Corporate relocation--what to ask for?

[Belle5]

My DH is having a discussion with his manager this afternoon about relocating us to another part of Texas. DH had the feeling that the discussion might include finding out "what it would take to get us there". In other words, what do we need to have to make this happen?

What should we ask for? I know that ideally we would want them to purchase our house. That would make things SOOOOOO much easier! We have no idea if his company is in the habit of doing such a thing...

What is the minimum they should do to help us if they really want us to make this move?

If the manager asks what we "want", what should DH ask for to make sure we are covered?

I would appreciate your experience...Thanks!

 

[CocozMom]

Oooh, ooh - I need to know too.
DH's VP is flying in Thursday to discuss some relocation options with him. We have no idea what to ask for or expect.

Good LUCK!

 

[brerrabbit]

Having been through one corporate move that actually involved moving to Canada I can tell you that usually if the company is big enough they have a corporate move package on the books. What I found when I moved was that it was pretty difficult to get much outside of the standard package, but fortunatley for me the standard package was pretty good. Also fortunatly for my family was the fact that we crossed into another country because I left the company after about one year in the new location. The contract included a move back to our original location should I leave the company for any reason. I don't know if you could get that only moving within the US or if you would even want it. Usually they will give you a certain amount of time to sell your house on your own and if you do they will pay your closing costs and possibly give you a bonus above that for not having to deal with it themselves. If after say 90 days the house has not sold then they will take it to a corporate relocation firm and essentially buy the house from you at a certain appraised value. They should pay for at least one if not two house hunting trips to the new location, and in my case I got a one time bonus equal to 25% of my annual salary to cover incidental expenses. Finally in my case which is not really relevant to your in state move I got a tax equalization deal which meant they ran my taxes as I had never moved and then ran them with the move and the additional pay I received as a result of the move. They then gave me a check for the difference because I owed a lot more with all the perks and bonuses. If you get to negotiate the deal ask for everything so you can settle for less and still get a good deal.

 

[barkley]

when my bil went accross the country for a new job, among other things the company paid for 6 months rent/utilities in a furnished place so he did'nt have to incur double living expenses (his wife stayed behind to sell the house and because she did'nt want to quit her job until he'd done the new job for at least 3 or 4 months and decided it was a keeper). when they did the actual move the company paid for a moving company that came in and packed and transported everything.

 

[golfgal]

Each company will have their own deal available but minimum you should get all of your moving expenses reimbursed-packed/moved by a good moving company, hook-up fees for new cable, phone, etc. They should offer money for some house hunting trips and a portion of his salary to offset unexpected costs associated with moving--like having to buy new window treatments for your house, etc. They should also pay the realtor fees on your current house AND the closing costs on your new house. Basically they should put you in the same financial situation you are in now without moving--if you didn't move you wouldn't have to pay the 6% to the realtor for example.

If they really want to be nice, then start asking for things like membership fees for golf clubs/health clubs or what ever your interests are. Not many companies do this any more but if they REALLY want you to go, they will offer you the moon.

 

[offwegotoneverland]

Things to ask for:

Moving/unpacking company
Relocation bonus (min. of 8% of new salary for replacement of window treatements etc).
Housing cost differential (if your new market is more expensive interest on the difference between the two for a min. of 5 years)
Real estate fees (closing costs and realtor fees)
a house buyout plan (the 90 day one mentioned is pretty typical)
a perdiem plan for meals etc if your DH has to report prior to the actual move...at a min. it should include food, lodgeing and incidentals as well as mileage
one (at least) prereport trip for house hunting paid by them
hookups etc for cable/phone, car plates etc.

And ideally they should have an agency that would provide assistance with finding lawyers, hotels etc etc and advise you as to what's included in your package etc.

 

[DemonLlama]

Depending on the company, you might get a bulk sum out of which to draw your moving expenses. They will cover moving costs (packing, trucking, storage, hotels, airfare, meals, hook-ups fees, and so on) but only up to a capped amount. That's the way it worked with DH's recent relocation.

 

[PlutoPony]

We've done this a couple of times and in general find companies aren't as generous as they used to be (but maybe it's just us... )
*PACK (important) / load/ unload at new residence (maybe unpack too depending on what kind of things you have to move)
*Realtor fees on sale of your house
*Expenses to move any "special" items like boat, ATV, 2nd car, etc.
*Temp living expenses for some amount of time (hotel type situation)
*Storage of house goods for some period of time (we got 3 months) if you anticipate taking your time buying in the new location
*Pack / load / unload from temp living location to new residence (we rented an apt. for 3 months here and took our time looking, and they moved us from the apt. too)
* Some $$ for misc. expenses like utility turn-ons, etc. (often termed "signing bonus
** VERY IMPORTANT - have the company pay the taxes on all relocation benefits you receive - this is considered taxable income and can amount to a lot of money and thus substantial taxes. Most companies will just pay this to the IRS using a basic forumla.....
Good luck!

 

[JuneChickie]

subscribing

 

[Chereya]

Subscribing also! Must be a spring season thing, all these relocation offers. Does this advice apply to new company relocation hiring as well as intra-company relocations? I had no idea that we could/should be asking for some of these other expenses to be reimbursed. We are very frugal by nature and it's helping me feel a little better thinking that we won't have to shoulder all of these relocation costs ourselves.

Chereya

 

[PlutoPony]

Does this advice apply to new company relocation hiring as well as intra-company relocations?
Chereya

It really depends on the company and industry, your level, how hard it is to fill the job, etc. We've gotten this type package as new company relo's in DH's field. Friends in another field (computer game programming) have gotten a lump sum in their two big moves and had to do it "on the cheap" so I think this may be largely dependent on the field and company.

