Because my husband's organization is relocating us here, there have been a lot of nice perks, such as receiving the help of a relocation company to assist us. We have never relocated anywhere domestically or internationally, so this has been a new experience for us - that a new one for my husband's organization as well. (With my husband's hiring package, they started a relationship with various relocation companies it seems and we are their guinea pigs to see how this company stacks up.)
This is a tough subject I would think, as it seems all relocation companies are different and offer different services, especially as they are dealing with so many different foreign nationals who come with different expectations. We are working with a company called Latin American Relocation Management (LARM) and have had a generally very positive experience with them thus far. [My husband has a colleague that has been assigned to RSR Relocation and they've had a very poor experience with them. For example, our friends are having problems with their apartment after living there for only 2 weeks and their relocation company should be helping them but aren't.] Below is a list of places and things that they have helped us with!
POSSIBLE THINGS YOU CAN ASK FOR
- Airport Pickup, Drop off during initital visit, and for arrival
- City tour and orientation of good neighborhoods
- Apartment Search taking in account your top priorities, location and budget - make sure that they do show you apartments that meet your criteria points and if not, express this right away
- Seeing apts and meeting real estate agents (corredoras)
- Revisiting apts that we liked
- Contract negotiations
- Price Negotiations
- Arranging utilities (cable, water, gas, telephone, internet)'
- Meeting with the Property Owners
- Move-In Day
- Daycare Center Visits, Organizing the interview
- Nanny-Housekeeper and Nanny Service recommendations (short, long-term)
- Helping us interview the nannies and housekeepers
- Sports and Hobby recommendations
- Tennis clubs
- Language lessons
- Art classes, cooking schools
- Medical professional recommendations, Hospitals, Clinics
- Car dealerships (Toyota, Honda, Volvo, etc)
- Bank Account set-up
- Communication should be quick and responsive
- Drivers License
- Ad hoc shopping requests (food for your first week, cell phone, bagels, etc.) We have gone food shopping various times (as our car is coming at some point in January!)
Overall, they should provide a detailed orientation and answer any questions - no matter how small - in order for you to feel right at home.
Saludos y buena suerte,
Avila
Saludos y buena suerte,
Avila
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