WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? 

Relocation and Corporate Housing Partners

Use this to start the conversation. Help us educate and heighten our shared space. Make sure to simplify, explain, and relate to clients. 

Corporate Clients

Use this as your quick reference 'Relocation Guide'. No matter what company you work for, make sure you know your options. After all, you know your company better than we do, so know what resources are best suited for how you guys operate.

Impress leadership with your knowledge, bring new solutions to the table, and provide personalized solutions. 

Residents & Potential Clients 

The best thing you could do is educate yourself on what’s out there, right?  Even if you don’t need these specific services right now, you’ll know they're here. When you do find yourself needing them, whenever that is, you’re going to be stressed. But, this blog will put your mind at ease, knowing there are people like us who have your back. 

RELOCATION SERVICES VS. DESTINATION SERVICES

Simply put, relocation companies help the person or family bring all their goods to their new location. Relocation companies, also like to be your assistant in a way. They schedule all of the movers, shippers, and storage pods, and also help you coordinate real estate needs, temporary housing and all travel that you and your family may have.

Most of the time, they will work directly with furnished apartment providers (us) and destination service providers to offer a complete package. 

Destination Services are a layer within this. A destination service provider (DSP) will do things that a real estate agent legally can’t - like tell you about the crime/safety of an area or which city has the best schools. Offering services like area orientation, home find assistance, school searches, foreign language training, and cultural assistance. A DSP's goal is to help all the family members acclimate to their new area.

Now that we've established the overall difference, let's dive a bit deeper. We'll get into real-life examples, and eye-opening statistics, and leave you with easily downloadable content. 

RELOCATION SERVICES

If you’ve read our “Why Realtors and Brokers Aren’t Taking Advantage of Corporate Housing” blog, you know there are many ways relocation weaves its way into furnished apartments. 

Let’s talk about employee relocation. When a company decides to move a new or existing employee from one location to another, we’re talking about completely uprooting their life - uprooting families even! Some might be moving internationally. It’s no shock that over 60% of companies outsource this process entirely. There are a lot of tiny, yet vital, details that can’t be missed. It’s so strategic, timely, and sensitive that even travel managers need extra assistance. 

Companies providing relocation services directly manage these processes, making sure no stone is left unturned...because face it, we know you can’t list every proper step it takes to relocate a family internationally off the top of your head. (If so, prove it.) 

DESTINATION SERVICES

Depending on what you need, where you’re relocating, and who you’re relocating with, Destination Services are used to personalize your specific journey, building your own relocation plan of sorts. 

Different tasks on the list include: arranging necessary documents (visa, long-term stay permissions), finding permanent homes, finding school systems for children, finding a job for the partner or "trailing spouse", arranging a language teacher for the family, introductions to local culture, arranging long term transportation, etc...

The good thing about Destination Services is that it can be custom-built like an a-la-carte menu. They’re sectioned off into different categories and needs. This helps the personalization process be more digestible and timely. Here are a few examples below. 

Get the downloadable version:  

Pull it when you need it, use it for reference, and send it over to colleagues.  

WHY NOT JUST TALK TO A REAL ESTATE AGENT? 

If you know you need relocation guidance, a real estate agent isn’t going to solve all your problems.  While they can help you find a permanent home (or sell your existing one), they won’t be able to assist with the fundamental aspects of relocating. They’re also legally limited to be 100% transparent with you. They can’t disclose things such as bad neighborhoods, school systems, etc., which is usually make or break information, right?

While Real Estate Agents aren't able to give you that information, relocation specialists are. That’s why a lot of people are using relocation experts to house them in very comfortable, home-like furnished apartments while collaborating with Agents to find them a permanent home if needed. They’re then able to get the transparency they deserve, while also getting professional real estate services to close the deal. 

Bam. Best of both worlds. 

PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE

Take Compass for example. We are a Corporate Housing company. However, once knowing all these different avenues of how we can help people, we’ve expanded. We brought in the big guns, partnering with not only real estate professionals, but relocation and destination service counselors, as well.  

Don’t get us wrong, we have many clients that don’t require relocation needs at all. We assist them with short term rentals and acclimate them to their new location no problem, but for those that do have relocation needs, we didn’t want to leave ‘em high and dry.

We’ll build them a custom package to provide as much or as little assistance based on the employees needs, budget, and location. 

Then, depending on if they’re planning on buying permanently, we’ll bring in our real estate team. Once the resident has a good grasp on their new location, preferred neighborhoods, and are ready to formally settle in, our destination service counselors will work hand-in-hand with our real estate agents, making sure they end up in their forever home that perfectly aligns with their lifestyle. 

Not sure where to begin? Want to talk shop? That’s what we are here for, whatever your needs, we have your back - schedule some time to chat with a crew member today.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hey, guys! It's Maddy, the content creator at Compass. I hope you've been liking my educational pieces. I know I needed an easier breakdown of Relo. and DSP when I first started at Compass. Find me here on Linkedin, I'd love to connect. Talk soon!