 

[Belle5]

I am not seeing them even pay for closing cost on both ends. I guess they see this taken out of the $10K??? Here is the breakdown:


$10,000 company pay maximum (Relocation Agreement) "Is this for closing costs?" "What is this money to be used for?"


2 trips - 3 days/2 nights. Actual and reasonable expenses. Hotel/Meals, Rental Car (Home Finding Trip) "This is nice"


Travel 400 miles per day. Actual and reasonable expenses. One-way coach airfare if move is over 1,000 miles. Meals/Hotel (
En Route Expenses (non-taxable but reportable on W-2)) "Sounds fair"


Normal HHG’s by commercial mover or self haul if less than 1,000 pounds. Up to $500.00 for appliance hook-up, disconnect and crating (
Household Goods Shipment (non-taxable/ non-reportable) "What are HHG's?"


45 Days (Temporary Living) "Trying to think how to best utilize this..."


$1000.00 – not grossed up (Miscellaneous Allowance) "What on earth is this? Is it for curtains in the new house?"

 

[JuneChickie]

HHG I think stands for Household Goods

 

[RadioNate]

I think the 10k is the max they will pay out for all the items listed below.

We have done 3 corporate moves and are about to do a 4th. NEVER have they paid realtor fees or closing costs and they certainly didn't do a home purchase. The last time I heard of that happening was with the railroad 20 years ago.

Here is what we have always gotten

packing, loading/unloading, moving of household items

In 2 of the moves we got 1 way airfare and car transport (2 we didn't but did get mileage and lodging on the way to our destination)

In 3 of the moves we got househunting trips. The one we didn't was a cross country move (Oregon to SC). I think we gave up the househunting to have both cars shipped.

Temp housing. We have everything from 15 days to 90 days covered.

Here is what we are currently getting.
-1 house hunting trip for employee and spouse
- coach airfare for employee and dependents if destination is more than 500 miles OR reimbursement for mileage per IRS guidelines.
- self pack unbreakable items (NOT happy about this) packing (breakables), load, and delives household goods, 14 days storage, insurance for moving
- 2 cars shipped, rental car until cars arrive
- 2 pet transport
- 30 days temp housing
- tax offset

 

[JuneChickie]

My Daughters husband got on Proctor and Gamble 3years ago and he got the house buy and realtor fees. Plus the movers, set up, and 2 house hunting trips.
They moved from Colorado to Ohio

 

[PlutoPony]

We have done 3 corporate moves and are about to do a 4th. NEVER have they paid realtor fees or closing costs and they certainly didn't do a home purchase. The last time I heard of that happening was with the railroad 20 years ago.

It must vary by industry and maybe even how much they want you then.... DH had 2 offers a year and a half ago and both included realtors fees and at least some of the closing costs. Our move here paid for realtors fees but these are all from the same industry, for a senior engineer type position. Maybe the best advice then is to try to get a sense for what's commonly offered by similar companies/fields and go from there.
Home purchases used to be done in this field but are rare now except for VERY VERY senior people...

 

[kaseyC]

We have done two Corporate Relocations. One from NC to N.VA and one from N.VA to IL. Both of our Relo packages included the following:

2 House hunting trips
Realtor Fees
settlement costs
Equity Advance to put towards down payment of new home (not full equity but a percentage)
Moving expenses - packing, moving and unpacking as well as transport of vehicles if needed
Payment of Mortgage until house sold (usually the lesser of the two mortgages)
Temporary housing allowance if needed
Lump sum for Miscellaneous ( a percentage of DH's base salary)
Reimbursement for traveling expenses - moving to our new home
I cannot remeber what they called it but something was also done so we would not take a hit on taxes because of the relocation.

I have to add that DH's company has different levels for relocation depending on your position in the company.

 

[Belle5]

My DH is having a discussion with his manager this afternoon about relocating us to another part of Texas. DH had the feeling that the discussion might include finding out "what it would take to get us there". In other words, what do we need to have to make this happen?

What should we ask for? I know that ideally we would want them to purchase our house. That would make things SOOOOOO much easier! We have no idea if his company is in the habit of doing such a thing...

What is the minimum they should do to help us if they really want us to make this move?

If the manager asks what we "want", what should DH ask for to make sure we are covered?

I would appreciate your experience...Thanks!

Just to update all you helpful folks--we are not moving. We declined our lousy moving package offer. Your posts helped us realize what an unacceptable offer it was. Thanks...

 

[Simba's Mom]

My DH is having a discussion with his manager this afternoon about relocating us to another part of Texas. DH had the feeling that the discussion might include finding out "what it would take to get us there". In other words, what do we need to have to make this happen?

What should we ask for? I know that ideally we would want them to purchase our house. That would make things SOOOOOO much easier! We have no idea if his company is in the habit of doing such a thing...

What is the minimum they should do to help us if they really want us to make this move?

If the manager asks what we "want", what should DH ask for to make sure we are covered?

I would appreciate your experience...Thanks!

It depends on what part of Texas they want to move you to. When we moved here, we got:
House hunting trip for whole family with two hotel rooms
Company bought our house as appraised (Boy, that helped!)
Moving company packed everything, moved, and unpacked
Up to 3 points on new mortgage
New driver's liscences, etc. paid for
Temporary housing for up to 30 days
I don't remember what it was, but now that we're here, I keep telling DH-"Boy, did they get off cheap!" Dallas or San Antonio area would have been OK, but not way down here.

 

[manning]

How much did they want you??

Sometimes a company will move to eliminate staff. Make a lousy offer and hopefully they won't accept.

I know of one company doing this. They moved cross country. The move didn't make any sense. Two years later they were back.