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Relocating? Should you rent or buy?

| June 6, 2014

 

Community of mutli coloured paper houses in a circleIf the real estate crash taught us anything, it’s that the old rules don’t work anymore, especially for those dealing with a relocation. Recently, TRC has seen a number of transferees opting to rent in a new location rather than buy. Many more have stopped looking at a house as an investment, but rather the place they call home.

The New York Times recently conducted an analysis that found in many of largest metro areas in the United States – New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami and Washington, D.C. – prices have risen so quickly that buying property is beginning to look like a perilous investment, with some experts concerned that a price correction is in the offing. Read More

The dreaded alternative minimum tax: Prepare now for April, 2015

| March 26, 2014

It might seem way too early to think about 2015, but when it comes to taxes, now is the perfect time.

april15
Many of the employees of our relocation clients were hit with a heavier tax burden this year, just some of the 3.9 million Americans that had to pay the dreaded alternative minimum tax, aka AMT. Under our dual tax system, taxpayers have to pay whichever amount is higher – regular income tax or AMT. The AMT does not allow many of the deductions allowed on regular returns – personal exemptions, standard deductions and deductions for state and local taxes paid.

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Sprucing up your home for sale before a relocation

| March 12, 2014

Home Improvements
You’ve just been told you’re relocating. Next on the list is readying your home for sale, which often includes some repairs. What to fix, how much to invest, and how extensive the repairs are perennial questions that plagued homeowners.

TRC Global Mobility offers these suggestions:

Home inspection: Doing a home inspection before a house goes on the market shows prospective buyers that you care for your home and have kept up on maintenance. Fix any repairs the inspector finds, and document this in any sales literature. Read More

TRC Global Mobility Offers 15 Steps for a Stress-less Relocation for Your Pet

| January 30, 2014

Relocating, no matter the distance, is stressful for everyone, including your pets.

gI_95068_TRC Relocation of Pets“How to safely move pets is a question we are asked over and over again,” says Jerry Funaro, vice president of global marketing for TRC Global Mobility, Inc., a global mobility firm based in Milwaukee, Wis. “Pets are members of the family, and their safety and health is a critical part of a successful relocation.”

According to the Humane Society of the United States, pets are sensitive by nature: If you’re stressed, so are they. Relocating pets from the safe confines of your home takes understanding, care and an investment of time that starts long before moving day.

TRC has developed a 15-point checklist to make a pet’s transition to a new home seamless and less stressful. (If you’re planning to move a pet to another country, remember that rules and regulations vary widely from country to country. Some countries impose quarantine requirements and some make it very difficult or impossible to bring in specific breeds or pets in general. It’s important to research the host country’s requirements well in advance.) Read More

Involuntary Renters: A Growing Trend in the Domestic Relocation Industry Part 2: How To Handle Your Reluctant Renters

| January 21, 2012

Classic domestic relocation policies clearly distinguish between renters and homeowners. Renters are assumed to be younger, more junior employees, often single or married without children. Since the classic renter has no home to sell at the departure location, no home to purchase at the destination and significantly less in the way of household goods and other encumbrances, he or she typically received a modest package of benefits relative to homeowner transferees.

In part one of this series we discussed a new type of employee relocation situation: homeowners who are able to sell their home but cannot afford to buy another one. Read More

Involuntary Renters: A Growing Trend in the Domestic Relocation Industry

| January 6, 2012

Part 1: Recognizing a Reluctant Renter

In the past, relatively few homeowners became renters. When they did, it was often a lifestyle choice, such as empty-nesters who sold their large suburban home and moved into a city apartment. Today this situation is much more common — and too often an effect of the current housing market and economic conditions.

Why Homeowners Choose To Rent

In the domestic relocation services industry, some transferees cannot sell their departure home and end up renting it out and finding a rental property at the destination. Others expect their time at the destination to be limited. Still others may have been spooked by the volatile housing market in general. The most delicate employee relocation situation centers on what we call “involuntary renters” or “reluctant renters”: homeowner transferees who manage to sell their home but cannot afford to buy another one. Overall, 67% of surveyed companies in Worldwide ERC’s 2010 Transfer Volume and Cost Survey are seeing a “somewhat” to “significant” increase in the number of homeowner transferees who are opting to rent at their new location. Read More

Why Cafeteria Relocation Benefits Are Making a Comeback Part 1: Flexibility

| October 26, 2011

With so many impediments to relocation today, from traditional issues such as spouse career concerns to more recent problems such as “upside down” homes, companies, employers and relocation management companies are clamoring for a more creative, flexible approach. Without creativity and flexibility, many moves simply won’t happen.

This is where “cafeteria”-style relocation benefits come in. A cafeteria approach can help meet employees’ needs for flexibility, control overall program costs, and most importantly, enable companies to achieve their business objectives in a challenging environment. Cafeteria relocation benefits had a flash of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s but faded from the spotlight as more structured, tiered polices gained favor. Read More

How to Handle a Loss On Sale

| August 22, 2011

How to Handle a Loss On Sale

As a result of real estate market declines of the past three years, many transferees now find themselves in a situation in which their home’s selling price is less than what they originally paid for it. This has made loss-on-sale provisions an important policy consideration. While only 40% or so of U.S. companies offer loss-on-sale assistance, most are aware of the issue and considering their options.

If your company needs to deploy critical employees across the United States or around the world, it may be time to implement a loss-on-sale policy or to evaluate the one you have.

Here are a few key questions that need to be answered when developing a loss-on-sale benefit policy, along with a few of our thoughts on the topics. Read More

Dealing With Short Sales, Part 1: The “Least Bad” Alternative

| July 20, 2011

Dealing With Short Sales, Part 1: The “Least Bad” Alternative

With the continued decline of real estate market values, many homeowners are finding themselves locked into mortgages with outstanding loan balances greater than the property’s present value. This puts these homeowners in a precarious situation, with several unattractive options:

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How to Optimize Your Company’s Relocation Tax Assistance Policy

| June 21, 2011

Relocation Tax Assistance: Part 1

A substantial and often hidden expense

relocation tax assistanceTax assistance is an expensive and sometimes hidden cost of corporate relocation programs. In fact, it’s the third most expensive benefit in a relocation program, on average, after home sale and household goods.More specifically, the 2008 Worldwide ERC® Transfer Volume and Cost Survey reported that it cost an average $76,600 to move an existing employee, of which more than 10% was spent on employee tax assistance benefits. It can cost more to provide tax assistance than to pay for an employee’s house hunting, temporary living and final trip expenses combined!

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