All good Recruiters and yes, even Headhunters, are about determining their investment of time versus return on investment of time (IOT vs. ROIT), and for most of the past two decades that meant understanding a candidates motivations (RFL, career goals/ aspirations, family priorities, etc.) and then aligning it with the needs of the client company and what the opportunity had to offer the candidate. Obviously this is still a critical piece of the recruitment and qualification process. However, with the recent burst of the real estate bubble another question has risen to the top of the heap when dealing with a potential relocation.

What’s the Loan to Value Ratio of your Home?

With the real estate market tanking and, the subsequent advent of the sub-prime mortgage debacle there are now a glut of homes on the market and it has caused several major real-estate markets to come to an absolute halt with homes remaining on the market for 6 to 12+ months. Home prices in these markets are continuing to drop it has left many mid-level managers financially naked, and many are currently in a negative equity positions. We’ve all heard about the markets in Washington DC, Boston, San Jose, San Diego, many parts of Florida, but there are more and Bloomberg's has reported the bad news throughout the year and 3^rd Quarter was worse than the 2^nd.

So what’s a Recruiter to do? Well you better ascertain from your client company right up front what their relocation entails including; Realtors Fee’s, Closing Costs, Mortgage Differentials for houses that don’t sell quickly and possible buy-outs of the home for Management/ Leadership roles. Conversely, you need to have a very frank conversation with your candidates regarding not only sincerity to leave and relocate, but discuss and understand their present equity position and how long houses in their area are staying on the market. Moreover, where once speaking with the spouse was necessary now you may choose to include their realtor in the discussion to insure the cold hard facts are on the table from the beginning. With Forbes and others reporting loan to value ratios for mortgages at 90% and above in many major markets, you’ll be glad you did.