Selling Your House for Job Relocation in 2022

Introduction

While an increasing number of people work from home on a daily basis, businesses continue to shift and change the way they conduct day-to-day operations. This includes the need to relocate employees in favour of global mobility.

If you are in this situation, you may need to sell your home quickly in order to relocate before starting work in your new location. Moving when you own a home is difficult, but here are some of the steps you’ll need to take.

Determine the Value of  Your Home

When you need to sell your house quickly for a relocation, you don’t have time to consider home equity, curb appeal, or the fact that you planned to install quartz countertops next year. You have to sell now!

You want to make sure that whatever you end up selling your house for covers the cost of any remaining mortgage balance as well as any selling expenses. Expect those expenses to cost between 5 and 10% of your total mortgage balance.

The last thing you want is for your relocation to put you in a financial bind. You should come out stronger than you went in.

A home value estimator is a great tool for quickly determining the value of your home.

Of course, you should still get a relocation appraisal or a comparative market analysis on the house to ensure you’re selling it for the right price. If possible, avoid investing new money in your home and sell it as is. When you find yourself in an unfamiliar place, you’ll want to have as much cash on hand as possible during and after the relocation.

Consider Relocation Packages

Relocating can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to more than $100,000. Employee relocation packages are a great way to ensure that everything is covered and that there are no bottlenecks in the process.

Keep in mind there are quite a few ways to go about this. There are four primary options:

  • Lump Sum Relocation
  • Managed Executive Relocation
  • Relocation Bonus
  • Relocation Reimbursement

Let’s go over each of these briefly:

Lump Sum Relocation Package

This is a standard relocation package in which money is set aside for each employee to help pay for their moving expenses from start to finish. Closing costs, realtor fees, long distance movers and packaging fees, shipping costs, materials, and even time missed at work could all be covered.

Package for Executive Relocation

A relocation package for executives pays for the costs and expenses of moving a company’s top managers. In some cases, you may be tasked with relocating the corporate headquarters. This requires you to assist with long-term storage, vehicle shipment, and executive temporary housing.

Relocation Bonus

A relocation bonus is typically used when the overall relocation package is insufficient. It can pay for things like lease break fees or a higher cost of living in the area where the employee is moving.

Relocation Reimbursement

A reimbursement works in the same way as a standard relocation package. Except that the employee pays for everything out of pocket and the employer is responsible for repaying them. This helps to ensure that the employee does not run out of money. However, problems arise when they do not have enough of their own money to cover the cost of moving.

Can Moving Expenses Be Deducted?

You cannot deduct job-related moving expenses if you are the HR Manager, General Manager, or Entry-Level Employee. Some may be surprised to learn that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 eliminated your ability to deduct these expenses.

However, if you are an active military member, you can deduct your moving expenses. You can only do so in this situation.

Examine the Present Real Estate Market

While you or anyone else has no control over this, you should still look at the current real estate market and use your findings to help you figure out how your home sale and purchase process will go.

Markets fluctuate up and down, with seller markets followed by buyer markets, so you’ll likely do well on one end or the other. In 2022, for example, houses will only be on the market for an average of 38 days.

What does this have to do with you? It means that the sooner you start the process, the sooner you’ll be able to sell and avoid paying for a home you won’t be able to live in.

Your Options for Selling Your Home for Job Relocation

When it comes to actually selling your home, you have several options.

1. Cash Offer

If you need to get out quickly due to corporate requirements or whatever else is motivating you, accepting a cash offer can be a great way to do so. According to Allied Moving Services, nearly 42% of newly relocated employees had only 0-30 days to settle in before starting their new job.

This leaves little time for loan applications, open houses, showings, or inspections. In a traditional home buying situation, the buyer may take up to 60 days to close on your home.

Accepting only cash offers when advertising the sale of your home is a much faster way to sell. The disadvantage is that you will have to accept much lower offers because cash offers will typically come from investors.

If you’re concerned about the condition of the house, you can sell it “as-is.” If you want to avoid inspections in order to expedite the process, selling the house “as-is” requires buyers to purchase the home without requiring you to make any repairs.

2. Employ an Agent

The second option is the more traditional route, which you should take if the company offers a good relocation package. Hire a real estate agent who specializes in relocations or quick home sales. If you’re not sure how to find someone like that, we work with agents who regularly do this type of work.

Take a lot of great photos, work on improving your curb appeal, and do whatever you can with the time you have to improve the overall appearance of the home. This will make the sale more appealing and will likely bring in more buyers.

3. Make it Available for Rent

Have you ever thought about becoming a long-distance landlord? Perhaps the rental market is looking promising, and you don’t mind being responsible in exchange for a little extra cash every month.

Of course, your home must meet a few unique sets of criteria in order to be affordable to the majority of renters.

Remember that being a landlord is difficult. If you live in another state, you’ll probably need to hire a property management company. They will be able to oversee everything and fix things at the house when you’re not there.

4. Hire a Relocation Company

Relocating is one of the most stressful things you can do, and it doesn’t get any easier when you have to do it quickly. 

Hiring a moving company usually results in a much safer moving experience. Professionals understand how to transport items that you may not understand.

Professionals understand how to transport items that you may not understand. They use the proper materials throughout the move to reduce or eliminate damage to your items, and in the end, reduce your worries about moving yourself.

 

 

Greg Bilbro

Greg Bilbro

Greg Bilbro is the CEO and founder of Fair Property Buyers. After 20 years as a residential Realtor, Greg founded Fair Property Buyers, a nationwide group of local real estate professionals and cash buyers committed to helping homeowners that want to sell their home without a realtor. Fair Property Buyers helps local homeowners get cash for homes without any hassles.

We Buy Houses For Cash

WE WANT TO BUY YOUR HOUSE FOR CASH

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