I've gone through a lot of pages and threads to try to figure something out, so hopefully someone will have an answer - and I apologize if there is somewhere better to ask this, I'm still learning these forums.
So I'm not that accustomed to getting villagers to move in from another town (I've done it only once with Gaston). Yesterday I made a trade for Marshal, the person who had him moving out only wanted three furniture sets that I happened to have.
Anyways, I went to visit and speak to Marshal. He did a normal introduction saying who he was, asking who I was and where I was from. After that he never mentioned/asked to move to my town - I was never given the option to invite him. He just kept telling me he was looking around for some magazine or a picture (I can't remember). It's important to note that the town I was wanting him to move in to had never had Marshal before, I had only 8 villagers (Antonio had moved out a day before I asked Marshal), and there were no plots for new homes.
Today I walk around my town (the one I wanted him to move into) and noticed a roped off area for Bill. So did my game prevent Marshal from moving in because it was set to have a villager move in today? Is it predetermined a day before they move in? Again, sorry for my ignorance on this subject.
And luckily I was able to get Marshal into my second town, so it wasn't a complete bummer