovals.org.uk.
