Sibcy Cline

Sibcy Cline Relocation Services Newsletter

Let's Unpack This...

Depending on the distance and the services needed a professional move costs anywhere from $0.60 to over $1.00 per pound. The savings can add up quickly for a transferee that can discard and/or donate unwanted items rather than include them in the move. For example, an average move of 18,000 lbs. from Cincinnati to Orlando would cost about $12,300, but if a transferee were able to reduce the shipment weight by just 3,000 lbs. they could save $2,000.

The savings potential has contributed to an increase in the usage of discard and donate programs prior to a relocation move. Options range from transferees simply throwing away and donating items themselves to using one or more of the many services available. Local charities, such as Goodwill®, always have locations where goods can be dropped off and others like The Salvation Army® will even let you schedule a pick up at your home, if they service your area, using their web site, www.satruck.org/.

When there are items to discard that exceed the limits of the local trash company or charity, a service such as Bagster® is an option to easily dispose of unwanted items. This program consists of a “bag” that can be purchased at a local home improvement store or online, the transferee filling the bag with up to 3,300 lbs. of unwanted items and then scheduling a truck to take the bag away. Depending on where you are in the country the bag with the pick up can range from $140 to $280. Before a bag is purchased, transferees should make sure that pick up service is available in their area because not all areas are serviced.

There are many other options and providers of discard and donate programs and even though there is a charge for some of the services, the potential for savings will almost always greatly surpass the cost.

For more information on discard and donate programs, please contact John Morabito
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                    Did you know...                       
                          

 Many companies combine their reimbursement for house hunting trips, temporary housing and/or the final move into one lump sum payment to their transferees.  In order to determine the appropriate lump sum amount for these relocation benefits, there are several third party resources who can calculate the payment to the transferee.  They base the calculation on your relocation policy guidelines and the transferee’s family size, origin and destination cities and/or their base salary.  Sibcy Cline Relocation works with several of these services.
 
Another option for SCRS clients is to have us run a lump sum calculation using our relocation software.  It allows us to customize the lump sum using the same parameters as other similar services, such as family size, origin and destination cities and base salary as well as the benefit guidelines in your relocation policies.  When comparison reports are run against some of the other third party services, any differences in the calculated amount are insignificant while we have found the cost per report is at least comparable to, if not less than, some of the other third party services.
 
There are both advantages and disadvantages to offering these benefits in a lump sum.  The advantages include administrative ease and knowing the cost of this benefit early in the relocation process for budget planning.  The disadvantages are the ever lingering thoughts of “Would this cost the company less if we reimbursed actual expenses?”  Companies typically find that offering a lump sum results in fewer requests for exceptions to these benefits in their policy.  The decision to offer a lump sum benefit can only be made within each company based on their own culture.  But if you decide a lump sum payment is appropriate for your program, Sibcy Cline Relocation can readily help with these calculations.

If you would like more information or if we can run a sample report for you, please Contact us today. 
 

Sibcy Cline Relocation Services Newsletter

Let's Unpack This...literally this time!



 Delivery was a success, you made it to the end of the day and you are all moved in, but now as you walk around the house your mind fills with thoughts of all the work that is ahead of you to make your new home livable and settled; all of the help you just had with delivery is now miles away leaving just you and maybe your family to unpack all the boxes and organize the whole house.  Add these thoughts to all of the other new ones, such as starting a new job, maybe you have kids starting at a new school, connecting to a new community and it can all become overwhelming very quickly.
 
As relocation and human resource professionals you know that these are experiences your transferees are having on a daily basis, they are part of what comes along with the opportunity for a promotion or a new job in a new city.  Your transferees are very capable of handling these details, that is part of the reason that you chose them, but we believe there is a simple way to speed the process of getting them settled into their homes and more importantly focused and productive at their new jobs; we are talking about providing White Glove Service.
 
White Glove Service, which is sometimes called Maid Service, is a service that can be provided after delivery has been completed.  Most all of your transferees have experienced the benefits of having a crew pack all of their household goods for loading; white glove service provides those same types of benefits but for unpacking and so much more.  A white glove service crew can rearrange furniture, hang pictures and curtains, set-up computers, clean, unpack all of the boxes and put away/organize the unpacked goods into closets, cupboards and throughout the house.  Their objective is to have the new home in the most organized and settled-in state possible at the completion of service.  Depending on the size of the home, and the amount of household goods, this can take from about one to three days.
 
