I recently finished moving apartments here in Helsinki, and wow what a process it was. Physically and mentally, it felt heavy. But along the way, I picked up some lessons and practical notes. So, if you’re new in town or about to move soon, here are some things that might ease your way through the whole complicated experience.

This post is divided into the key stages of moving: finding an apartment, hiring a moving company, setting up electricity, and changing your address.

Picking an Apartment or House

The very first step, of course, is looking for a place to live. Here are some ways to start your search in Helsinki:

• Facebook groups. A more direct option, where you connect straight with landlords and skip middle parties.
• Platforms like Oikotie. This is a centralized platform where you can see listings from different rental companies in one place.
• Providers’ own websites. Companies like Sato or Lumo list apartments directly. (Each has plenty of mixed reviews, so it’s worth reading people’s experiences before deciding. In the end, it often comes down to luck and trusting your gut.)

From my personal experience, my number one tip is always check the address and neighborhood before booking a viewing. Here’s why: the first time I skipped this step, I ended up at an apartment in a shady corner, right at the end of a bus line. Only one bus came nearby, which wasn’t practical since I rely heavily on public transport. No matter how nice the apartment looked inside, I knew the location wasn’t a fit. In the end, the visit felt like a waste of time, for both me and the housing company.

What works better:

1. Make a list of apartments that catch your eye.
2. Visit the neighborhoods first, check the vibe and how accessible it is by bus, tram, or metro. Or if you have your own car, then parking should be looked at closely as well.
3. Only book viewings for the ones where you actually like the surroundings.

Then comes the viewing itself, where it’s all about your preferences: number of bedrooms, stairs vs. elevator, balcony, the width of the rooms, communal facilities, and whether you want a private or shared sauna. After browsing platforms for a while, you’ll get a sense of the “typical Helsinki offer,” and then you can narrow things down to match your needs.

Hiring a Moving Company

Before reaching out to any moving company, prepare a detailed list of your belongings that you can easily copy and paste. You’ll need it again and again, and it should include:

• List of large furnitures (with dimensions if possible)
• Furniture type (especially IKEA, include the model name or link if you want movers to disassemble/reassemble)
• Electronics requiring installation/uninstallation, if you wish the moving company to do it
• Your apartment details (stairs, elevator, house type)
• Whether items will be pre-packed or loose
• Parking situation around your building

The more detail you provide, the more accurate their estimate will be. (Bonus: it also makes you reflect on how much stuff you actually own.)

Once ready, submit a quote request on muutomaailma.fi. My tips from experience:

• Use a separate email address (or one you don’t mind getting spam in). Within 24 hours I got about 40 offers, it gets overwhelming.
• Be careful with your phone number. I put a placeholder like “555555” and explained I’d share the real number later. That way, I avoided spam calls.
• Copy your detailed list into the description box so companies know exactly what they’d be moving.

Soon, offers will start flooding your inbox. For me, it was a bit overwhelming because there were 40 companies in one day! So, I came up with my own (amateur but I felt useful) filtering method:

• At least 4.5 stars with ~1,000 reviews, or
• 4.9 stars with 500+ reviews.

That narrowed my list down to about ten companies. From there, I read the details of each offer and compared them to my needs.

After selecting one moving company, I used the moving reference numbers provided and emailed the moving company directly with my full item list (the same one I submitted for the quote). To move things along faster, I also called them by phone, mentioning that I’d already sent a detailed email for them to review. During the call, we discussed specific details, how many movers would be needed, confirmed the booking, and they later followed up with a confirmation email outlining the agreement and what their service included.

The Moving Day

The company arrived ten minutes early (a great sign!). I had already packed most of my things in suitcases, boxes, and plastic containers, so the process was smooth.

There were two movers: one directly uninstalled my washing machine while the other started carrying the packed things to the moving truck. Then, they wrapped the big furniture in plastic wrap and disassembled my bed which, to my surprise, they actually fixed better in the new apartment than I had originally done (I’m no pro at assembling IKEA furniture!)

The only real issue was the washing machine. At the old place, a safety valve part was missing, but luckily the movers had a spare, which we bought from them. At the new place, we needed extra parts to connect it to the pipe. They didn’t have those, but instead of leaving us stranded, they drove us to the hardware store and helped us find what we needed. Technically, they could have said, “Fix it later yourself,” but they included it as part of their service. I was so relieved everything got done on the same day.

The whole move took 4 hours 15 minutes. It could have been done in 3, but the washing machine situation stretched it. Still, I couldn’t be happier with how professional and helpful they were.

Setting Up Electricity

In general, electricity is divided into two parts: transmission and electricity itself. In Helsinki, the transmission comes from Helen, it’s fixed and you can’t shop around for it.

What you can choose is your electricity contract. If you’re price-conscious, check sahkonhinta.fi to compare deals. Electricity bills usually consist of a monthly fixed fee plus your actual energy consumption (measured in kWh, kind of like liters of fuel for your car).

In our case, we picked Helen with a fixed-price contract. Not the cheapest option, but it gives peace of mind, no need to stress about when or how much electricity we’re using.

The process was quick: we submitted the form on Helen’s website on a Saturday morning, nine days before moving. A few hours later, the signed contract arrived by email. On moving day, we simply switched on the main breaker in the apartment, and the lights were on.

Changing Your Address

This one is easier than it sounds. We updated our address on the DVV website (Digital and Population Data Services Agency) a few days before the move. You can set your official moving date in the form, and DVV processes it on that day.

By the next day of the moving day, we checked that our new address was already updated not just in DVV, but also across banks and even our mobile operator. Smooth and simple.

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That’s pretty much my moving experience in Helsinki. It wasn’t stress-free, but having these steps sorted out definitely made it less overwhelming. Hopefully, these notes can make your move a little lighter too.