You may be offered a new job that pays twice as much, but housing costs could more than triple. Be sure to check out the price of homes with builders and realtors in the new area before you commit to a move.

Employee relocation assistance Relocation resources

Scout the area ahead of time through superintendent and vendor contacts, as well as the Internet, before making the decision to accept a job. Figure in differences in the cost of living when evaluating a proposed salary. A bonus and moving reimbursement could be taxable income. Join a local GCSA chapter to help ease the transfer.

Bob Randquist, CGCS, spent 19 years as a superintendent at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Despite a devotion to the area and family in Oklahoma, he longed for a change.

"We talked for many years about moving to a warmer climate when our two daughters got older and out of school," says Randquist, a 24-year GCSAA member. "It gets really cold in Oklahoma in the wintertime. We wanted to be in a warmer climate."

So in November 1998 Randquist began his career as director of golf course and grounds for Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton, Fla.

Florida can be a popular relocation spot, but according to the American Moving and Storage Association, the following U.S. metropolitan areas are the most active in terms of moves both in and out: Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, New York, Boston and Houston.

Scouting the area
Before Randquist even interviewed for the job, he started researching the golf facility and area so he wouldn't have to make a hasty and uninformed decision if a job offer rolled in.

"I was so far away from Florida that I wasn't familiar with the area," he explains. "Having been in this business a long time, I was fortunate to know three people who I trusted and were down in the area. They were extremely helpful in letting me know the situation at the club -- the goods and the bads. I got similar information from all three of them.

"I would really encourage anyone, especially if they were going to move a long distance, to try to make some contacts, either with USGA people or distributors or superintendents who they know so they don't walk into a situation blind," Randquist advises. "Have at least some inkling of the history of the club and how they've dealt with previous superintendents. You won't be surprised when you get there."

Figuring in the cost of living
According to a survey done by Relocation Tax Services in Denver, homeowners represent 57 percent of the employees relocated in 1998.

When moving from one area of the country to another, research and calculate differences in the cost of living.

As Terry Dillner, CGCS at Arbor Hills Country Club in Jackson, Mich., who moved from Indiana last May, explains, "The job could pay twice as much, yet housing costs three times as much. I sent a résumé out to the East Coast, and the job was paying twice what I was making. But once I got on the Internet, I saw that houses were four times as much as what I own for half the dwelling." Dillner, a 10-year GCSAA member, made the move to Michigan from Woodmar Country Club in Hammond, Ind. Randquist also did his research.

"We compared the cost of living between Tulsa and south Florida. There's enough information on various Internet services that we had a real comfortable feel for what the difference in cost of living was," he says. "Obviously, that was taken into account in the offer and raise that I received for coming to Florida. The cost of living we nailed down pretty good as being about 10 percent higher than Tulsa."

Some additional factors to consider in relocating would be taxes, insurance, utilities and availability of work for a spouse.

Before you even interview for a job at a different facility, start by visiting the area with your family and becoming familiar with its shortcomings as well as its advantages.

Negotiating relocation assistance
According to Tom Tolen, vice president of Relocation Tax Services, "Most people are surprised at the cost of relocation. The average cost for a homeowner is $45,000 and for a renter it's about $10,000 to $15,000. Of those costs, the highest cost is the movement of the household goods."

Moving costs can include transportation of household goods, travel to the new location, house-hunting trip expenses, temporary living expenses, spousal assistance payment, expenses of selling or buying a house, reimbursement for loss on the sale of a house and tax assistance.

Relocation assistance can come in many ways, whether it be a lump sum or reimbursement of different moving expenses. Jim Faubion, senior vice president of golf course management for ClubCorp, explains the company's philosophy on relocation assistance. "If we're getting the right person for the job, then the cost of moving is really incidental compared to the impact that person could have on a half-million to million-dollar budget for an 18-hole course or more, when we consider how that quality and condition of the golf course drives the revenue of the entire facility," Faubion says. "The cost of moving is a very small percentage of all of that. It's really very critical and extremely important to keep the big picture in focus and not get hung up on whether someone's going to cost $10,000 or $20,000 to get the right person on the job. That's a very small cost compared with the impact the right superintendent can have on a club."

