Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

Hello.
We've been here in Philly a little over 6 months now. Its been a crazy, crazy ride. We thought we had an idea of what we were in for, but really we had no idea. Sometimes, although we knew it was going to be hard, we wonder if we would have done it had we known precisely how hard. It's the relentlessness of hard stuff that gets you down, I think. That said, after being through a bit of a downer at the start of the year and the cold, cold winter taking us completely by surprise, I feel that things are starting to look up again.

Our relocation consultant introduced us to another family being relocated a few months ago, and I have to say, life would have been a hell of alot harder if we hadn't had each other. Particularly since our husbands are away so much now, movin' and shakin'.
It's interesting that both of us had completely different experiences of the same relocation consultant.
So I've been reflecting; what makes a good relocation consultant? Also what would you have needed from them as you left home ground?

For us, we didn't want help with schools because I only trusted myself to do that. As a result this pretty much decided for us the area we were going to live. However, the consultant did help us find a house and also negotiated the rental agreement for us. She helped us get our ID's, SSN's, and driving licenses. But that was pretty much it.
However, our new friends found the same consultant to be too 'pushy' and they went against her advice on a house in the end. At this point it seems like she disengaged from them a bit and it was a loooong time before she came back to them offering help with ID's and SSN's.

So as I reflect, I'm interested in your experiences of relocation and what works.

At the same time I must add that this forum was a godsend from all the little bitty help and advice about schooling, pet transport, electrical appliances (I went with a frontloader in the end) to using the International Autosource as a means of having it sorted by the time we left home. Thanks Pulaski, for that one. A car was absolutely essential for us and arriving two weeks before the school autumn term meant that we had little time to play with. IAS arranged a rental car for us until ours arrived, reimbursed us the cost of it and then provided us with a shiny new car around 6 weeks later. Sure, the lease may be expensive but honestly, we were so under the cosh at the time there is no doubt our mental health was aided with the assistance of IAS.

And Thank you British Expats! :thumbsup:

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

Would not be suprised if it's all about $$$.
There could have been a finders fee for the consultant if the family had taken the house recommended.
By going alone that cut her out.

They don't always look out for the client, more so themselves.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

No relocation consultant is allowed to take commission from anyone. They are employed to advocate and look after their assignees and are paid from the mobility budget.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

Hey at least you brought Philly its first Super bowl. Its a great time to be in Philly

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

After they demolished half the city :lol:

I know my cousin said his relocation assistance was invaluable. They helped him set up everything from his SSN, Driving License, apartment etc. Finding the right car and even helping him with insurance.

I guess it just depends on which firm you're using and it's just down to luck on who you get assigned.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

So they keep telling me ;)

Did you see Jason Kelce's speech? I don't regard myself prudish atall. However, I was surprised at the language he used to make his point infront of such an enormous crowd. Particularly with so many children present. Then I was super-surprised at the incredibly positive response from nearly every Philadelphian I meet to a speech that came across as a bit truculent :blink: Strangley, I can't imagine that being acceptable at home. Or am I just being old-fahioned?

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

As you only have your new acquaintances side of the story, I would definitely take it with a few grains of salt. Who knows, I'm sure you don't, what they deem to be 'pushy'. If it were the same agent, then the service offered to both you and the new acquaintances should have been the same. What would make it different would be clash of personalities and/or attitude on part of the client. You worked with your agent. It would appear that the new acquaintances did not.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

My company is arranging something for me and appointing a realtor to locate some housing and also a consultant because i was told legally the realtor can't say anything bad about a property but a consultant can.... is that right?

Sorry to throw this question back at you :)

Is there anything you particularly wish you'd got some more info on? Sounds like you were pretty clued up on a few things prior to the move.

I know I've got a lot of info in this forum and need to start reading but always good to hear about others experiences.
Interesting to hear about getting a cold shoulder for not taking the advice. From your experience is it particularly worth keeping the consultant on side?

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

Therer's a thing called disclosure -- if something "bad" is known about a property, it has to be disclosed to a potential buyer. For instance, I'm thinking about buying a house, but I have it tested for radon and it comes back positive. I decide not to buy the house. Now that it is known that the house has radon, it has to be disclosed to the next potential buyer. A realtor in a good area dealing in decent properties isn't going to risk a lawsuit over non-disclosure.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

A realtor in Texas cannot disclose demographic information ( hispanic community, gay community etc) They can't say which school is better or worse.
Your relocation consultant can. She is hired for her local knowledge and is "your person" - there to guide you, look out for you and advocate .

The realtor is paid on commission so can hardly be non-biased. Your relocation person is paid a certain amount to look after you.

Normally, a relocation person has their realtors that they like to work with and the realtors have to be vetted by the mobility company. It would be unusual for the relocator to work with a realtor provided by the company - unless it was a house buying scenario, In this case, the relocator would bow out of the process and help you with the other aspects of moving.

PLease bear in mind that not everybody is given the same level of relocation assistance. Some people get half a day, some a day, some 2 days and some get a week.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

Regarding the school information, that seems like a pointless restriction, if it is law. All one needs to do is look at any of the real estate sites, i.e. Zillow, etc. to find out the information on schools and their ratings.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

The realtor sites list the school assigned to the property with usually a great schools score. They do not give out demographic information nor is there any kind of disclosure about special programs at the school - more special needs kids, more ESL kids etc. If I were to ask where all the french kids go to school, the realtor would suggest I ask the french community, or might give a very vague response.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

Zillow gives you the rating as per greatschools.org. From there you have the choice of going into the school site itself and reading up on the programs available, etc. It is very easy to find out the information on schools, even without a realtor's input, so why restrict them to what they can and cannot offer.

I never said they gave out demographic information for that I would go to citydata.com and ask questions, etc. I know that I when I next move back to my home state, I will definitely tell my reality what type of neighbors and neighborhood I am not interested in buying in.

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

Well yes, the profanity laced speech was perhaps inappropriate in front of 3 million people. But remember this city has never won a superbowl and probably has the most passionate sports fans in the country. So it came from the heart and will go down in history as the best speech ever. I loved it!

And, welcome to Philly! That's how they roll. My favorite city, btw

Re: Reflections after 6 months touching down.
 

Realtor being unable to say bad things about the property is BS. Ours would on every property we visited, sometimes pointing out foundation issues etc.