Short term furnished apartments

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:33 pm

We're a family with a small child moving to Helsinki in the summer and while we wait for our stuff to arrive in the container which takes a few months, I would like to find out if someone could recommend a good furnished apartment for short term leasing (1-2 months) or then a serviced apartment for a week?

I've checked out some sites on the net and many of the good apartments are booked for the summer. Also if you could share with us how your family made the transition during the early days (from the airport to an eventually furnished place) that would be a great help! We're planning to buy our own place after a while but we're taking our time to look for the right house -- so just renting for the time being.

Thanks! Just so much on the To Do list when making the big move

**Sponsor:**

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 6:21 pm

Are you fussy about whereabouts in Finland

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 8:33 pm

Oops! Thanks Penelope! I actually meant the Helsinki region. Trying to make the transition of the big move as smooth and easy as possible and a hundred million things on my mind

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:55 am

Did you use the search engine on this forum. This question has been asked lots of times, so you should be able to find some links to accomodation providers (OTOH the search engine is rubbish, so it might not be that easy to find the threads). I have posted some links myself in the past. We moved here in 2001 and used a rented furnished let for a couple of months before our furniture arrived. We then took an unfurnished let for one year until we bought a home. (Are you using a relocation agent? If so, they should be able to help you too. )

I'll keep looking

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:49 pm

There used to be an internal search engine in the forum but now it seems old threads are all over the place! Will try to key in the right words.

We're not using a relocation agent though we have relocation allowance. I found a rather good but pricey relocation service company called Celine Oy. The other service apartment which seems rather good but fully booked for the time we'll be arriving is http://www.redappleapartments.com

We actually found a tiny apartment for rent (35.5m2) with the option of having it furnished or not. Might settle for that if nothing else comes up. Thank you Penelope for sharing your experience of your big move. Now that we have a little one, moving is a slightly different story

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 8:19 pm

I can't find the threads I posted about furnished rental apartments. The one we used was called something like Dormen or Dolmen (???) and they had furnished flats for rent in Helsinki and Espoo. Ours was in Haukilahti, nice location, bus stop outside and walking distance from shops. It was close to the area we wanted to live in (Olari) so it was convenient for house-hunting at the same time. It was probably expensive but it came out of our relo allowance, and we had no choice (5 of us, no furniture, and no house).

Here are more two relo agents:

www.finlandrelocation.fi they moved us here, Marjo was really really helpful and seemed to anticipate our every need! If there are apartments available in Espoo/Helsinki then Marjo knows about them!

www.transite.fi they didn't move us, but I know the company, Liz has moved several people I have known here and everyone seemed very happy with the service.

I think you should ask your employer to help you find a corporate let. They may have used some apartments before.

automagic · Post by **automagic** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:05 pm

Hi, when I first arrived in Finland, we were put in near Ruoholahti (Köydenpunojänkatu 8 ) to be exact and I think the rental was made by Area (area.fi) I'm not sure how much was the rental though but it comes fully furnished including broadband connection.

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:08 pm

Thank you Penelope and Automagic!

Do you happen to know how long we are allowed to hold our container at the port when it arrives? This is just in case we haven't yet found a suitable place when the container arrives in Finland. We were told the container could take anything between 2 months to 4 months to arrive.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:38 pm

Don't know.... ours came by road from Hungary. But IIRC it was stored somewhere because we had nowhere to live, we found a house but had to wait a few weeks for it to be vacated.

One of the places where I work has a 12th floor view over part of the Helsinki dockland areas and, believe me, it is empty at the moment. So, as long as they can charge you to park your stuff there, they won't be in a hurry to deliver

automagic · Post by **automagic** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:49 am

Wasabi wrote:Thank you Penelope and Automagic!

Do you happen to know how long we are allowed to hold our container at the port when it arrives? This is just in case we haven't yet found a suitable place when the container arrives in Finland. We were told the container could take anything between 2 months to 4 months to arrive.

Wasabi, that depending on the local agent here. We used Oy Victor Ek Ab and it didn't take a long time to clear the shipment, which came from outside of EU, as long as your paperwork is in order, detailed packing list, fumigation certificate (if needed to), custom clearance form, shipping consignment etc.

You can find out from your local agent on how much they charge for additional storage time in their warehouse. When do you expect your shipment to arrive?

penelope, I believe they have shifted cargo port to Vuosaari earlier this year. I think the one that you are facing is probably Ruoholahti port, which no longer handle cargo, or so I was told.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:12 am

automagic wrote:
penelope, I believe they have shifted cargo port to Vuosaari earlier this year. I think the one that you are facing is probably Ruoholahti port, which no longer handle cargo, or so I was told.

Aha, OK, yes of course! It is really empty now.
I wonder what they will do with all that space? Build apartments, I guess

RUOHOlahti....

No grass, no trees... just concrete and glass.

automagic · Post by **automagic** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:35 pm

Penelope, I believe the first occupant of the empty port would be Madonna

That's where she's gonna held her concert this summer isn't it?

hasuni · Post by **hasuni** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:26 pm

Did you try Raantel Oy www.raantel.com. They provide well furnished apartments at very ecoomical rates in Helsinki, Oulu and Tampere.

Desundial · Post by **Desundial** » Tue May 05, 2009 1:56 pm

Can you find out from your shipper who is clearing your container in Helsinki and contact them for their storage rates? I shipped 9 moving boxes through a shared container shipper and picked them up within 3 days of arrival. ended up paying about 100 euros for the storage time and "processing" which seems to just have consisted of forwarding on the fact that I had received something to customs. I myself delt with the slovenly (stained shirt and tie, shirt untucked, trying to munch on some pullas as he hesitated whether he should bother to ask me the standard questions re: attempting to import materials) customs guy in some on port tuuli office.

I remember I had planned to leave it all there for a while until I could make room, but the arrival note scared me silly either from the proposed fees or a threat to send it all back if I didn't come by a certain time.

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