Relocating For A Company

[tyler524]

So who here has relocated for a company before? What are things that should definitely be considered? I have been asked to relocate to our US headquarters in MI and am just starting to think about everything. I was told that there would be some type of package involved but nothing more than that at this point. It was more or less brought up as seeing if I was even open to the idea. I own a house that I would have to sell and my fiance would have to find a new job if we moved. I am just trying to do a lot of thinking and see if I really want to do this or not. Any input is always appreciated.

[Helmutt]

Your other half best be on board with it before any commitments are made to the employer, be shitty to need to sell your house and split the difference with an ex before starting over elsewhere just sayin...

Edit - Oh, wait.....you said fiance'.....in that case, do it to it!

I honestly have never done this, so I don't have any credible information to offer other than, Good luck!

[RCBS]

Devil is in the details. Have a comprehensive understanding and agreement on what your employer expects of you, and what your duties and compensation will be. That said....why not? If you and your fiancee can easily pull up roots, go for it.

Of course, it could be the worst thing you ever do.

Or the best.

[shittygsxr]

What city?

[tyler524]

What city?

Novi/Wixom Area

[redkow97]

Nathan moved from OH to MI to work for Riders Discount. You'd have to ask him how it worked out. Seems to like the job, but I can't speak for the home life.

A friend of mine moved to TX to work for a drilling company after college. Hated small-town Texas, so he transferred to Colorado. Throughout the time he lived in both places, he spent weeks and months at a time in Tulsa, Shreveport, Dubai, and a few other places.

Moving to Texas cost him his girlfriend. I'm not sure she wasn't on the way out already, but the bigger, much more significant issue that arose was that he left all his Ohio friends and latched onto a horrible horrible girl in Texas. She followed him to Colorado, and he proposed when he got back from Dubai.

They lasted just over a year, and she's basically the worst thing that ever happened to him.

So all I'm saying is take into account what being lonely will do to you if your girlfriend doesn't want to live in Michigan. Being in driving distance of home will only help.

He moved back to Ohio. Lost the suckubus, and is much happier (again) now. Making less money, but enjoying his work AND his free time a lot more.

[shittygsxr]

Novi/Wixom Area

Novi/Plymouth/Farmington area is nice. I liked living there better than here

[imaposer]

Had a buddy do it back during the construction boom years in Florida. It all sounded great on paper going in to it, but it damn near killed him in the end. It was a deal where they were going to handle everything from the moving company to selling his house here and putting him up in Florida for a year so he could find a place there. Plus a fat cash bonus up front.

The first hitch that came up was them selling his house. It wasn't as clean and easy as he thought. They let him price it and put it on the market, but after 90 days when it hadn't sold, they told him they would pay fair market value for it or he could take it back over and handle it himself. Well, of course their fair market value was no where near what he was trying to sell it for, but he didn't want to deal with selling it so he took a hit on it equal to about what his moving bonus was.

Then, he went big on his new house in Florida right at the top of the market then ended up with a wife who found living in a new place meant wanting to take on new adventures which led to divorce two years after the move. Needless to say, the house went foreclosure, and he took another massive financial hit.

Talking to him a few years later, he had gone in to it thinking it was the perfect deal, where his company was willing to pay for the whole shebang, and his wife could transfer to the same area with her company. He had anticipated it being a six figure boost in the right direction, and he figures it cost him nearly $250k instead.

[baptizo]

I've moved a few times for my current employer but I didn't have a house to sell or a woman to worry about - okay, the move to Toledo cost me my ex but that isn't a big loss. Plus, they don't pay for relocation's so it was all my dime to stay with them.

If your fiancee isn't too hip on the idea, though, and you love her...i.e. you cannot be without her....you need to listen to what she says about it and plan accordingly.

[shittygsxr]

You guys are a bunch of pussies. If the broad is holding you back from what you want to do get rid of her ass. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but always do what you believe is best for you.

[Simplysix]

I have relocated out of state twice for work. What questions do you have?

[madcat6183]

Had a buddy do it back during the construction boom years in Florida. It all sounded great on paper going in to it, but it damn near killed him in the end. It was a deal where they were going to handle everything from the moving company to selling his house here and putting him up in Florida for a year so he could find a place there. Plus a fat cash bonus up front.

The first hitch that came up was them selling his house. It wasn't as clean and easy as he thought. They let him price it and put it on the market, but after 90 days when it hadn't sold, they told him they would pay fair market value for it or he could take it back over and handle it himself. Well, of course their fair market value was no where near what he was trying to sell it for, but he didn't want to deal with selling it so he took a hit on it equal to about what his moving bonus was.

