When it comes to relocation, home really is where the heart is. It’s hard to overstate how deeply local real estate and mortgage markets affect relocating employees and candidates weighing long-distance job offers.
That’s why UrbanBound’s UB Home program is such a powerful tool for employers and employees. It eases and speeds the relocation process—and helps employers recruit more successfully—by making it easier for employees to secure a home they’ll love at a price they can afford.
Home Sweet (UB) Home
When an employee considers relocation, housing is always top of mind. It’s right up there with health and family as a priority. That’s why the UB Home program exists—to help them buy and sell their homes more easily.
For one thing, it introduces them to top-performing local real-estate agents—agents who specialize in relocation.
For another, it connects them to some of the industry’s leading mortgage lenders, including Rocket Mortgage, which offer discounted interest rates, capped fees and other benefits.
This creates a more positive—even exciting—relocation experience. While this is a plus in any market, it’s especially important when housing markets are tight and mortgage rates are high. Like they are right now. Now, it’s more important than ever.
Giving Employees Unheard-of Mortgage Deals
According to Fannie Mae, Mortgage Interest rates aren’t coming down anytime soon.
As a result, some relocation companies suggest that employers provide their employees with greater financial mortgage assistance, like interest or payment differentials, adding to their relocation program costs and taxable benefit.
UB Home’s mortgage program offers a different solution—one that saves employees money while sparing employers added costs.
For example, when an employee buys or sells their home with UB Home, they enjoy:
- Discounted interest rates through one of our preferred mortgage partners, Rocket Mortgage, including a lender-paid credit of up to 1% (up to $10,000!)
- Capped lender fees of $750 (a $550 savings)
- Up to $1,500 to spend on appliances and furniture + discounts up to 40% through abt
- Purchase Assistance with white glove, concierge, home finding services
- Neighborhood & market information in the UrbanBound Platform
Now, about that 1% lender credit. Some lenders, like Rocket Mortgage, allow employees to choose how they’ll use it—say, for closing costs or to lower their interest rates. On a $400,000 mortgage, it translates to $4,000. That’s a nice welcome to the neighborhood!
Another Unique Rocket Mortgage Perk: Verified Approval
When employees use Rocket Mortgage as their lender, they get something extra: a proprietary service known as Verified Approval.
This carries more weight than standard mortgage pre-approval, because it entails an underwriter’s detailed, validated review of that buyer’s income, assets and credits.
Not only do Verified Approvals hold more sway with sellers—giving buyers an edge in competitive markets—they often result in faster closings, because much of the financial verification work is already done.
And when employees close on their new homes faster, it means they can start work sooner, which benefits employers, too.
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Expert Help with Home-Buying and Selling
Real estate transactions require expertise, plus solid knowledge of the local market. That’s why UB Home has partnered with top real-estate agents nationwide—all carefully screened and vetted.
Because these agents specialize in relocation, they know what employees and their families want and can better guide them through the local market. They are key to helping employees feel at home faster.
In addition, we leverage our online platform to provide relocating employees with access to quality hyper-local data regarding the housing market, neighborhoods, schools, demographics and more.
As a result, employees are able to identify their most promising neighborhoods/school districts in advance of their home-finding trip. They gain an understanding of the local housing market, so they hit the ground running.
One Last Benefit of UB Home…for Employers
If you’re familiar with UrbanBound, you know our pricing structure is different from that of other relocation management companies.
RMCs charge their clients service-by-service—and add markups to almost all of them. On the other hand, because we’re software-based, we charge a set license fee for each relocating employee or candidate.
Thanks to the cost-saving power of technology—and the fact that we negotiate serious discounts with our suppliers—we save our clients up to 66% on their relocation program costs.
In addition, every time a client’s employee buys or sells a home using UB Home, we refund them a license credit. It’s yet another way we save our clients money, while improving their employees’ relocation experience.
Ready to learn more about UB Home? Start your journey here.
