Cute boys move youSo last time I wrote about the long, drawn-out process of interviewing as a gay executive, including the day of fun (not) psychometric testing. In the end, I got the job. In the Midwest. About 1200 miles away from where I live now.

Fear not, executives are not expected to move themselves. It’s still a hassle, but a lot of perks are in place to smooth the way. And I’m delighted to say my new company explicitly mentions executive “spouses/partners” on every page of their printed relocation policies.

First off, there is finding a place to live in the new location. Fortunately, executive relocations cover most of the costs. This includes an all-expenses paid trip (with partner) for up to 7 days to find a new home, which Rob and I took two weeks ago. Before the trip, my new company recommended I get pre-approved for a mortgage (which is free) and lock in an interest rate. Because my new company pays up to a “point” on the new mortgage I was able to lock in a 5.5% interest rate, a really terrific rate in today’s market. My new company also recommended a number of realtors; we chose Remax Results and were delighted to discover our realtor didn’t miss a beat to learn this was a gay family relocation.

She was able to recommend a number of gay-friendly suburbs, and for a few weeks before our house-hunting trip, she sent over a number of excellent possibilities with links to online descriptions, pictures, even 360 degree “virtual tours”. Because we wanted a 5-bedroom home with a full mother-in-law suite (for my Mom), our choices weren’t as numerous as they might have been if we were a regular footloose gay couple. But while doing our online homework, a few great possibilities emerged.

So once we got out there, we wasted no time visiting our top 6 choices. As it happened, we toured the houses in the morning, made an offer on one over lunch, and had our offer accepted by early afternoon. We headed right over to meet the seller, sign the purchase agreement and set up the home inspection. With that out of the way, we spent the next few days of our trip pretty much kicking back and getting to know the area, which of course I had seen during my interviews but Rob had not.

Once back home in NJ, we progressed rapidly to the next stage of executive relocation: getting set up to move. I start the new job on July 9th, but we set a “closing” date on the new house of July 25th to give ourselves time to (a) get packed and ready to move and (b) get our New Jersey house on the market.

Fortunately, a number of relocation benefits help significantly with the expenses. First of all, the new company covers nearly all closing costs on the new home: the home inspection, appraisal fee, mortgage application fee, credit report, document prep fee, title examination, title insurance, state tax stamps, tax certificate, etc. etc. — all those hidden fees that can wallop you as a regular home buyer. These are direct-billed from the bank to my new company, so it never hits my radar. That’s a huge hassle avoided.

Then there is the issue of selling the current home (unless you intend to keep it as a rental property). Some companies provide significant help in selling the executive’s current home as well; in this case I was granted $10,000 to defray the costs. In an incredible stroke of good fortune, Rob and I managed to list and sell our NJ home in two weeks. We set a closing date of–what else?–July 25th, to avoid paying two mortgages for even a day.

Executive relocations generally cover the entire costs of the physical move. On the big day, professional packers will come and pack up every item in every room, even strapping the furniture with bubble wrap. Every item will be numbered and detailed on an inventory list. The following day, movers will come load up the truck, ticking each numbered item off as it goes. Then they truck it across country, and unload each box and position each piece of furniture into the rooms we’ve designated. We had the option of having each box unpacked by professionals in the new house, but we thought that would produce a lot of mess and confusion. So we will unpack ourselves and call to have the empty boxes and miles of bubble wrap removed a few days later. Again, all packing and moving costs are direct-billed to my new company, saving me a lot of hassle.

I will be starting work in the new location several weeks before my family can join me, so the new company will put me up in corporate housing and cover my meals during the transition, and make travel arrangements for me to “commute” home every weekend. Then, all of our final travel to the new location is covered: our choice to either fly or drive. Because we have a number of vehicles and the new company only pays to ship one to the new location, we chose to drive. Fortunately personal auto mileage is reimbursed at 48.5 cents a mile (that’s nearly $600 for a 1200 mile trip!) along with the costs of hotels and meals on the way.

All in all, it’s a pretty good deal. It allows the executive to get directly to work and not stress (too much) about the whole upheaval of relocation–which is why companies pay all these costs. It’s not out of the goodness of their hearts! But there is also a concern that the spouses/partners of the relocated executives will not be able to get settled and find work quickly, if desired. So in the new location, my company will also reimburse Rob up to a month’s worth of his salary from his previous job in order to cover costs like resume preparation, job search or agency placement fees, career counseling, etc. Hopefully this will allow him to get situated smoothly as well.

All of these relocation benefits are considered taxable income by the IRS. To protect executives from the thousands of dollars in taxes this would entail, all the benefits are “grossed up” (i.e., calculated at a higher, before-tax rate) and the company pays the income taxes on the benefits as well. Another relocation worry avoided.

As for how my new job goes, and whether I find I’ve made a good move or a bad one, stay tuned: I start on Monday!