Then, he went big on his new house in Florida right at the top of the market then ended up with a wife who found living in a new place meant wanting to take on new adventures which led to divorce two years after the move. Needless to say, the house went foreclosure, and he took another massive financial hit.

Talking to him a few years later, he had gone in to it thinking it was the perfect deal, where his company was willing to pay for the whole shebang, and his wife could transfer to the same area with her company. He had anticipated it being a six figure boost in the right direction, and he figures it cost him nearly $250k instead.

No offense, but sounds like your buddy didn't read the fine print and know what he was getting himself into. Oh and his girl sounds like she would've done all that even if he didn't move.

I've had some friends do it and most times it's worked out REALLY well for them, really well.

Edit: for what it's worth that area is really nice. Depending if you can work from home check out West Bloomfield area too, or even if you can just drive in 1-2 times a week etc. That's where my moms side lives mostly after they all got good gigs and made mad cash. How I was I was them lol

[shittygsxr]

No offense, but sounds like your buddy didn't read the fine print and know what he was getting himself into. Oh and his girl sounds like she would've done all that even if he didn't move.

I've had some friends do it and most times it's worked out REALLY well for them, really well.

Edit: for what it's worth that area is really nice. Depending if you can work from home check out West Bloomfield area too, or even if you can just drive in 1-2 times a week etc. That's where my moms side lives mostly after they all got good gigs and made mad cash. How I was I was them lol

West Bloomfield and Birmingham are surprisingly affordable now a days

[drew95gt]

I relocated from West Virginia to the Columbus area for a job...I really miss the roads and beautiful scenery down in WV. It was a little slice of heaven...but there are NO jobs down there and the few that are left pay significantly less than the same job working in the Columbus area.

[imaposer]

No offense, but sounds like your buddy didn't read the fine print and know what he was getting himself into. Oh and his girl sounds like she would've done all that even if he didn't move.

Oh yeah, he admits it was all 100% on him. He was looking at it all as if everything would go best case scenario. It pretty much went the opposite every single step of the way. Shit happens sometimes.

And his ex was/is actually a good person. I probably didn't word it right in the first post, but I'd say it was 90% on him for what happened. He was too busy chasing the almighty dollar to pay attention to his wife who was living in a completely new environment with no friends or family within 1000 miles. He on the other hand was from the area, and it was more of a homecoming for him. Ignoring your smoking hot young wife in a place like south florida is not a good plan.

[Gunner75]

When I exited the military they had a tiered system based on rank. I paid for the move ahead of time, then they reimbursed me after the fact. In the end I paid over 1500 the Navy gave me back 1300 and some change. Civilian employers have better deals. When my father moved from Ohio out to Oklahoma in the 90s they gave us 5grand ahead of time and had us an apartment ahead of time ready when we got there. When the plant closed 2 years later they gave us a similar deal to move back to Ohio except without the place to live right away.

[Bad324]

I did it out of college. Could have accepted the same position in Cincinnati but took the one in Indianapolis for more money, better management and bigger hub. I lasted 6 months before Der Fuhrer was elected and the economy hit our industry HARD. Once my opportunity to advance quickly was gone I got the hell out of there. It did not help that I am a very social person and only had a few friends but due to our work schedules didn't get to hang out much. I turned into a raging blackout drunk due to all of this

[madcat6183]

West Bloomfield and Birmingham are surprisingly affordable now a days

Yep, they've been there about 15 years now, live on a private lake that Kid Rock has a place on. It's our summer get away, and we'd like to get a "shack" up there off the lake for our weekend home. Once the sale/move of our primary is done we'll either do that or get a place in CO for vacations. Figure we can always stay with my family free and get a condo in CO for us.

There's 3 families that live on the same lake and within 5 mins of each other walking, so it's a huge party all the time. Very peaceful.

[ohdaho]

If you and fiance havent talked long-term plans, you need to do it now...regardless of your move. Consider the following things for a move:

-Career progression, where you are and where you want to go. Does it help/hurt your chances of achieving your goals.

-Career potential for the fiance?

-Does this match up with yalls family plans?

-Livability (is that even a word) of the area you plan on moving to...socially,etc.

-Plans for your house (rent or sell)?

All the other details such as moving expenses/bonuses and compensation, TO ME, are minor things when you're planning your life in the long run. Dont let a few thousand dollars impact where you want to go with your career and family. Keeping the wife happy is just as important (for your sanity) as the career benefits. Pros and cons then make a decision.

