is it worthy.? does anyone have experience with them? thx a lottttt

I don't know how much she charges, but the company I work for uses her for all their relocations. She can come across as very abrupt, and a bit bossy, but she gets the job done. When we wanted to relocate however, we wanted to be between Zurich and Baden, but were told that she was only looking on the Gold Coast for us, although I believe this was because this is where all the others had been located so far.

She helped organise everything from arranging the viewings of the apartments (11 in one morning), registering at the local offices, train station for my first half tax card, getting Swisscom ordered, finding a nursery... and probably a host of other things that I wasn't even aware of :-)

so it was a good service that u wil reccomend right?

For me personally, I found that she gave a great service and helped us with everything that we needed. I know of another couple who had issues, but I think that was more of a personality clash than anything. I would use her again if I needed to :-)

We used her, a few year ago now, she found us a good selection of apartments. But be specific about what areas you want and that will help. I find it helpful to go into as much detail as possible or have an essential, important, would like to have, really don't want list.
She also seems to be pretty knowledgable about most areas, had our contract translated for us and brought my kids a lindt bunny each which they loved!

thx i decided to hire her for housing, since I have a relocation bonus to spend and I think it is better not to start in the wrong way getting crazy to find a flat in Zurich

Me and my wife are normal people not looking for the moon but just for a flat with the idea to buy a house in 2 / 3 years

Hi- I was wondering how you found her after you decided to use top relocation? We are moving from London to Zurich and have to pay for relocation ourselves out of our moving bonus so are price sensitive. Other companies quoting around 4.5k. However, we are only really concerned about the house hunting piece which I think she offers. One thing I was warned about is if they would have a lot of 'extras' for example if you needed to view more houses etc would the bill go up?

I have no idea I´m afraid - she was contracted by my work place. But I´m sure if you ask her to she will give you a full breakdown of the fees they charge so you can decide exactly what you want.

Thanks for the response! We're just widdling it down to her and Packimpex... she seems nice and efficient. Plus we like that she will keep going until she finds you something. Nice peace of mind!

My other half asked for more salary instead of relocation costs. Every year you get that higher salary - so the longer you stay the more you benefit.

They recomended toprelocation and others but they wanted something like 3 months rent or 10k minimum to find us an apartment. I wasn't working yet so I called around in English and found a place to move in the next moving date. I viewed 5 in total - all organised with no German. With a relocation agent they will definately be showing you those "expat" priced places that locals just won't pay so much for.

Just to clarify, the relocation agency fee in most cases is not related to the monthly rent. The discussion of fees in terms of monthly rent is what owners pay to real estate agents and property managers to find them a tenant. It is also the fee paid by tenants who use certain property agents to find a rental property. These agents are NOT relocation agents. They list an owner's property and charge the incoming tenant a fee. Most of these agencies do not even view the properties they advertise. They just handle the paperwork.

Most relocation agencies will charge you a fee to search for housing. This fee can vary greatly.

As for showing "expat" priced places, the rent is set without taking into consideration who is going to move in. I know "locals" with deep pockets who will pay top rents too. I also know plenty of expats paying the same rent as any locals would.

It is important to carefully read the terms and conditions of the relocation agreement before signing. Once you have signed that agreement is binding. If a place is found on one's own without the agency (for example, through a work colleague which can happen), the full fee could be due.

A housing search fee alone is unlikely to be 10K. That was likely a package which included other components. Many companies quote "packages". Some quote hourly.

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Well, I am not sure when that did happen, but when we have used her almost 5 years ago, it was way bellow 10k for a full package, including assistance with schools, registrations, etc. As Mrs. Doolittle said, they come in a package, not really related to housing prices or so. Barbara was extremely helpful for us, and it is not about the language only - German was not really an issue, and we also spend much time reading adds, forums, internet, etc. so were not absolutely noobs with no clue, it was still helpful .

I used Top Relocation. Best experience with a relocation agent EVER.

Barbara organised a short-term apartment for me and picked me up from the airport when I first arrived.

Then she took me out for viewings at least 4 times over a period of a couple of weeks, showing me about 5 places each time.

When I chose a place, Barbara did all the paper work and application. She also organised all the utilities, my insurance, my registration and my travel passes.

I was very happy with the experience - it was the easiest move I've ever made and well worth the money.