Welcome to episode #4 of RealtyCast Global – a global connection to all things real estate, hosted by Hugh Gilliam, president of Global Property Pros.
Dive into the world of international relocations as we welcome Uli Leib, a seasoned professional. Uli assists us in unraveling the many reasons why companies send their employees abroad and the enticing benefits offered to facilitate these moves. From cost-of-living allowances to immigration assistance, we explore how companies support their employees in these significant transitions. We also discuss the various types of assignments, including short and long-term, and how these can affect the relocation process.
With Uli's expertise, we tackle the complex process of finding a suitable home - taking into account budget, school districts, and commute times. Uli shares vital tips for real estate agents working with international assignees, accentuating the importance of understanding these clients' unique needs. Hear how you, as a real estate agent, can expand your business through relocation services and become a regional expert. From providing destination services to securing long-term rentals, Uli’s insights are invaluable for anyone involved in international relocation or real estate. This is one episode you don't want to miss!
Visit blog.realtyhive.com for more details on this episode.
About the Guest - Uli Leib:
Uli Leib, a seasoned relocation expert, excels in domestic and international moves. As a trusted destination consultant in Chicagoland, she leverages her vast expertise. Originally from Austria, Uli's extensive European travels enrich her intercultural perspective. She now resides in Chicago.
Her diverse background includes teaching German at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and Chicago campuses, along with experience in cultural training, international relocation management, business consulting, and real estate.
With an M.A. in German Languages and Literature from the University of Illinois, Uli is a Certified Relocation Professional and an active member of the Employee Relocation Council. She also holds an IL Managing Broker's License and is fluent in German and English.
About the host - Hugh Gilliam:
Hugh Gilliam co-owned a national transportation company, created a land development business, and worked as a general contractor in residential and commercial construction for over two decades. Hugh also co-founded an international distribution company and successfully negotiated and contracted with 135 sales representatives in the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, Japan, and the Netherlands.
Today, Mr. Gilliam is affiliated with RealtyHive, LLC where he serves as Director of International Real Estate and President of Global Property Pros. His duties include involvement in commercial and residential transactions, plus promoting marketing systems and lead generation platforms.
For real estate professionals looking to take their business to the next level, check out Global Property Pros!
He is also co-founder of the luxury digital magazine, DOORWAYS INTERNATIONAL, powered by RealtyHive, which serves as a platform for Brokers and Buyers throughout 70 countries.
Hugh's Designations Include:
- Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist
- Certified Distressed Property Export
- Certified International Property Specialist
- Certified International Investment & Immigration Specialist
- Transnational Referral Certification
Episode Transcript
Welcome to RealtyCast Global, where we
bring insights and advice fromtop professionals in the global
market.
Join us for a journey ofculture and real estate from
countries across the globe.
My guest today is Uli Leib, anaccomplished international
relocation professional.
(00:22):
Ms.
Leib is from Austria and hastraveled extensively throughout
Europe.
She currently resides in theskylines of the Chicago area.
She specializes in culturaltraining, international
relocation management, businessdevelopment initiatives and real
estate consulting.
Most recently, she has beenworking as an independent
(00:45):
destination consultant andintercultural coach for
international families moving tothe Chicago area.
Uli, welcome to the show.
I appreciate you joining usthis morning.
So we'll jump right into thequestions.
And I want to ask one that somepeople may not understand or
may want to understand better,and it's can you give us some
(01:07):
general background aboutcorporate international
relocation and why do companiessend employees to an overseas
location?
Uli Leib (01:17):
All right, well, thanks for having me.
So yeah, you know what mostcorporations with worldwide
locations transfer employeesbetween different countries, and
the reason for sending someoneto a different country there can
be many reasons.
So one example wouldshort-term a , project based
(01:40):
assignment People, let's say,for example, an oil company
starts drilling in a newlocation.
They need a lot of employeesthere, so they bring them from
another location, maybe wherethey just ended drilling.
They may start a new operationin a country like, for example,
a US company starts up a factoryin China, so they will send
(02:04):
some leadership over there tohire local employees and train
them.
Or Toyota, for example, opens afactory here in the US.
They will send some folks inleadership roles from Japan over
here to hire people and trainthem.
Could be technical needs likeSilicon Valley high tech
(02:27):
companies can't find the talenthere or they need to bring in
from overseas, and sometimesit's talent development.
That means that the company hasa very high potential employee.
They may bring them fromoverseas to their headquarters
in the US, or they may send a USemployee somewhere overseas to
(02:48):
give them the internationalexperience to help them step up
the ladder to their new role.
