It's no secret that it's hard to sell a home in many areas of the country. Stringent loan requirements, high foreclosure rates, short sales and dropping prices make it hard for sellers to achieve an optimum sales price.
Homeowners frequently decide to stay put rather than take a loss on the sale of their home. But employees who receive an offer for relocation are faced with more difficult choices: stay and forfeit their job, rent out their home and become an absentee landlord or sell their home in a buyer's market?
Of course, companies don't want to lose top talent. What's the solution? There are answers -- if HR departments and those involved in relocation policies accept that the real estate market has changed the realities -- and often, the policies -- of relocating companies in areas like the Midwest and beyond.
Homeowners frequently decide to stay put rather than take a loss on the sale of their home. But employees who receive an offer for relocation are faced with more difficult choices: stay and forfeit their job, rent out their home and become an absentee landlord or sell their home in a buyer's market?
Of course, companies don't want to lose top talent. What's the solution? There are answers -- if HR departments and those involved in relocation policies accept that the real estate market has changed the realities -- and often, the policies -- of relocating companies in areas like the Midwest and beyond.
Pre-marketing Bonus Programs
A company always has the option of buying an employee's home and then selling it through a real estate firm. This is a costly and risky option in today's market though. A good relocation policy will provide employees with every advantage and tool to sell their home, but will still place the responsibility of a quick sale on the employee.
It's important to recognize, when striving for low-stress relocation, that every employee and every situation is different. Choosing a relocation company that has a variety of home sale programs, which can be tailored to your specific needs and corporate culture will help to ensure that both the employee and company needs are addressed.
For many employees, pre-marketing bonus programs are incentive enough to get their house looking good and on the market quickly. Bonuses for a quick sale level the playing field, encouraging sellers to take less for the home because the bonus makes up the difference.
Ideally, the home will sell before the employee has to move; in the event it doesn't, a full-service relocation company can help with preparations like staging and showing the home from afar in order to optimize the appeal of the home -- both for a quick sale and a higher selling price. Even so, the emphasis should be on a quick sale rather than getting a specific sales price.
Temporary Housing Solutions
Sometimes, it's necessary to have an employee on-site at the new location prior to the sale of their home. With support from a relocation company's network of real estate firms, this doesn't have to present a challenge. It also doesn't have to cost the relocating company a lot of money.
A relocation company with deep experience in the relocation industry and connections in the temporary housing market make it easy to find employees the right temporary housing at the right price. There are a variety of services that a relocation company can offer to make decisions regarding temporary housing easy for employees by streamlining their choices, and consolidating temporary housing options to offer volume discounts. The lower costs of this high-quality temporary housing actually help pay for the quick-sale bonus.
A company always has the option of buying an employee's home and then selling it through a real estate firm. This is a costly and risky option in today's market though. A good relocation policy will provide employees with every advantage and tool to sell their home, but will still place the responsibility of a quick sale on the employee.
It's important to recognize, when striving for low-stress relocation, that every employee and every situation is different. Choosing a relocation company that has a variety of home sale programs, which can be tailored to your specific needs and corporate culture will help to ensure that both the employee and company needs are addressed.
For many employees, pre-marketing bonus programs are incentive enough to get their house looking good and on the market quickly. Bonuses for a quick sale level the playing field, encouraging sellers to take less for the home because the bonus makes up the difference.
Ideally, the home will sell before the employee has to move; in the event it doesn't, a full-service relocation company can help with preparations like staging and showing the home from afar in order to optimize the appeal of the home -- both for a quick sale and a higher selling price. Even so, the emphasis should be on a quick sale rather than getting a specific sales price.
Temporary Housing Solutions
Sometimes, it's necessary to have an employee on-site at the new location prior to the sale of their home. With support from a relocation company's network of real estate firms, this doesn't have to present a challenge. It also doesn't have to cost the relocating company a lot of money.
A relocation company with deep experience in the relocation industry and connections in the temporary housing market make it easy to find employees the right temporary housing at the right price. There are a variety of services that a relocation company can offer to make decisions regarding temporary housing easy for employees by streamlining their choices, and consolidating temporary housing options to offer volume discounts. The lower costs of this high-quality temporary housing actually help pay for the quick-sale bonus.