Should people relocate now? Here are three compelling reasons.

Since the pandemic began, those of us in the relocation business have seen reduced volumes of people moving for a variety of reasons. One reason is that people put their moves on hold until they felt it was safe to move. Additionally, companies paused on initiating new moves based on safety concerns and hiring freezes due to the state of their financial wellbeing or the economy overall. While many are optimistic looking out toward the second half of 2021, the reality is that there has been a dramatic decrease in global mobility volume in 2020.

That said, people have moved over the past nine months. Despite increased stress and changes to how services are administered, many actually had great experiences and/or benefited financially. While every relocating employee has to balance the needs of the business with their own personal situation, there are some compelling reasons to consider relocating sooner rather than later. 

First, with many schools providing virtual classrooms that can be accessed from anywhere, waiting for the school year to end may no longer be a big issue. Frequently in the relocation process, families get split when one parent must get to a new location to start a new position and the other stays back in the departure location to hold down the fort. Now that many schools provide a virtual option for their students, there may be more flexibility for the family to relocate with the employee and still support the children's school needs. This will save costs on exceptions, like extended temporary housing, because the family can move together while the children can stay enrolled in their current online classroom environment. It's worth checking to see if your school or district will allow this. 

The second potentially compelling reason is to grab some of the best mortgage rates we have ever seen. The article below from CNBC speaks to the situation where low interest rates (14th record low of the year) are giving buyers additional purchasing power. This is great news, but it comes with a catch. Depending on where you are moving, this additional purchasing power could continue to propel prices up due to a record low supply of homes on the market. So beginning your new home search sooner — while loans are cheaper to take on and before home prices rise even further — may be to your advantage.

The third compelling reason is that the services you need to handle the relocation process are ready to provide an all-time high level of service. The attention, guidance and support being delivered is providing a maximum experience for those taking on the process now. Household goods providers, temporary housing providers, real estate professionals and destination service providers have all adapted and adjusted to respond to the safety and security needs of moving during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many relocating employees that we spoke with who were moving in the midst of the pandemic felt they were able to receive a higher level of service and benefited in many ways by relocating during this time. We asked, "Knowing what you know now about COVID-19, would you have still accepted your relocation or assignment when it was offered?" In response, 87% indicated that they would have still accepted the offer and gone ahead to relocate.

For more ideas on how to help employees take advantage of relocating amid a pandemic, check out our "9 strategies for addressing relocating employee concerns amid a pandemic."