Hugh Gilliam (02:55):
For how long do those employees typically stay
in host countries?
Uli Leib (03:00):
Well, you know, it really depends on the need and
the type of assignment.
So if you have, for example,the oil company that's going to
send people for drilling, theymay go there for three months
and live there and then threemonths on, three months off,
because it's usually sort of ahardship location.
If we're talking a moretraditional international
(03:22):
assignment, it could be shortterm anything less than a year
is considered short term andthen there could be a long term
international assignment andthat's typically somewhere
between two and five years andthose are sort of different or
(03:43):
it could be a permanent transferaltogether.
So I you know, I've worked withthe oil client.
I did a lot of work for an oilcompany previously and they
usually did a lot of thoserotational assignments three
months off, three months off.
Hugh Gilliam (03:59):
How do companies offer their employees to entice
them to move to a differentcountry?
Uli Leib (04:07):
Yeah, well, you know, it does depend on the type of
assignment and also on the levelof the employee within the
company.
If they're very high level orjust, you know, entry level
employee, but it often meansraise and a promotion, or you
(04:27):
know, or raise or promotion orboth.
And then, in addition to that,companies always want to cover
any costs that are involved inmoving that employee, and
sometimes the family, to theoverseas location.
And so, for example, ifsomebody goes just for a year
(04:48):
short term, they may just treatthem like a business traveler
and pay for the hotel, reimbursefor the hotel, reimburse for
rental car and pay them a perdiem for their meals or whatever
.
But if you're talking about anupper management level employee
that's going for three to fiveyears, bringing the family,
(05:13):
those benefits can be really,really comprehensive.
And in that case the employeroften has an agreement with a
relocation management company tosort of manage the whole
process and also track costs.
Hugh Gilliam (05:30):
Uli, can you give examples of some of these
benefits you're talking about?
Uli Leib (05:34):
Yes.
So for, for example, everybodywould get immigration assistance
that is typically provided byan international law firm that
specializes in immigration andthey would handle things like
you know, the visas and the workpermits for those employees so
(05:56):
they can be legally staying inthe new country and employed in
a new country.
They will almost everybody willalso get tax assistance.
You know, if you're payingincome taxes potentially in more
than one country and all yourbenefits for the move are being
taxed, it gets really reallycomplicated.
So they all get assistance of atax firm.
(06:19):
But then other benefits willreally depend on the type of
assignment.
So let's say a long terminternational assignment, people
will often get a house huntingtrip.
That means they will pay forthe whole family to go to the
new location, stay for maybe aweek, take a look at areas,
(06:42):
neighborhoods you know it's alsocalled a recon or a little sea
trip sometimes.
Then then you know there's themove of the household goods and
typically employees get a smallshipment of their personal
belongings clothings, computers,that type of thing.
(07:02):
There is an air shipmentbecause they will need that
right away, but then furnitureand everything else is shipped
surface, which can be with aboat or with a truck, depending
on where they're going to andfrom, and debt is extremely
expensive and it can also take areally long time because of
customs and you know so forth.
(07:24):
So so sometimes companies,rather than paying for the
shipment of the furniture, willjust give the employee a one
time lump sum of money and sayyou use that and buy some new
furniture and then we will payfor them.
They will often get temporaryhousing in a furnished apartment
(07:45):
, either if they haven't found ahome yet when they first get
here, or and then also you knowif their furniture hasn't
arrived yet.
And then some additionalbenefits could include a
relocation allowance that's likea one time sum of money to
cover any miscellaneous expensesthat might come up.
(08:06):
Monthly cost of livingallowance If the host country
cost of living is higher than inthe home country.
There could be a hardshipallowance to sweeten the pot for
somebody who's going to a youknow desert or whatever.
There is often a rentalallowance to cover the families
(08:30):
or the employees rent.
They will get a rental car.
They will get the costs for thefamily to travel here for their
final move, sometimes to evengo back home once a year,
whatever.
Private school tuition for thekids if that's necessary
language training, culturaltraining so it can be just
(08:51):
numerous and those expensesreally add up.
So and then destinationservices and that's what.
That's the type of support thathelps the assigned find a
permanent home schooling for thekids and get settled into the
new area.
And that's what I've been doingfor the last few years.
(09:11):
I've been providing destinationassistance to folks coming to
the Chicago area and so that Iwould do an area tour to
familiarize them with differentneighborhoods.
