davidsk

We are thinking to use uk2novascotia.com services. I wonder if anyone used it before. How are their services? On their website, it says free but I wonder if their partners' charge is competitive or not.

dwight-van-man

I've never used any of their partner company services yet since I'm still in the UK - although hoping to use the Air Canada discount code!! - BUT, so far the advice they've given me, potentially without any income to them, has been great. As an example, asked them a couple of questions last week out of the blue by email and got a specific reply back within 20 minutes. Not just links or a cut n paste reply. Seems like a genuininely good service from nice people

Flogger

by partner's, Do you mean the realator company?

If so they do seem to specialise in overpriced real estate.

davidsk

realtor, rentals, car insurance, shipping, etc.

It does seem that the rentals on their website are quite expensive. even $800/week seems a lot to me.

Flogger

Seems alot to me too. It is a short term rental though so don't know.Check out Kijiji, see if the prices are comparable.

No idea regarding shipping. Good deals can be found though by shopping around.

I would be amazed if they can provide you with cheaper car insurance.

cxx

We planned to use them because their site looked really good, however we met their recommended realtors (they ask that you use them in return for using the website etc.) at an Emigrate show and decided that we would not be able to work with them - call it a clash of personality - so we decided it wouldn't be fair to use their service.

It was the one really useful thing we got from an Emigrate show

Winston Green

The company that employs me paid UK2nova $1000 for there relocation services.they are very expensive for house rentals and they were no cheaper for any of the services we needed. We bought our house through them very efficient but impersonal service. You can find out all you need on this site and negotiate a better rate with a realtor of your own. Up to you but I would not recommend them. Also search the wiki as there is a lot about them on here.

LucyLovelock

Not had any experience with this particular company, but just be careful when using companies that do not charge for any services but expect you to buy through them.
Not all, but some will try and get you to spend above and beyond your budget on a house, as they get more commission.
I highly recommend renting for 6 months or more when you first arrive anywhere in Canada, just to be sure you like the area and to get a feel for house prices, what kind of things you like, and how much you are willing to spend.
And stick to that too! I know people that have come over, been wowed by the huge new build house and tiny back yard, only to realise after buying that the neighbourhood is a drive from the town, they spend all their time on the highway driving the kids in and out of town, and they hate paying for a huge house that has lots of space for relatives to come stay!
Good luck with your move, its such an exciting time!

Almost Canadian

How much do you charge for services that, it would appear, are offered for free by most realtors in and around Caglary?

Lorna999

Hi David.
Everyone seems to have a different experience of using companies like these.
We used uk2nova when we came over last summer and found their services great. Most importantly, we have not had to part with a penny.

We used their realtor service which I found fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble, and we were listened to. We were only shown houses priced in the limits that we asked for, and Jerry managed to get the price of our house down well below the asking so were were delighted with his service.

In return for using their realtors, we have various discount cards which we can use over the province. We also got numerous store vouchers for money off.
I think most importantly for me, when I was struggling to get a job, Orla gave me the direct number of the head of HR and pulled some strings, and as if by magic a job appeared!

Now I am no idiot, and I am aware that money must change hands behind the scenes between the different parties. However I have to say, i did NOT have to part with a penny. I did try other realtors, and they were no cheaper, or for that matter better than using the ones in UK2NS. You just have to go with whoever you get on best with!

Peolpe seem to under the illusion that UK2nova set the prices for their rental properties. This is not so. I have a friend who rents her property with them. She decides the price and UK2nova are just the advertising medium. They DO NOT set the rates. There are very few rental properties available in Fall River and surrounding area as the catchment is so popular, so people can pretty much charge what they want, and people will still rent them!

Another thing you will hear, is that their realtors there are only interested in selling property in Fall River. This again is not true. Jerry showed us properties in almost every area commutable from Halifax. It was US that kept going back to Fall River. Why wouldn't you really. Cheap house with acres of land, private lakes, subsidised child care....what's not to like!
If you are interested, give them a go and see what you think. You will not lose money. (It's all 'you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours!)

davidsk

Thanks Lorna999. It is very informative.

kazbob

That's exactly the same as us, Lorna. We made a long list of houses that we wanted to view - Jerry took us to view them in Dartmouth, Sackville and Bedford, but it was us that loved Windsor Junction/Fall River and wanted to go back.

We also put our house for rent on uk2novascotia website to rent out - it was us that chose the rent we needed to receive to cover our costs, Mike and Orla had no say in it. The only money we ever forked out was to put our house on their website as an advertising medium. We have not paid out to anyone else.

Mike and Orla have also been a hive of information and are always quick to help with any queries that we have had.

We have had nothing but good service from uk2novascotia.

Karen

Sumner5

Like Lorna and Karen we too have had nothing but a positive experience of UK2NS and the companies with whom they are associated. Mike and Orla are both incredibly helpful and supportive and at NO time have we ever parted with any money for all the wonderful advice, guidance and discounts that they have provided us with.

As Lorna says you would have to be somewhat naive to think that there are no commissions or kick backs happening between the businesses with whom they are associated; after all they are a commercial operation and set up the business to make their livelihoods from it.

HOWEVER, you are never under ANY pressure to use their services or associated companies and with the ones we CHOSE to use we always 'comparative shopped' to make sure we were happy with the level of service and price.....and to be honest we ALWAYS were

I could not recommend them more highly for those of you wanting access to someone who's 'been there, done that, got the t-shirt!'. Nevertheless, there are those who do not want or need this kind of support and I can understand that too (I think?).

Rachel

airbornesapper

I have never bought real estate in NS but I will be recommending this lady, Elizabeth Irwin to my daughter who expects to relocate from Nfld to NS in the months ahead:

http://www.elizabethirwin.com/

Reason why, I bought a vehicle two years old from a dealer in NB that she had owned. I wanted the full service record but these details were only available from the NS dealer. So I contacted Elizabeth and she gave permission and gave me an almost brand new set of summer tires she no longer needed (worth 1500 bucks).

She is genuinely a nice lady, one I would do business with if I end up that way in a heartbeat.

Best regards, AS

budcolin

I would certainly recommend uk2novascotia.com.Any advice/ questions we ever asked were answered promptly, and we even used their address for our PR cards....and this was even before we'd made our mind up about NS.
We used a couple of companies on their website, and got good deals, but some others we could do better ourselves...shop around.

We used their realtor as well, who found us a house within our budget, and in the area we chose...at no cost to us, as it's the seller who pays the fees.

Some tend to think Fall River etc is overpriced, but having scouted around Halifax and surounds, there's not much difference, and like lots of areas, there's the huge expensive houses, but lots of modest and fixer uppers too, sometimes in the same street.

Good luck