ocation bonus out of the relocation department (if you have one). This allows the company to implement consistent policies but provides the hiring manager—who will be paying the bill—the opportunity to adjust the bonus to get the ideal candidate.

6. Offer buyer incentives, such as a mortgage buydown. Buyer incentives will help employee or candidate properties stand out from the mounting competition, draw traffic to the listing and increase the probability of a quicker sale. Mortgage buydowns are particularly effective because in addition to differentiating the home in the marketplace, they overcome affordability issues and allow those buyers who feel they may have “missed the market” to part

After birds, flowers and baseball, another sure sign of spring (or early summer) are moving vans. They’re everywhere. For families on the move, it’s getting to be that time of year.

If you’ve relocated existing employees or new hires, you know what a headache it can be. This is true, whether you have a formal relocation policy or not, and regardless of real estate market conditions.

And if you can get past family issues, the cost of living, housing, and the thought of being in an undesirable area—the rest is easy.

Some of the biggest challenges recruiting new hires, as well as relocating or transferring existing employees, are family concerns, the cost of living and housing issues. And just as important, the unwillingness to move to an undesirable area. These concerns are up nearly 50% from 2002, according to the Employee Relocation Counsel, founded in 1964 to provide current issues and trends for the movement of employees.

Relocation Strategies for Uncertain Times

In an article from Workforce Management magazine, representatives of 45 major companies met with a leading relocation real estate company to review the factors creating volatility in the real estate markets. The meeting included discussions about how these factors might affect relocation policies and to identify strategies to prepare senior management for uncertain times ahead. The top 9 strategies they came up with include:

1. End or modify mortgage interest differential assistance. Most programs require a difference of just a few percentage points, and with rates increasing from record lows, just about everyone might soon qualify for mortgage interest differential assistance. So either delete the program before this provision can drive program costs through the roof, or establish a minimum threshold (i.e., rates must be more than 10 percent of the difference greater than 5 percent for like mortgages).

2. Add back loss-on-sale provisions. If you add this potentially expensive provision, tie eligibility to aggressive marketing requirements like maximum list price guidelines and the requirement to present all potential offers. This will increase the likelihood of a quicker sale and minimize the compounded costs of loss on sale and extensive carrying costs.

3. Decrease marketing time to 60 days. This will provide a sense of urgency to transferees and encourage them to capitalize on pricing the home right initially since they won’t have the luxury of “testing the market.”

4. Increase temporary living period by additional 30 days. Gives employees a little more time to market the home while it is lived in, which is when it will show best. This also may prevent exceptions.

5. Give hiring managers discretion for relocation bonuses. Take the relocation bonus out of the relocation department (if you have one). This allows the company to implement consistent policies but provides the hiring manager—who will be paying the bill—the opportunity to adjust the bonus to get the ideal candidate.

6. Offer buyer incentives, such as a mortgage buydown. Buyer incentives will help employee or candidate properties stand out from the mounting competition, draw traffic to the listing and increase the probability of a quicker sale. Mortgage buydowns are particularly effective because in addition to differentiating the home in the marketplace, they overcome affordability issues and allow those buyers who feel they may have “missed the market” to part

just as important, the unwillingness to move to an undesirable area. These concerns are up nearly 50% from 2002, according to the Employee Relocation Counsel, founded in 1964 to provide current issues and trends for the movement of employees.

Relocation Strategies for Uncertain Times

In an article from Workforce Management magazine, representatives of 45 major companies met with a leading relocation real estate company to review the factors creating volatility in the real estate markets. The meeting included discussions about how these factors might affect relocation policies and to identify strategies to prepare senior management for uncertain times ahead. The top 9 strategies they came up with include:

1. End or modify mortgage interest differential assistance. Most programs require a difference of just a few percentage points, and with rates increasing from record lows, just about everyone might soon qualify for mortgage interest differential assistance. So either delete the program before this provision can drive program costs through the roof, or establish a minimum threshold (i.e., rates must be more than 10 percent of the difference greater than 5 percent for like mortgages).

2. Add back loss-on-sale provisions. If you add this potentially expensive provision, tie eligibility to aggressive marketing requirements like maximum list price guidelines and the requirement to present all potential offers. This will increase the likelihood of a quicker sale and minimize the compounded costs of loss on sale and extensive carrying costs.

3. Decrease marketing time to 60 days. This will provide a sense of urgency to transferees and encourage them to capitalize on pricing the home right initially since they won’t have the luxury of “testing the market.”

4. Increase temporary living period by additional 30 days. Gives employees a little more time to market the home while it is lived in, which is when it will show best. This also may prevent exceptions.