We talk about schools and thenmaybe tours from different
schools, private versus publicand then the whole settling in
(09:32):
process, which would include,you know, getting your buying
for a social security number,for your driver's license,
opening a bank account, gettinghooked up with local families to
get settled into the community,find out about the hospitals
and so forth.
And then, obviously, the rentalassistance, where I've helped
(09:55):
them find a long term rental.
If it's a family, they alwayswill want a single family to
rent a single family home andnegotiate a long term lease.
Usually I do that with the helpof a local real estate agent.
And then, you know, getconnected with utilities and
vendors, insurance, and thenwe'll do a move in condition of
(10:18):
the inventory, inventory, thecondition of the property at
moving, which basically thenthey have proved to show when
they move back out whatcondition the property was in.
So they get their full securitydeposit.
Hugh Gilliam (10:35):
And so that's what we're talking about.
When you have a client movingto a location and it's more of a
long term job they're lookingat or looking to transfer to, do
they typically buy a home orlease a home?
Uli Leib (10:50):
Well, about 90 plus percent will end up renting a
home or leasing a home Employeeswho move permanently to a new
country.
So they plan then on juststaying there and becoming
localized.
That is called in therelocation lingo.
(11:12):
They will sometimes rent forthe first year and then buy a
home.
But most of them come for ashorter time period, like three
years or five years, and thecompanies really don't want them
to buy a home because onebuying, all the closing costs
and then again having to selland all that is just a very
(11:35):
cumbersome process.
So they typically want them torent and they would reimburse
them for often giving them arental allowance which is
designed to reimburse them forthe cost of the rent.
So 90, maybe some percent ofthe rent.
And so the lease itself thencan be either in the employees
(11:56):
name, and then the employeemakes the payments and the
company reimburses them, or itcould be in the company name too
, and the company actually thenmakes the payments, or the
remote patient company makes thepayments and company
representatives would sign thelease.
But whether it's a corporatelease or the employee signs the
(12:18):
lease, the companies usuallywant to protect themselves in
case they transferred thisemployee again during the term
of the lease, and so they alwayswant a diplomatic clause
inserted or be part of thatlease, and the diplomatic clause
stipulates that they couldbreak the lease without penalty
(12:40):
in case they get transferredagain during the term of the
lease.
Hugh Gilliam (12:47):
In the negotiation process, do you find that
difficult to have the landlordaccept that clause?
Uli Leib (12:55):
Well, if it's a you know if the market, if there's
very limited inventory andthere's a lot of demand, it's
really challenging.
So, but I would try tonegotiate a compromise.
For example, the diplomaticclause could be effective after
the first year of the rent,after the first year of the
(13:19):
lease, or they could have to paya two month or three month
penalty in order to break thelease.
The company's just don't wantto be on the hook for two years
or three years of payments.
Hugh Gilliam (13:34):
I can understand that completely.
In looking at your experience Iknow you've worked with many,
many clients.
Does one client or one casestudy stick out in your mind
that you could share with usbriefly?
Uli Leib (13:50):
Yeah, yeah.
A good example would be afamily that I helped here to
come to the Chicago area lastyear.
They moved from Sao Paulo,brazil, and his name was Eduardo
.
The employee was he was Eduardo.
He was a high level of vicepresident at a multinational
(14:14):
company that is headquartered indowntown Chicago, and then his
wife, renee, was hisstay-at-home mom.
They had three kids afive-year-old girl and then two
boys, 10 and 12.
And they came for a five-dayhouse-hunting trip in July of
(14:35):
last year.
The goal was to rent somethingfor August occupancy and they
wanted to, so the kids couldstart school right away.
They wanted to look atdifferent areas to find a house
to rent and the biggestconsiderations were and those
are always the biggestconsideration is typically the
(14:56):
school.
So that was number one on thelist.
And then the other really bigone was he didn't wanna have a
long commute.
20 minutes, you know, on thetrain was sort of his target, or
, you know, 30 minutes or less.
I got him to go up to 30minutes and they wanted to be in
the near west suburbs.
They wanted to find a house forrent within, with at least
(15:21):
start date in mid-August so thekids could start.
And then there was a $6,000 amonth budget.
So I contacted a real estateagent that I usually work with
and there were actually quite afew homes for rent at that time
that would fit in there, wouldfit their needs.
(15:42):
And on the second day we foundthe perfect home and it was in
Alhurst, which is a suburb,really close western suburb of
Chicago, 20 minute train ride tothe city.
The house was in walkingdistance to the school,
excellent school district,really safe neighborhood, and it
(16:02):
was also in walking distance tothe train station.