Randquist's relocation was negotiated through an executive search firm. "I know there are a lot of pros and cons to executive search firms," he notes. "For me, it was an extremely satisfactory experience to go through it in that fashion." His relocation package included seven plane tickets so he and his wife could fly back and forth while looking for a place to live. The club also paid four months' rent on an apartment.

Another negotiable item could be the realtor's commission in selling your existing home or as you purchase a new home. "I think the realtor's commission would have been more helpful than moving assistance," Dillner says.

Be sure to negotiate a contract when making your relocation plans, many superintendents say. Changing jobs and moving to a new area is a huge change in your life, and it's a great help to have the job security a contract affords.

Avoiding taxing consequences
Avoid surprises come tax season. Don't forget that a bonus and moving reimbursement could be taxable income. "When an employee relocates, federal and state income taxes are often overlooked. Be familiar with your new facility's relocation policy -- how much of the additional tax cost will the course pay and what part of the additional tax will the employee be responsible for paying," advises Tolen.

According to Tolen, the second or third highest cost of relocating is the tax cost. He explains, "When an employee is relocated, most companies will compensate the employee for the tax cost incurred. When the company pays a taxable benefit, the company pays the taxes for the employee. The tax reimbursement is taxable, so that drives up the tax cost of the move because you have to pay taxes on the tax reimbursement."

Adjusting to a different agronomic climate
For some superintendents the decision about where to relocate may be based on their knowledge of cool- or warm-season grasses. Agronomics factored into the decision of Dillner, who says, "I would never move to Florida or California to work. I've been in cool-season grasses all my life."

For Randquist, the adjustment hasn't been that difficult. "I have grown bermudagrass on fairways and tees for most of my career in Oklahoma," he says. "There was some concern of coming to bermudagrass greens vs. bentgrass greens that I had in Oklahoma. But I had some experience early in my career with bermudagrass greens so it wasn't a major concern."

For a superintendent relocating to a different agronomic climate, it's a good idea to join a local GCSA chapter. A local agronomic network of other superintendents can lend support, answer questions and help with the challenges of unfamiliar territory.

Getting involved with a new chapter
Randquist joined a local GCSA chapter right away because, he says, he knew the benefits would pay off immediately.

"For instance, in Oklahoma we didn't have many insect problems," Randquist says. "In Florida that was much more of a factor in managing the golf course. It helps to have some good contacts with people who have dealt with those problems for a long time and get their advice and methods for dealing with some things you may not be familiar with. "Going to the chapter meetings is really the best way to get to know some of these guys," he adds. "You play golf with them. You dine with them and that type of thing. You see them in a true light rather than just picking up the phone and calling them." He says that most of the superintendents he's met in the area have been through chapter meetings. "When a new superintendent is coming to the area, a local chapter representative will usually stop by the course or call and invite him or her to the next meeting," says Janet Satterlee, GCSAA chapter relations manager. A relocating superintendent can also take the first step and call the GCSAA chapter relations department, (800) 472-7878, ext. 648, to obtain chapter contact information.

Leaving "home" behind
"Most of my family is still in Oklahoma," Randquist says. "I have two daughters, and they both were fundamentally away from home. One of them got married in August 1999 before we moved. The other one is a senior at the University of Oklahoma and got married this past summer. They both were really away from home, so to speak." Still, Randquist calls Oklahoma his home and tries to get back there often.

"It has been a lot easier to get home flying than we anticipated. With current airfare prices and schedules, it just hasn't been that difficult," he says. "I've actually seen my mother-in-law more in the last year and a half than I did in the five years before the move. Now when we go home, we tend to focus on seeing all our family." Randquist has had no regrets about the move.

"There are some pluses and minuses in any location. There are some minuses here, but there are some pluses that far outweigh the minuses," he notes. "You have to be happy in your work. The Florida lifestyle has been very good to us. It's been a real refreshing change for me."

Krista Wagner is GCSAA's copywriter and promotions specialist for career development.