5. Give hiring managers discretion for relocation bonuses. Take the relocation bonus out of the relocation department (if you have one). This allows the company to implement consistent policies but provides the hiring manager—who will be paying the bill—the opportunity to adjust the bonus to get the ideal candidate.

6. Offer buyer incentives, such as a mortgage buydown. Buyer incentives will help employee or candidate properties stand out from the mounting competition, draw traffic to the listing and increase the probability of a quicker sale. Mortgage buydowns are particularly effective because in addition to differentiating the home in the marketplace, they overcome affordability issues and allow those buyers who feel they may have “missed the market” to part

ame up with include:

1. End or modify mortgage interest differential assistance. Most programs require a difference of just a few percentage points, and with rates increasing from record lows, just about everyone might soon qualify for mortgage interest differential assistance. So either delete the program before this provision can drive program costs through the roof, or establish a minimum threshold (i.e., rates must be more than 10 percent of the difference greater than 5 percent for like mortgages).

2. Add back loss-on-sale provisions. If you add this potentially expensive provision, tie eligibility to aggressive marketing requirements like maximum list price guidelines and the requirement to present all potential offers. This will increase the likelihood of a quicker sale and minimize the compounded costs of loss on sale and extensive carrying costs.

3. Decrease marketing time to 60 days. This will provide a sense of urgency to transferees and encourage them to capitalize on pricing the home right initially since they won’t have the luxury of “testing the market.”

4. Increase temporary living period by additional 30 days. Gives employees a little more time to market the home while it is lived in, which is when it will show best. This also may prevent exceptions.

5. Give hiring managers discretion for relocation bonuses. Take the relocation bonus out of the relocation department (if you have one). This allows the company to implement consistent policies but provides the hiring manager—who will be paying the bill—the opportunity to adjust the bonus to get the ideal candidate.

6. Offer buyer incentives, such as a mortgage buydown. Buyer incentives will help employee or candidate properties stand out from the mounting competition, draw traffic to the listing and increase the probability of a quicker sale. Mortgage buydowns are particularly effective because in addition to differentiating the home in the marketplace, they overcome affordability issues and allow those buyers who feel they may have “missed the market” to part

the requirement to present all potential offers. This will increase the likelihood of a quicker sale and minimize the compounded costs of loss on sale and extensive carrying costs.

3. Decrease marketing time to 60 days. This will provide a sense of urgency to transferees and encourage them to capitalize on pricing the home right initially since they won’t have the luxury of “testing the market.”

4. Increase temporary living period by additional 30 days. Gives employees a little more time to market the home while it is lived in, which is when it will show best. This also may prevent exceptions.

5. Give hiring managers discretion for relocation bonuses. Take the relocation bonus out of the relocation department (if you have one). This allows the company to implement consistent policies but provides the hiring manager—who will be paying the bill—the opportunity to adjust the bonus to get the ideal candidate.

6. Offer buyer incentives, such as a mortgage buydown. Buyer incentives will help employee or candidate properties stand out from the mounting competition, draw traffic to the listing and increase the probability of a quicker sale. Mortgage buydowns are particularly effective because in addition to differentiating the home in the marketplace, they overcome affordability issues and allow those buyers who feel they may have “missed the market” to part

ocation bonus out of the relocation department (if you have one). This allows the company to implement consistent policies but provides the hiring manager—who will be paying the bill—the opportunity to adjust the bonus to get the ideal candidate.

6. Offer buyer incentives, such as a mortgage buydown. Buyer incentives will help employee or candidate properties stand out from the mounting competition, draw traffic to the listing and increase the probability of a quicker sale. Mortgage buydowns are particularly effective because in addition to differentiating the home in the marketplace, they overcome affordability issues and allow those buyers who feel they may have “missed the market” to participate.

7. Consider revising incentive programs. A sliding-scale incentive may encourage employees and new hires to price right initially, when it will have the most impact (i.e., 2 percent if an outside offer is generated within 30 days, only 1 percent over the next 30 days).

8. Use a lump sum for expenses. Supported with the right level of services and counseling, a lump sum gives employees and new hires more flexibility to meet unexpected costs and stretch their allowances to cover delays, while minimizing exceptions. Highly recommended is a lump-sum credit card, which also provides valuable cost tracking and expedites the delivery of funds to the individual.

9. Add a payback provision. Payback agreements dictate that employees and new hires will be responsible for covering a portion of their relocation costs if they leave the company within a specified period of time after their move. Many companies have extended the provisions of their payback agreement to a two-year period, rather than one. Evaluate your own retention statistics so you can appreciate the real cost of relocation if you experience a higher-than-average turnover among transferees and new hires.