So it was ideal.
They were able to get a leasewith the August, mid-august
start date.
They went back home.
The company then signed thelease, processed all the
payments and they went back homeand packed up the kids, packed
(16:23):
up the furniture and theyarrived in mid-August and the
company then decided to pay forrental furniture so they could
move into the house right awayuntil their furniture arrived
three months down the road andthe kids could start school
right away.
So it was very, verycomplicated, lots of little
(16:45):
details about utilities and thatthey couldn't hook up from
Brazil and so forth.
But it all worked out and itall ended well.
So it was a great story andthey were very happy.
Hugh Gilliam (16:57):
So the whole process can be very complicated.
Uli Leib (17:00):
It can be very complicated A lot of times, like
their utilities.
For example, they have to showup in person to get electricity
hooked up if they don't have asocial security number yet.
There's all sorts of medicalrecords that the kids need for
(17:21):
vaccinations and so forth withschools.
It's just numerous, numerousthings, but that's what I take
care of, to make sure, becausethey don't know what they don't
know.
That's true.
That's true.
That's a whole process.
Hugh Gilliam (17:40):
So what do you think real estate agents need to
know to work effectively withinternational assignees?
Uli Leib (17:48):
Well, it's important to know one.
They are usually really, reallygood tenants and a very good
credit risk, but they do nothave US credit established.
They do not have a socialsecurity number yet.
They will apply for a socialsecurity number right away.
(18:10):
But even if they already haveit, there is nothing that will
show up for a credit check or abackground check, and if they
don't have it yet, they couldn'teven be run.
What they typically have is aletter from their employer that
verifies their employment andtheir income.
They can show a visa that theyare eligible to stay in the US
(18:33):
and can work here, and theirincome is usually very
substantial.
Then they should also be awarethat the lease process is not
always very straightforward.
The company may want thatdiplomatic clause in the lease.
They usually do on a long-termassignment.
(18:57):
They may want the longer-termlease because people don't want
to move.
They're only here for threeyears, they want to have the
kids in the same school and stayin the same home, and then, if
the company signs the lease,they could take a longer time
for it to be processed.
For a representative toactually sign up could take up
(19:19):
to a week, and then the initialpayment could take up to a week
too, or depending on thesituation, and so knowing that
and then setting the rightexpectations with the landlord
or with a listing agent, that isreally, really good so to help
(19:41):
it go smoother.
Hugh Gilliam (19:44):
So if you're a real estate agent or a broker
and you want more business,either domestically or
internationally, from relocationservices, how do you put
yourself forward and pick upmore business?
Uli Leib (20:02):
So education is really important, to educate yourself
what the special needs are ofthese people.
If it's a domestic relocation,then a lot of times those would
be buyers.
If it's an internationalrelocation, those folks would
(20:22):
typically be renters.
They may turn into buyers downthe line if they move
permanently.
So getting education, joiningindustry groups for example,
employee relocation council is agood group to join that has all
different types of relocationproviders and their website is
(20:47):
worldwideercorg.
You find lots of informationthere.
Really, becoming an expert inyour area is important, where
you don't just know the housingmarket and prices, but you also
know the schools, the daycares,the health care facilities,
(21:11):
everything that somebody new tothe area might need to know.
If you're working with peoplethat come from a different
country, being aware of culturaldifferences is important.
They will not know what they donot know and so sometimes
(21:31):
anticipating some questions andthen there may be language
barriers.
So it's also important thatfolks use just straightforward
language, don't use industryjargon, maybe ask clarifying
questions to make sure theyunderstood everything, even
(21:52):
though they're very, veryintelligent people.
But there may be a little bitof a language barrier, so be
aware of that.
And then finding a localdestination services consultants
like me.
You can look on LinkedIn, forexample, to see if there's
somebody and just contact themand say I would be happy to help
(22:15):
you work with your clients.
I always look for realtors thatI can work with, so that's
another way of finding thatbusiness and specializing in
that business.
Hugh Gilliam (22:31):
Uli, you've given us a great deal of information
today and we really appreciateyour wealth of knowledge and
hope to have you back as a guestsome other day with Global
Property Pros.
Thanks again for everything andwe look forward to seeing you
soon.
Uli Leib (22:44):
Oh, you're very welcome.
It was my pleasure, thank you.
Hugh Gilliam (22:48):
Thank you.
Thanks for joining in ontoday's episode of RealtyCast
Global.
Make sure to subscribe to thepodcast to be notified when new
episodes air.
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