Selling a House for a Job Relocation: Tips, Tools, and Taxes

What’s included in your relocation package?

While your home’s value plays a role in your asking price, so might your moving expenses. According to Angi, the average cost of moving cross-country is approximately $4,600, with prices varying between $2,400 and $6,900. The total cost depends on factors such as the size of the home and the distance traveled.

Americans have been making longer moves in recent years, but the average mileage dropped from 50 miles to 20 miles between 2022 and 2023, according to The National Association of Realtors. This figure was still higher than in previous years when the norm was closer to 15 miles.

Beyond hiring professional movers, moving can incur other expenses, such as packing supplies, insurance, cleaning services, and storage. However, an employer’s relocation package might ease some costs.

A recent survey by Mastodon Moving, a corporate relocation company in Boston, found that the average job relocation package for homeowners ranges from $72,000 to $97,000. Over two-thirds (64%) of survey participants received a relocation package, although the majority were current employees being transferred to another location.

Some of the benefits employers are willing to pay for include:

• Temporary living expenses (85%)
• Home-finding trips (75%)
• Final move costs (72%)
• Miscellaneous expenses (69%)

Source: Mastodon Moving

Depending on where you’re moving, you could receive even more to offset these costs. A handful of states offer financial relocation incentives to attract new residents. For instance, a program called Ascend West Virginia will pay you up to $12,000 to move to the Mountain State, providing perks like free coworking space and access to free outdoor recreation, including gear rentals.

Will you pay capital gains if you move for a job?

So long as certain requirements are met, homeowners can generally avoid paying capital gains on up to $250,000 — or $500,000 when married and filing jointly — of profit when selling their home. Those requirements include:

• Ownership: You owned the property for at least two of the last five years.
• Use: You lived in the property for at least two of the last five years.
• Look-back: You did not exclude the gain from the sale of another house within two years from the sale of this house.

However, let’s say you don’t meet the eligibility test because this job opportunity came up shortly after purchasing your current home. You still may qualify for a partial exclusion of paying capital gain taxes for a work-related move if you meet any of these conditions:

• Your new work site is at least 50 miles farther from your current home than your previous work location.
• You had no previous work site and began a new job at least 50 miles from your home.
• Either of the above is true of your spouse or the home’s co-owner.

The IRS has a worksheet to determine your exclusion based on your time in the home or your length of homeownership and a resource with guidance for work-related moves. Talk with your tax professional to determine the details of your particular situation.

Can I deduct work-related moving expenses?

Moving expenses related to a job relocation are not tax-deductible unless you are an active member of the Armed Forces permanently relocating due to a military order.

If you’re thinking, “Wait, I thought any job relocation qualified for this,” — your memory serves you correctly. You used to be able to deduct moving expenses if your new home was at least 50 miles closer to your new job than your old home was (the distance test), and you’d been working that job full-time for 39 weeks within the first year after you moved (the time test).

However, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of January 2018 excluded all but active military from the opportunity to claim this deduction. So unless you’re military, do not budget using this tax break.

How’s the real estate market?

Your timeline for starting your new job, combined with market conditions, will determine whether you could sell your home within days, weeks, or months — or if you’re better off renting it out for a bit. (More on that below.)

If the demand for housing outpaces supply, you can breathe a little easier, knowing that your home likely won’t sit on the market for long. A tight market can also mean that eager buyers can find themselves in a bidding war, raising the offers you’ll get on your home.

Of course, if you’re also looking to buy a new home in your new location where the market is similarly hot, you might find yourself on the other side of the coin.

And when it’s a buyer’s market, you’ll likely find plenty of options at good prices in your new area, but your old home may take longer to sell.

What’s your plan for housing once you sell?

When you’re selling a house for a job relocation, you also need to plot out where you’ll live next. Some homeowners become so frazzled that they focus solely on the former and wind up with their homes under contract without knowing whether they’re going to buy or rent in their new location, Arledge says.

“You don’t want to find yourself homeless,” says Jessica Arledge, a top real estate agent in Savannah, Georgia, who sells 76% more single-family homes than the average agent there. “You also want to give yourself a reasonable amount of time to get out of the house.”

Have a realistic conversation with your real estate agent about the best way to handle the changeover. You might consider a sale-leaseback agreement for a few weeks, she suggests.

Also known as a seller rent-back agreement or a holdover, this allows you to stay in your home for a designated period ‌of time after you sell. Essentially, it makes the buyer your landlord, so you have time to rent or buy a new home and arrange for the movers to collect your belongings.

Anne Sena, a real estate agent in Nashville, Tennessee, with 17 years of experience, says that rent-back situations are common in hot markets when homes sell quickly, and sellers need more time to transition.

Options to sell your home for a job relocation

Now that you’ve prepared yourself with some solid info, here are three top options for selling your home when you’re relocating for a job.

Option #1: Request a cash offer for your home

A new job can come with a ticking clock: A survey by moving company Allied found that nearly 42% of respondents had 0–30 days to move and settle in before starting their new positions.

If you’re operating on a crazy-tight deadline, you might not have the time to wait 30–50 days for a traditional buyer to close on a purchase loan (never mind taking the time to stage and clean the house for showings).

For a fast, low-fuss sale, consider selling your house for cash to a house buying company or investor of some kind. HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform is a helpful resource for people selling their homes for a job relocation.

Simple Sale provides cash offers for homes in almost any condition nationwide. Just answer a few basic questions about your property, and you’ll receive a competitive cash offer in within 24 hours. Sellers have the ability to close in as little as 10 days and can pick a move-out date up to 30 days from closing. There’s no need to worry about staging, repairs, or open houses.

