Chicago market rental trends report

Picture two moves in the same program. A senior director gets the full white-glove package. He's relocated four times, knows the drill, and mostly wants to be left alone. A new grad gets a login and a housing stipend, and spends her first week asking Reddit whether her lease looks normal. The program paid for help that wasn't wanted on one move and skipped the help that was needed on the other. Nobody made a bad call here. Both moves got exactly what the policy says their level gets, and neither cost shows up in a report.

Assumptions like that are built into how most programs were set up years ago. The savings are easy to see. The costs are not. Three of these assumptions come up in almost every program review, and this year they deserve a hard look.

In its 59th Annual Corporate Relocation Survey, Atlas found that 61% of companies plan to increase relocation budgets while 46% say more employees are declining offers to move. Budgets are growing, and a move that goes badly now wastes more money and makes the next employee harder to convince.

Atlas's advice is to tailor relocation to the individual instead of giving everyone the same thing. These three myths are where that tailoring usually breaks down.

Myth 1: Employees can find what they need online now, and AI can answer the rest

This one feels a little more true every month. Search is instant, AI assistants sound confident, so why pay for someone to tell an employee what a quick prompt already will?

The problem is what a search can't do. Rent averages, neighborhood lists, a week-one checklist: all of that is a click away, and it's the same answer for everyone who asks.

The questions that actually matter are different. Which school makes sense for this family, given how they live, what they value, and what they're used to? Is this lease clause standard in this city, or something to push back on? How long does that commute really take on a weekday morning, as opposed to on a map? Getting those right takes someone who knows the market and knows the family, and no search engine or chatbot knows either one.

The answers themselves aren't as reliable as they sound, either. In OpenAI's own published testing, one of its models got short factual questions wrong more than a third of the time, and accuracy drops further on narrow topics that are thinly documented online. Google's AI Overview once presented an April Fools joke as an established fact.

None of this makes AI useless. It means free AI tools come with an error rate, and a relocating employee is signing a lease and choosing a school, decisions that are expensive to undo if the information was wrong.

Relocity uses both, with a clear line between them. Every employee gets a digital foundation: city guides, a vetted marketplace, and an assistant that draws on the employer's own relocation policy and on destination content Relocity maintains and verifies, not on whatever the internet happens to say. Ask what your benefit covers, and you get the terms your company actually wrote.

For moves that include human support, a Host works with the employee's real situation, their family, their budget, their timeline.The technology handles the routine questions in seconds, and a Host is there for the decisions that follow.

Myth 2: We already work with a real estate agent, so destination support is redundant

If the employee already has an agent, it's fair to ask what the second person is for. The agent knows the market, books the showings, negotiates the deal. On paper, it's two people covering one job, and one of them can go.

The piece that's easy to miss is how agents get paid. Most agents earn on closing, which gives them a stake in whether the employee buys and in which home they choose. That's the structure of the job, not a flaw in the person doing it, and it means the person guiding one of the largest financial decisions of the move has an interest in how it ends.

A Host has none. A Host answers to the employee alone, and can say "walk away from this one" without it costing them a thing.

The decision is big enough to warrant that second set of eyes. Once commissions are included, seller closing costs have historically run 8% to 10% of the sale price, roughly $29,000 to $36,000 on a typical $362,000 US home, according to Zillow.

Scrutiny on those costs keeps rising. The National Association of Realtors settled commission lawsuits for $418 million, and the resulting rules now require buyers to sign a written agreement with their agent and negotiate the fee directly. Relocating employees now choose and pay for that representation themselves, often in a market they've never lived in, which makes independent guidance worth more, not less.

There's also a quieter coordination problem. In most moves, the agent, the relocation counselor, and the employee are each working from a slightly different picture of the same relocation. Relocity closes that gap. The Host works alongside the agent, keeps a single coordinated file, goes along on showings, and flags what the employee might not think to ask.

Myth 3: Destination support is a concierge for questions and errands

The word “concierge” is doing the myth's work. It suggests restaurant recommendations and a friendly voice for questions, welcome but skippable when budgets tighten.

Watch a good Host run a cross-border move and errands are the least of it. The real job is keeping the steps in order.

A new arrival typically can't get a Social Security number until their work authorization is active, and in many states they can't get a driver's license without documents that depend on both. That order is set by USCIS, the Social Security Administration, and the state DMV, and none of them care about your employee's start date. Take the steps out of order and the timeline slips, sometimes by weeks.

