Moving Costs
 

Hi all,

I'm just starting to play around with some figures for moving to Canada. Can anyone please give me some ballpark figures for removal costs for a 4 bed house (not overloaded with stuff)? Going from Northants to Toronto area (in theory).

Also, did anyone use a long-stay hotel when first touching down, before moving into rental? If so, how much do they cost and are they suitable for families with kids?

Thanks

Dave

Dave , removal companies charge by the ccontainer, or part container, so a 4 bed house would vary with another 4 bed house depending on the types of stuff you are bringing. My personal opinion (and its just my opinion) is you leave electronics (obviously) and furniture in the UK and sell it before you move. You can get reasonably priced furniture here and beside the furniture you have now may not suit the decor of where you will ulitmately live - thats just my opinion. I can send you a list of moving companies if you wish - just drop me an email

As for the long stay hotels - I would classify them as short stay and really I wouldn' t want to spend more then a month maximum in them. Costs will vary depending of the class of the accomodation ...budget 75-125 dollars a night.

Re: Moving Costs
 

Dave

One thing you might look at is holiday lets if its off season when you go. The owners are often open to negiotation as the property will probably be empty. I know someone who got a property normally rented out at $1250 per week during the holiday season for $1250 per month on a 2 month let. It was suitable for a family. Plus the owners are probably less fussy about references as they are used to having lots of different people in the place.

Another thing to consider is sales tax. In BC if you rent for 2 months or more there is no GST payable but there is if its <2 months rental. Not sure if that applies to Toronto but check the customs site as its quite a saving if it applies and the property owner might not be aware of it.

I'd say you could find suitable long term hotels for a family but you need to be choosy. Down side of a hotel long term is there probably isn't much space for the kids to play etc. Which over long term could get to be a pain.

Cheers
Dave

Another thing to consider is how your furniture will stand up to the climate. We had friends that moved over and because of the dry no humidity atmosphere their stuff dried out and cracked really badly. I'm not saying that will automatically happen to your stuff but you might want to consider it depending on what you've got and the climate you are going to.

I'd second Ray's view - sell and buy in Canada unless of course you are attached to the furniture for sentimental reasons etc. Problem is you will get very little money for selling 2nd hand furniture in the UK in my experience.

Dave

Thanks for the tips on selling/buying furniture - I'm not that attached to what we have, so it might be a good idea.

Also, I like the idea of short term holiday lets as opposed to long-stay hotels. You're right, not really the best place for boisterous kids!

Thanks all!

When we first came to the US we took on a corporate let - ie it's a furnished place for month by month rent. Boy, that was an expensive mistake and a a really daft one - often you can find companies that will hire out furniture for short term use so it probably would have been cheaper to rent an empty place and rent the furniture to fill it. Ah well, we live an' learn!! :rolleyes:

I've got a couple of questions on this front as well.

-How long does it take generally for stuff to go from door to door (ie-UK to Canada).
-Will companies store stuff (furniture, etc) for you when it gets there? Obviously until you get a house or whatever...

The door to door time depends, its different for different shippers and depends where you are going to in Canada. Some Companies have a more frequent service than others. Plus if you want to share a container with someone else (cheaper) it will add a variable amount of time.

Best bet is get some quotes form a variety of shippers for your specific circumstances. But a guestimate would be 6-8 weeks and ballpark 4000 GBP for a container. But its really variable so I'd get some quotes.

You can get the shippers to store stuff either in the UK or in Canada - I believe its cheaper to store in Canada but check with the individual shippers. You could self store but its hassle and the shippers charge you extra anyway.

Also be careful about insurance - its often not included in shippers quotes. So get them to quote or decide to take the risk of loss and save the premiums as you choose.

One last thing - I believe you will need to be there *in person* when your stuff clears customs, so depending on the port of entry that could be simple or a long trip for you.

There seems to be a wide range of prices between shippers and some other threads have recommended particular shippers.

Cheers
Dave

talking of removal insurance, word of advice, itemise every cd dvd and video game, write them all down and give the removal company a copy.

When we moved back to Canada from the UK, we used http://www.sevenseas.co.uk/. Found them very reasonable and quick, but we didnt have furniture or big stuff, just loads of boxes. They could even time the shipment so it arrives when you plan to as, ie we took 3 months to get back to Canada so they held the shipment in the UK until the appropriate ship was leaving.