Here are the three easy steps in the Simple Sale process:

While you’ll likely get a lower offer than if you listed your home on the open market, you can sell it as-is, eliminating the cost and time you’d normally have to put into home prep and repairs. Working with a cash buyer can also reduce a seller’s closing costs, including the elimination of agent commissions.

At the end of the day, you may end up with a similar amount of money for your home as you would with a traditional listing process.

Below, you can hear about how Baohan Wu, a seller who used Simple Sale to sell his high-rise apartment, closed within three and a half weeks and what he thought of the process overall.

Option #2: Hire a real estate agent who moves homes fast

Even if you have some time before you start your new job, moving for work adds pressure — especially if you’re headed out of state, and the process hits a snag.

Fortunately, the experienced real estate agents in HomeLight’s network know how to handle those pressures. Bonnie Roseman, a top-selling agent in Portland, Oregon, once sold a couple’s 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom home in about a week after the husband had to move for a job in Colorado Springs.

Accelerate your home sale with these three key steps from our experts:

Clean and declutter so the home looks fresh and bright

A clean home adds to your bottom line: One HomeLight survey of over 1,000 top-selling agents nationwide found that a deep cleaning can boost a home’s resale value by an average of $3,700. Decluttering adds nearly $8,000.

Buyers love to see available space, especially in photos. Roseman used a professional photographer to shoot photos, video, and a 3-D Matterport image of the layout of the Portland home, offered at $379,000. Within two days, a buyer wrote an offer with a substantial down payment.

With a pending move, you’re packing and purging anyway, so here’s where the sweat equity pays off. If you need a hand, you can hire a pro to deep clean your home before putting it on the market. For a 1,500-square-foot home, expect to pay between $180 and $375, according to Angi.

Enlist a junk removal service to take away the trash and old furniture, or call a charity such as the Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity to pick up anything you’d like to donate.

Ramp up the curb appeal

Your home’s curb appeal makes a stunning first impression, enticing buyers before they even cross the threshold (and implying that you maintain your home well). A National Association of Realtors (NAR) report found that 92% of realtors advise sellers to focus on curb appeal when preparing to list their homes.

“Usually buyers will go do a drive-by first,” Carey Lambert, a top real estate agent with 27 years of experience in the Greater New Orleans area. “The home has to look great from the outside.”

You don’t have to invest a lot, either. Simple tasks like cutting the grass, controlling weeds, and adding a fresh layer of mulch can enhance the look of your outdoor space. Place a couple of planters with colorful flowers in your doorway to make it pop, or install uplighting to create a memorable first impression for buyers viewing your home at night.

Address any mechanical issues ASAP

A pre-listing inspection before you list your home will flag any issues that could pose a health or safety risk, or that could stall negotiations between getting a contract and closing.

While you’ll have to disclose the results to buyers, you also handle an easy fix before hitting the market, such as servicing the air conditioning and heating systems. For anything that might give buyers pause, such as an aging roof or appliances, talk with your agent about offering a home warranty or adjusting the list price.

The house that Roseman sold in Portland underwent a home inspection, a radon inspection, and visits from a chimney mason and an arborist, but it needed no significant repairs.

Use the CMA to set the right price

If you’re in a hurry, it’s even more crucial to price your home right so your home doesn’t languish on the market for weeks — or drop in price after you’ve already moved.

To determine home value, your real estate agent will conduct a comparative market analysis (CMA) that analyzes local comparable sales or “comps.”

Comps are homes similar in size, amenities, structure, and age to your own that recently sold in your area. Real estate professionals and home appraisers use comps as a reference point for the subject home and then make dollar adjustments based on competitive differences. The analysis will take into account significant features that drive or reduce value.

Rent it out rather than sell

If your area has a high demand for rentals, or if you’re considering returning to the area soon, you could hang on to your home as a rental property.

There are instances where people have bought their house for a really great price, they have low payments, and they can make a lot of money renting it out.

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  Jessica Arledge Real Estate Agent

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  Jessica Arledge Real Estate Agent at Associate Broker Keller Williams Realty CAP

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  Currently accepting new clients

  • Years of Experience 15
  • Transactions 638
  • Average Price Point $253k
  • Single Family Homes 588

Of course, you’ll have to find a good renter — and figure out how to manage the property from afar.

Tips for your big move

Figuring out how to sell your house for a job relocation is a huge decision. While that’s in the works, experts recommend keeping these other things in mind to ensure a smooth move:

Book the moving company as soon as you go under contract:
Movers’ schedules fill up fast, especially during the summer months. Ask whether they charge any fees if your date changes, such as if repairs take longer than expected.

Ask how long the movers will take to deliver:
The website moveBuddha notes that cross-country moves take about 7 to 14 days, but moving companies legally have up to 21 business days to deliver your belongings.

Have a contingency plan if the moving company cancels:
Lay the groundwork for hiring a container or freight company if something happens to your movers at the last minute. Tell them you may hire a professional mover, but you’d like to consider their services as well, moveBudda suggests. Let them know when and where you’re moving and how much you have; then ask about their turnaround time.

Plan for moving your car:
Depending on how far you’re moving, talk with the moving company about transporting your car or hire an auto shipper. Also, be prepared for unexpected fees. Some states, such as Georgia, charge an ad valorem tax on a newly registered vehicle based on its market value.

Your new job (and city) await

If the world is your oyster and a career change feels right, you can orchestrate a smooth move even when you own a house.

Whether you sell your home to an investor, work with a top agent to sell it at a competitive price, or opt to rent it out for a while, rest assured that the stress over selling a house for a job relocation is only temporary. Soon you’ll be exploring a new place, building relationships with colleagues, and settling into a new home ready for fresh memories.

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