Corporate relocation programs can make moving a dream--but don't forget to find the best mortgage rates

What are corporate relocation programs?

Corporate relocation programs are used when an employer wishes to tempt an existing employee or a new hire to accept a post that involves moving, often to a different state or country. Surprisingly, perhaps, the split in 2009 was 67 percent existing employees, and 33 percent new hires.

Obviously, such moves involve a great deal of extra expense, effort, stress and hassle, so many companies sweeten the pill by offering to help with costs and to take on lots of the time-consuming tasks. Those tasks cover a very wide range of activities, so most employers outsource the the whole business to specialist companies. These might typically handle:

• Departure services, including marketing your home, closing assistance, and so on
• Transportation and/or storage of household goods, vehicles, pets etc.
• Destination services--finding a home, arranging temporary accommodation, area orientation, and helping a spouse or partner to find work
• Financial services--reimbursing expenses, auditing claims, advising on taxation issues

And those are the sorts of tasks usually undertaken for those relocating domestically. People moving overseas can additionally expect assistance with visas, inoculations, language learning and cultural acclimation.

Not cheap

According to Atlas's 43rd annual Corporate Relocation Survey, employers are expecting to increase significantly the deployment of these programs in 2010, following a decrease in 2009.

You can see why companies were loath to use them during the economic downturn. Worldwide ERC®, an industry body, estimates that American companies spend $25 billion a year on corporate relocation, and that the average cost of each domestic transfer in 2009 were:

• Current employee (homeowner)--$90,017
• New hire (homeowner)--$66,610
• Current employee (renter)--$20,750
• New hire (renter)--$17,877

Your employer buys your home?

Some of the extra cost of relocating a homeowner may be explained by the cost of shipping household goods. People who own their own homes often have more "stuff" that has to be shifted. However, the average shipping cost in 2009 was $11,900, which is hardly enough to account for such a significant difference.

No, it's more likely that homeowners cost more to move because most employers offer to buy the home of someone who's being relocated. And in this real estate market that can be an expensive business.

Of course, not all companies will do this, and even those that do won't necessarily extend the privilege to everyone they wish to relocate. But Worldwide ERC says that only five percent of employers fail to offer any sort of home sale assistance, and another 10 percent are willing only to reimburse the cost of selling the property.

Your new mortgage is up to you

Some relocation specialists may be willing to help you with mortgage quotes, but most seem to leave finding the best mortgage rates to you. That's probably a good thing. Nobody is as incentivized as you are to get the best possible deal.

Luckily, in this Internet age it's not hard to track down those deals. For example, you can find some of the best mortgage rates in the state to which you're relocating by clicking here for a mortgage quote finder. And you can work out your budget--and your monthly repayments--by using ShopRate.com's mortgage calculators.