Revisit relocation policies in light of U.S. subprime crisis, says RLRS

With this week's decline of Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and AIG, relocating U.S. employees to Canada has just gotten even more complicated, warns relocation experts from Royal LePage Relocation Services (RLRS). In a recently released white paper, Royal LePage advises Canadian companies planning to relocate employees from the U.S. "to revisit their relocation policies and costs to see how much housing assistance their employees will need and whether it really is worth it."

By mid-2009, forecasters are expecting more than two million foreclosures across the United States, and for U.S. housing prices to drop by as much as 30 percent before the worst is over. And, that's on top of declining income, a U.S. unemployment rate that's at a four-year high, and inflation that's running at its fastest clip in 17 years.

The white paper literally charts the changes in the slumping U.S. housing markets, and then offers company a number of tips when examining their relocation policies. These tips include:

• Review financial obligations as many relocation offers will predated the subprime mortgage crisis.
• Encourage employees to market their homes aggressively rather than simply wait for assistance. Employers may want to offer incentives for those who sell quickly.
• Extend temporary assignments rather than permanent relocations.
• Offer housing subsidies.

For other tips and to read the entire white paper, visit www.seamlesstransitions.ca.