Trend by Seth Harris, Managing Director
From Wall Street to Main Street, the economic contraction that began in
December of 2007 hit many Americans hard, both in the office and at home. A
recent high-profile example of this trend, reported in the Associated Press, is
that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is unable to sell his home during a
requisite relocation to Washington D.C. Like other homeowners ensnared in
the real estate bust, he is now renting out his suburban New York City home,
at a loss. Executives and other high profile individuals are hit with a double
whammy during the current recession. The economic downturn has caused two
main setbacks to occur at the same time: a retraction in employment offers
coupled with difficulty in selling homes.
In October of 2008, less than a month after the financial markets began to melt
down, Moody’s Economy.com published an assessment of recent economic
activity within 381 U.S. metropolitan areas. Three hundred and two were
already in deep recession, and 64 more were at risk, with only 15 areas still
expanding. Fast-forward to June 2009 and the number of unemployed persons
reached 14.7 million and the unemployment rate across the country is 9.5
percent according to economic data from the U.S. Department of Labor. Since
the beginning of the recession in 2007, the number of unemployed persons has
increased by 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 4.6
percentage points. Compounding the plight of executives caught in the
economic tsunami are dismal housing statistics.
Seth Harris an Executive Vice President with Cook Associates, Inc.
commented recently on the downturn and how it is effecting executive
relocation, “The good news is the packages are still there. Really there are two
different scenarios. There are the small, private companies who have
minimal relocation resources. Then there are the larger public companies
who oftentimes work with outside relocation firms. They tend to have
defined relocation guidelines, as to what gets reimbursed, and what is
grossed up in terms of taxes. What I’m finding is that larger public clients
have maintained or even sweetened their deals. They have found ways to
customize the relocation package if they really want a good candidate.”
So how long on average does it take to sell a home in this economy?
According to a recent report published by the National Association of
Realtors, the average time of homes waiting to be sold has reached an all
time high of 10.3 months. While that statistic varies from region to region,
it has nonetheless placed thousands of homeowners in a serious
predicament. With so many elements affecting the current housing climate,
perhaps the best way to grasp market trends is to hire an expert that
specializes in the field, such as those engaged at relocation firms.
One such relocation firm is Recruiter Relocation, located in Arizona.
Laurie Johnson, an Account Executive with the company shared some
industry trends for executives relocating this year, “Executives are
becoming more flexible on relocation. Families are staying behind until the
home sells or the executive is choosing to lease out the current home and
relocating the family to a rental home at the new destination. Companies
are offering more months of temp housing – in some cases up to 6 months
– in lieu of purchasing the executive's home.
Johnson also commented that, “Some companies are offering a loss on sale
assistance to cover the difference between what the executive purchased
the home for, and the price the home sold for, as a result of the new job.”
Johnson concluded with the advice that, “Today companies are offering
incentives to assist the executive in attracting qualified buyers for the home
and also offering to pay a Property Management agency fee to assist the
executive with leasing out the current home.”
“Offering incentives can help to entice buyers and their agents to view the
property and hopefully make an offer. Incentives can include paying the
real estate taxes for one year‚ paying closing costs‚ offering a redecorating
allowance‚ and paying discount points to lower the mortgage rate. Some
other creative incentives include a rider mower if the house has a large
yard or a snow blower if the house is located in a city where winters are
extreme. Don’t forget about the buyer’s agent either; offer a premium like
an added point to their commission.”
For those of you feeling the effects of the double whammy of this recession
— take heart — there is light at the end of the tunnel. Recent economic
reports show housing starts are on the uptick and the rate of home
foreclosures have begun to taper. Economists predict both of these factors
are indicators of a coming rebound — or at least normalization — of the
U.S. housing market. Seth Harris, Executive Vice President with Cook
Associates advises clients to, “Continue to think outside the box in terms
of your relocation policies. I’ve seen it again and again, when a company
really wants someone they become creative with the packages they offer.
More companies are implementing flexible relocation policies, particularly
for top candidates, and seem to have made a commitment to working
through potential deal breakers by thinking outside the box. A recent
example that comes immediately to mind, is a client that was offered
extended temporary living plus a higher commission fee to their real
estate agent to incentivize the deal. It went through in a timely way and all
parties involved could not have been more pleased with the final outcome.”
Seth Harris is an Executive Vice President with
Cook Associates, Inc. He is responsible for the dayto-
day operations of the Boston office, and has
oversight of the Technology & Communications
practice within the firm’s Executive Search
division. Seth conducts searches for global clients
across multiple industries such as software, storage, and
telecommunications including the wireline and wireless sectors. He can be
reached by email at sharris@cookassociates.com.