Those slips are expensive. Worldwide ERC puts the average US domestic relocation near $85,000 for a homeowner and $34,000 for a renter, with home sale assistance the single largest line. While the housing decision plays out, temporary housing runs about $161 a night, with average stays of 78 to 83 nights and most policies budgeting 30 to 90 days, so a month comes to roughly $4,800.

Every week an employee stays in temporary housing is another week the program pays for it, and another chance for an exception request to land on the mobility team's desk. SHRM's relocation guidance reaches the same conclusion from the other direction: a documented process and one point of contact remove the ambiguity that drives both cost and delay.

That's the job the Relocity platform is built for. The technology tracks the steps, with checklists, milestones, and a status the mobility team can see in real time. The Host handles the coordination and the advocacy that keep the move on schedule. When support has that structure, the results are measurable: employees reach permanent housing sooner, exceptions drop, and people arrive ready to work.

What the three have in common

Each of these myths looks like a way to spend less, and each one moves the cost somewhere harder to see: extra weeks of temporary housing, exception requests, an employee who starts off unsettled and takes longer to get productive. The savings show up in this quarter's budget. The costs show up a quarter or two later, in line items nobody thinks to trace back this far.

Support should scale to what the person and the move require, not to someone's job level or an assumption the program inherited. Relocity was built for exactly that: one guided experience for every relocating employee, human support added where it's needed, and a single place where the mobility team sees every move.

See it in your own program

If any of these sound familiar, it's worth seeing the alternative in practice. Schedule a demo and the Relocity team will walk you through the platform: what employees see, how human support gets added, and the live view your team has of the whole program.

Schedule a demo or contact the Relocity team to learn more.

Los Angeles, CA (March 27, 2025) – Relocity, a global leader in technology-driven talent mobility, announces the launch of its Concierge solution in Boise, Idaho. Relocity Concierge,  the company’s award-winning destination services and rental search service, matches relocating employees with dedicated local experts who provide personalized support throughout the entire home finding and settling-in process. This economically vibrant "City of Trees" expands Relocity's network of markets where the company delivers personalized relocation support for professionals worldwide. Leveraging its innovative, technology-first approach through an AI-powered platform, Relocity serves Fortune 500 companies, multinational organizations, and growth-focused enterprises looking to optimize employee transitions and ensure successful talent relocation.

"The expansion of Relocity’s Concierge service into Boise meets the rising demand from companies seeking seamless, personalized relocation solutions," said William Taylor, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Relocity. "Boise's tech growth and mountain-town charm require the type of high-touch, high-tech approach that defines Relocity's Concierge services, ensuring a seamless, tailored relocation experience that aligns with the needs of employees and corporations alike.

Boise: A premier destination for global talent

Anchored by a growing tech corridor and renowned for its unparalleled mountain lifestyle, Boise consistently attracts leading talent across technology, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. As businesses relocate employees to this dynamic mountain hub, the demand for sophisticated destination services grows significantly. Relocity Concierge addresses this need by providing relocating employees and their families personalized guidance through a dedicated Personal Host, ensuring a seamless transition into the Boise community.

Why Relocity Concierge in Boise?

Relocity Concierge offers a uniquely personalized relocation experience, combining innovative technology with local expertise to streamline every step of the home finding and settling-in process. Employees receive hands-on, white-glove support, including:

• Customized, accompanied neighborhood tours
• Education guidance 
• Rental assistance 
• Cultural integration 
• Support for international services, including local registrations and banking

Given Boise's diverse lifestyle options—from the historic North End and vibrant Downtown to family-friendly suburbs such as Meridian and Eagle—expert guidance ensures transferees and their families feel at home immediately.

Industry-leading satisfaction, proven results

With a remarkable 4.95-star satisfaction rating from thousands of successful relocations, Relocity is trusted by 25% of Fortune 500 companies, 50% of Dow Jones firms and achieves a 99.6% customer retention rate.

This impressive track record underscores Relocity's effectiveness in enhancing employee experiences during relocation, helping organizations retain top talent and maintain productivity throughout the move.

About Relocity

Relocity is a leading provider of HR tech and destinations services, offering innovative solutions that simplify corporate mobility and enhance the employee relocation experience. With a commitment to integrating technology and personalized support, Relocity serves a global clientele of enterprise companies, delivering unparalleled efficiency and ease across the relocation journey.