[Scruit]

One company offered to move me to Boston, MA when they closed the Columbus office but their "move package" was actually a $6k expense account that I could submit receipts against. The 6% I'd have to pay the realtor to sell my house would be $18k alone, so $6k was an insult.

I started to worry it was one of those cases where they offer you a move to some far-flung location without a move package, and when you refuse to go they call it a resignation so they don't have to pay unemployment. Heard of that happening. Instead, they paid the $6k out in cash if you stayed on until the closure date. I found a new job locally before then and jumped ship.

I did check out Boston (Burlignton) and surrounding areas intending to move if they gave me a better move package, but I came up with a number of $45-50k and they refused. I figured $20k house sales expenses, flights to/from Boston and car rental for apartment hunting, overlap between ohio mortgage and boston apartment rental, closing costs on new mortgage, etc. My problem is my family is established in a house here and my wife earns almost as much as I do so she'd be leaving her job too. In the end it was too risky even if they gave us a good move package.

Buddy of mine requested permission to work from home permanently so he could move to another state to be with his son while he was at college. They agreed, he sold his house here bought one in the new state. The first email he got when he logged on for his first day WFH in his new house was the announcement of a management change, and the new manager was rescinding all WFH. Company told him to report to the office the next day or quit. He flew back, stayed in a hotel long enough to find a new job in the new state then told the old crew to pound sand.

[Mary#17]

You definitely need to consider all the basics. What to do with your house? Will you like the new area? Will your compensation be inline with the new area (cost of living?). You also need to negotiate some type of term contract. For example, if they were to terminate you through no fault of your own, what type of severance and compensation would be given to cover all of the costs they don't cover in a relocation package.

Most relocation packages these days are pretty soft so you should really want the position and want to move to the area otherwise, unless it is a huge boost in pay or position, it may not be worth it in the long term.

Mary

[tyler524]

I talked to my fiance last night and she is not necessarily over joyed by the idea of moving but she isn't against is either. I have been planning on selling my house in the next couple years anyways to look for something else but at the same time that wasn't set in stone. The area up there is pretty nice and I think I would like it but we would be even further from family which isn't as big of a deal for me as it is her. We already live about an hour away from family now so it isn't like we see them that much the way it is.

As far as the job goes, I am not sure at this point but it may be only choice unless I want to switch companies. I am a project engineer for pretty specialized equipment that I am very knowledgable about compared to some of the people in the rest of the company. The engineering and manufacturing for all North American sales came over here about 3 1/2 years ago and I have been on board since pretty much the beginning. They have now decided to move the engineering to our head quarters and that is why this has come up. I am not sure if there would be a promotion or not at this point but it sounded like it may very well be a possibility. I would definitely expect some sort or raise since the cost of living is a bit more up there. I know that I am a valuable asset to the company and was even told so when this was brought up yesterday. I would really like to stay on board since I have been part of the development of this machine since the first one and have put a lot of effort to get them to where they are now. I also think that I would easily be able to find another company in the Detroit area fairly easy that also deals with similar machines and processes.

If I stick around here, I don't know if I will be able to find something else and maintain my salary that I currently have. I don't neccesarily want to move but at the same time it seems like it could be a really good career move. I have already had to start over in a different industry once and am not entirely sure that I would like to do it again but I know that I would be able to.

I think a lot of it will really come down to what the company is really willing to offer me.

[rubbersidedown]

When I was in your shoes my first descision was if I wanted to invest in my career or my relationship. My gf (now wife for 12) at the time wanted to move also so it was a win-win. Only you can read what her luke warm response really means so figure that out first. If she has a good position that will complicate her feelings. If she is a keeper don't forget to consider her future pay raises in your overall income and not just your future promotions.

As for money you would not be out of line to ask for the following:

100% of moving expenses (get an estimate)

employer to pay for an apartment OR your mortgage for an agreed upon term

employer to cover fees associated with the sale of your home

Good luck with your descision.

[Dubguy85]

I've moved with my company 3 times.. I'm moving again in a few years.. Our package is nice.. If you don't sell your house in 60 days.. They buy it.. And give you cash.. Tell them to pay for your house, movers, and get a check.. Its pretty standard.

[JackFlash]

http://www.mustask.com/career-tips/Asked_to_Relocate_Questions_You_Should_Ask_Your_Employer.php

http://www.mustask.com/career-tips/The_Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Relocating_for_Your_Job.php

http://www.mustask.com/career-tips/Should_You_Relocate_If_Asked_By_Your_Employer.php