What Does a Relocation Mean in Real Estate?

Relocation sales are a type of home sale that is facilitated by a relocation company. These companies are hired by businesses to help their transferred employees move. They can help the employee hire movers, find a rental home, and even sell their old house if they own one. This is especially helpful in a slow housing market, where selling a home can take time.

When a relocation sale is involved, the contract will include a relocation addendum. Corporate relocation services often offer employee relocation assistance, including selling the employee's current residence, as well as purchasing a new home in the desired location. Both the relocation company and the home offered for sale are often referred to as “relos”. Having the sale of a home as part of your company's relocation program can be a major benefit that makes the move more enjoyable for the employee, and gives the company an employee who is “on the ground and firmly planted in a new location”.

Buyers should have ready access to guarantee money that they can quickly send to the relocation company. Real estate relocation companies are created to help you with the various stages of moving, especially if you are moving a long distance. While relocation sales don't necessarily translate into quick-sale prices, buyers can count on the home to be priced right for their market. Relocation properties also tend to be in good condition because most relocation companies recommend necessary repairs or do them themselves.

Different relocation companies have different ways of working, but the core methodology remains more or less the same. While the company can handle the entire sales process for an employee moving to a new area, outside buyers can also find an opportunity to purchase the property that same employee has just vacated. Relocation companies offer a variety of services between coordinating moves and handling real estate transactions. Many companies go one step further and offer incentives to buy a home in their new city within the year of the move.

While this works in favor of the buyer, negotiation and paperwork may take longer, especially if the relocation company is out of state. The relocation management company (RMC) used by the employer then buys the house on behalf of the company and sells it to the buyer. The first sign to the buyer that the seller is working with a relocation company will be words like “relocation annex required” or “bank annex”, which tells him that the bank is the owner. After this, the relocation company becomes the main party in sale negotiations.

Jackson Jeannette
Jackson Jeannette

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