Why talent mobility needs a refresh

Healthcare organizations invest significant time and resources in attracting top talent. But what happens when the relocation process—meant to welcome new hires—turns into a logistical nightmare?

For many HR and talent teams, employee relocation remains a manual, complex, and frustrating experience. Decentralized processes, lack of real-time data, and administrative burdens don’t just slow things down; they impact hiring, retention, and employee satisfaction.

With increasing competition for healthcare professionals and rising costs, organizations can’t afford outdated relocation processes. It’s time to rethink how talent mobility works and create a system that benefits both employees and HR teams.

This article explores: 
• Challenges facing healthcare relocation today
• Why the need for modernization is more urgent than ever
• Practical steps HR leaders can take to improve their talent mobility programs

The current state of talent mobility in healthcare

Most healthcare organizations handle relocation in one of two ways: they manage it in-house with fragmented processes, or they outsource it while maintaining limited visibility into the employee experience. Neither approach is flawless, and common challenges persist:

1. Decentralized & overcomplicated

Many hospitals and healthcare organizations use separate departments, multiple vendors, or ad hoc processes for relocation. The result? Inconsistencies, delays, and unnecessary complexity that make it harder to deliver a smooth employee experience.

2. Limited visibility & data gaps

HR teams often lack real-time insights into relocation progress, making it difficult to track costs, measure efficiency, or identify pain points. Recent trends are indicating the need for data and technology to help connect the dots. Without data, continuous improvement is nearly impossible.

3. Employee experience challenges

Relocating is already a stressful life event. When employees lack structured support, they experience uncertainty, miscommunication, and frustration. 64% of employees are likely to leave a new job within their first year after having a negative onboarding experience.

4. HR teams are stretched thin

HR professionals juggle multiple priorities—from recruitment to compliance—leaving little bandwidth to manage relocation logistics effectively. Without the right tools and support, relocation becomes an administrative burden rather than a strategic advantage.

Why modernization can’t wait

If these challenges feel familiar, you’re not alone. Many healthcare organizations are realizing that outdated relocation processes no longer work. Here’s why modernizing talent mobility is now a necessity:

1. The talent shortage is real

By 2031, the U.S. is expected to face a shortage of 195,400 nurses and 87,150 primary care physicians (HRSA). Organizations with streamlined relocation programs have a clear advantage in attracting top talent who are weighing multiple offers.

2. Employee expectations have changed

Today’s workforce expects transparency, personalization, and structured support throughout the relocation process. A poor experience can lead to second thoughts about an offer—or early turnover. 30% of new hires leave within the first 90 days due to unmet expectations.

3. Rising costs & inefficiencies

Manual processes, delays, and last-minute changes don’t just create headaches; they drive up costs. The average company spends $97,166 per relocated employee (if a homeowner, and $24,000 if renting), yet inefficiencies and avoidable expenses significantly impact budgets.

How healthcare organizations can build a modern relocation program

The good news? Modernizing talent mobility doesn’t require a complete overhaul—it starts with strategic improvements. Here’s how HR and talent teams can make meaningful changes:

Step 1: Take a hard look at your current approach

Assess your existing process:
• How do employees experience relocation today?
• Where do bottlenecks occur?
• Are HR teams spending too much time managing logistics? Identifying inefficiencies is the first step to improvement.
• What are the current budgets/costs? (Partner with your finance team early.)

Step 2: Learn from other industries

Industries like tech, finance, and consulting have embraced modern, data-driven mobility solutions. Healthcare can adopt best practices to create a more efficient and employee-friendly relocation experience.

Step 3: Leverage the right tools & partnerships

The right mix of technology, automation, and external expertise can significantly reduce administrative burdens while improving the employee experience. Whether through outsourcing, hybrid models, or better internal systems, investing in smarter tools pays off in efficiency and satisfaction.

Step 4: Make employee experience the priority

A smooth relocation isn’t just about logistics—it’s about making employees feel valued. Small improvements, like clearer communication, personalized support, and proactive problem-solving, can make a huge difference in engagement and retention.

Final thoughts & next steps

Healthcare organizations are facing new workforce challenges, and outdated relocation processes can’t keep up. The organizations that modernize talent mobility will gain a competitive edge—those that don’t may struggle to attract and retain top talent.

So, where do we go from here?

Join our upcoming webinar, where experts from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Ace Relocation Systems, and Relocity will share real-world strategies for building a modern talent mobility program.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from leaders in the field. Sign up now and take the first step toward a more efficient, employee-friendly relocation process.