Tips to Buying a Relocation Home

Urban legends abound with regards to purchasing a home from a Relocation company or from a seller who is being relocated. Myth #1 I can steal this house because a corporation owns it. Nothing could be further from the truth. relocation companies spend a great deal of time obtaining the right price for a home. Most if not all firms have three local real estate opinions on value. These are the people who routinely sell in a specific area and have local knowledge. Myth #2: I am taking my chances on the condition of the home because the home is being sold through a relocation company.  Just the opposite is true! The amount of tests, inspections and work orders that a relocation company requires of the home owner is far beyond a typical sale. In addition many relocation companies offer a radon warranty. They provide the option of a long term radon test conducted over weeks (most non-relo sales are done over 3 days) and in the event that the long term test shows higher radon levels the relocation company will install a mitigation system at their cost. Myth#3 If the seller accepts my offer before the relocation company accepts my offer I could lose out to another higher offer. Generally speaking in my experience this is false. Once the seller has verbally accepted the offer and as the relocation company works through their due diligence, they will not sell the house to a higher bidder.

One complaint that many buyers have with relocation companies is the length of time for approval of an offer. While this is a valid concern-- a buyer who is prepared for this ahead of time can deal with the slowness easier if they understand that this is part and parcel of these types of transactions. This is our job as Realtors to help the buyer's understand how a relocation transaction progresses through their system.