San Antonio relocation specialists (sales, mover, relocation company)

[djw]

I know we've got a few military folks on the board so I wanted to ask if any had used the "relocation services" offered by USAA or other Service Credit Unions.
Does using that service mean you are obligated to finance your home through them? Something for nothing always makes me a littel weary and both USAA and NFCU offer this "Free" service and suggest you'd get a "rebate" upwards of $500/$100 depending on the sales value of your home.

Is it worth it?

[kevcrawford]

It depends. I'll give you my thoughts on the subject. Keep in mind, I'm a Realtor, so if you want to take it with a grain of salt, I understand.

I've worked many relocation deals and I normally don't like them. The reason being is that the relocation company requires the Realtor to pay about 30% off the commission directly to them. From that 70%, a large portion goes to the broker. From there, the relocation agent keeps the rest, which is less than half of what they'd have gotten working with a regular client, but it's more work, because the relo companies usually require ridiculous amounts of worthless paperwork.

Relocation deals are a great way to get business when you get started, but when you get to a certain level of success, they're not worth it to good Realtors. That's why most of the top agents won't do relo deals (especially with USAA or military, because their relo companies are the worst)

I don't do relo's through companies anymore. I've got a ton of military and USAA clients though. I've had clients come to me asking for assistance because they don't feel their Realtor is doing a good job or experienced enough. What I usually do is find out what they're getting reimbursed from their relo company and pay it out of my pocket.

It's cheaper for me because I don't have to pay the relo company's high fees and the client gets good service while still getting their rebate.

I'm not saying that ALL relo agents aren't good, but the vast majority of successful agents have enough business that we don't have time to help clients if we're getting paid next to nothing.

[hadleyzoo]

We used USAA's relocation services and they put us in touch with a realtor who helped us buy our first home. There was not (at least then--4 years ago) a requirement to use USAA's mortgage program. We ended up using the builder to finance because they gave us a better rate and threw in some incentives to finance with them. Two months later they sold that mortgage to another bank, and a month later they sold to another bank. In the end we still ended up with a great realtor, a nice house, and the bene's that USAA promised for using their program.

[kevcrawford]

Glad to hear that there are still some good Realtors out there working relocations and that you had a good experience. I've heard both happy and very unhappy about Cartus (who is handling USAA's relo right now)

[djw]

Originally Posted by hadleyzoo

We used USAA's relocation services and they put us in touch with a realtor who helped us buy our first home. There was not (at least then--4 years ago) a requirement to use USAA's mortgage program. We ended up using the builder to finance because they gave us a better rate and threw in some incentives to finance with them. Two months later they sold that mortgage to another bank, and a month later they sold to another bank. In the end we still ended up with a great realtor, a nice house, and the bene's that USAA promised for using their program.

Feel free to DM me if you prefer, but I'm curious what, if any, benefits there were to using the USAA program - besides the advertised cash back.

Is this truly a benefit of military service being offered? I've gotta wonder what USAA and the "specialists" get out of the deal. Especially since it was a realtor that suggested the program to me.

[hadleyzoo]

I think we ended up getting $500 for using the program. It didn't cost us anything to use it, and we ended up with a good realtor too--so to me it was a "free" $500. I'm really not sure what the benefits for USAA and the realtor are--like kevcrawford said, it could be just a way for new realtors to build a customer base by getting referrals from USAA. USAA did tell me that realtors who want USAA to refer them to potential homebuyers have to go through a course at USAA (if I remember correctly). We had even considered selling about a year ago and buying out of the city and I called USAA again about the mover's advantage program. I told them I wanted to use the realtor we had 4 years ago and they said that wouldn't be a problem. But we have decided to wait on selling.

[majormadmax]

We used USAA to sell our house when we PCS'd in 2002. Wasn't impressed with the realtor they gave us. When we returned in 2005, we had the best realtor, referred to us by a bud stationed here. It was a much better experience.

Cheers! M2

[Eleanor Rigby]

Stupid question time - what does PCS stand for? I assume it means when the military gives you new orders and moves you to a new location?

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by Eleanor Rigby

Stupid question time - what does PCS stand for? I assume it means when the military gives you new orders and moves you to a new location?

Permanent Change of Station

[djw]

Thanks all for your replies. Strange that we (okay, I) have to question everything sometimes, but nice to find out it really is just what it is!

I'll let you know how it goes!