Essential Guide to Moving in Korea and How Wonderful Can Help
Updated: Apr 21, 2021
Moving in Korea? Here are the essential steps you need to take to ensure you have a smooth moving out/in experience. Wonderful has years of experience helping expats with relocation solutions for those moving into Korea, moving within Korea or even moving out of Korea. Wonderful has got you covered. Here is how you can ensure a hassle free moving experience.
Scheduling a Moving Service
Price quotes from moving companies depend on a variety of factors, such as whether your building has an elevator or not, if you need a ride in the moving truck, if you need the furniture disassembled etc. If you leave out any information, most of the time you will be asked to pay an extra fee during the move which can lead to arguments and headaches.
Having assisted with hundreds of moving requests, Wonderful can help arrange for a moving service both locally and internationally, including services that can pack your items for you, if needed. Even when you do not have many belongings and are looking for an affordable single item delivery service, we can assist with that as well.
Communication with The Landlord
Many expats living in Korea are not aware that when you move out (either because your rental contract is ending or for any other reason) you are required to notify the landlord (usually) at least 1 month in advance (depends on the terms in the contract). If you don’t give an advance notice, the landlord might withhold a portion of your deposit as a penalty (short term rent). Wonderful can contact and inform your landlord about moving, and confirm when your deposit will be refunded.
Utility Bill Payments
One major source of headaches when moving out in Korea is settling utility bills and closing accounts. An example would be, say you plan to move on Jan 14, you would only need to pay utility bills (gas and electricity) for 14 days. Since the utility statement has not been issued yet, you will need to call the local gas/electricity companies and give them readings from your gas/electricity meters – which is not easy since most of the time, the staff do not speak English.
Additionally, say, for example, you have been using your own gas cooker (rather than the one provided by the landlord), you are required to reconnect the old gas cooker as it initially was before you moved in. This is usually done by the gas company and a reservation must be made in advance. Our service would be happy to handle these issues on your behalf and save you a tonne of headaches trying to communicate with utility companies.
Item Disposal
If you need to get rid of some items – furniture, appliances etc., we would be happy to help you sell them to pawnshops, donate them or arrange for a disposal service. You can learn more about item disposals by following this link.
House Cleaning
Wonderful can arrange for a team of cleaners to come and clean the apartment after you move out as well as clean your new apartment before you move in (if you are moving within Korea).
You can use us not only for the 5 things listed, but just about anything else that we can support you with. If you are curious as to any of the other services we provide or have any questions, feel free to contact our assistants on Kakao, Facebook or email.
Corporate program is available for companies with expat employees. For more information on this please email us.
Regarding our pricing, we charge for the time taken working on your request at 800 KRW/min (There is a 15% discount for first time users), and you can get a refund on the remaining time within 3 months. There are NO processing fees when you pay us via bank wire transfer. (You will pay only the cost of the item(s)). When we charge your bank card, there is an 8.5% processing fee that goes to the payment processor for their services. We do NOT benefit from this fee. For more information regarding our pricing, please follow this link.
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You might also find these links useful:
- Wonderful's Easy Guide to Moving and Living in South Korea for Expats.
- Moving in South Korea with Wonderful.
- How to dispose of items in Korea
- Foreigners Guide to selling items in Korea