Pricing for this service is typically based on an hourly rate with an eight hour minimum service requirement and crew sizes can be anywhere from 2-5 people.  The rate per hour varies from city to city.
 
This is not an all or nothing service, you do not need to offer to unpack and organize the entire home.  Sometimes just offering minimum service to get a kitchen and bathroom set-up can go a long way.  We could even discuss this service with transferees as a wise option for their lump sum spending, therefore having no impact of your relocation budgets.
 
We know this is a service that most all of your transferees would benefit from and appreciate.  It would take a huge burden off of them at a time that is also critical to you in making sure they are engaged and productive in their new role from day one - the whole reason you provided relocation benefits to them in the first place.  Think of it this way, transferees that use this service will have more creative and organizational energy pent up that they can now pour into their new jobs!
  
We appreciate your partnership and business and we look forward to providing you with more innovative ideas and service offerings. 

For more information about White Glove Service, please contact John Morabito at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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                    Did you know...                       
                          
We can provide a Cost of Living Comparison between two cities
that includes much more than just cost of living?

Sibcy Cline Relocation Services has access to a cost of living comparison program that can provide data based on city locations or specific zip code to zip code. The report provides specific comparison information on sixteen expense categories ranging from essentials such as housing, food and utilities to discretionary items such as gifts, clothing and contributions. The base salary level can be customized and will then be the basis for the comparison between the two locations.

The report provides results in several dimensions. It shows the base salary needed in the second location compared to the base salary input for the first location. It also shows the differential for each city based on an index of 100 as the national average; an index below 100 indicates the cost of living is below the national average and an index above 100 indicates the cost of living is above the national average.

The report also has information and links to community information such as housing turnover, household size, population demographics, weather, education, rent averages and crime statistics.

If you would like more information or if we can run a sample report for you, please Contact us today. 

Sibcy Cline Relocation Services Newsletter
 
One of the hottest topics in relocation today is providing services for renters.

For transferees who have always been renters, it can be more difficult to become a homeowner.  Homeownership is at its most affordable level, yet many potential first time homebuyers have to delay their purchase due to stringent mortgage guidelines.  Some transferees who previously were homeowners are now choosing to rent because of negative equity, short sales, foreclosures and/or issues with qualifying for a mortgage.  Regardless of the reason, the bottom line is there are more renters in the last few years than ever before.  They are not all the upwardly mobile, young professionals as was the historic norm.  Renters now are often families looking to rent single family homes because they are used to single family living and must consider school districts and family amenities.
 
Renters need assistance finding options that fit their lifestyle needs and budget within the time constraints they have for house hunting.  When transferees are looking to rent a single family house, aggregating all available options can be a challenge.  There is no central database for rental properties as it exists for sale properties.   As a result, companies are being asked to cover the fee for rental orientation tours for their employees more often than ever.  Our goal is to use all our available resources to find a local contact, whether that is a real estate agent or specialized rental service, with the experience and overall knowledge of their specific rental market. 
For more information on rental services, please contact Donna Socha at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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                    Did you know?                         
                          

As a client of Sibcy Cline Relocation Services, you have access to the most frequently requested information about your relocations right at your fingertips.  Through your personal sign-on to MoveTrack Web Access (MWA), you can view both standard Summary Reports and create Dashboard Reports of your own. 
 
The Summary Reports allow you to designate a date range and display information about the relocations that have been initiated and the expenses incurred for them.   The transferee report provides transferee names, origin and destination addresses, policy tier and homeowner status.  The expense report provides the list of expenses either individually or for everyone in the designated date range and the expense category. 
 
The Dashboard Report function allows you to create your own reports by selecting a date range, individual or group of transferees and the data fields in MoveTrack that you want to see.  Reports can be produced by authorization, expenses or vendor type.  Data for both the Summary and Dashboard Reports can be displayed in either a table or chart format, whichever works best for your reporting needs.
 
And before the end of the year, MoveTrack is scheduled to have an even more robust function for creating and displaying your own customized reports for your relocation program.  We’ll keep you updated….
Contact us today if you would like a demonstration of this reporting feature.