The Relocation Stall: The housing market's impact on your Dealership's great hire

May 14, 2025

By Jan Plessner

ACTION Recruiting

In today’s powersports hiring landscape, one thing has become crystal clear: relocating a candidate has become more complicated, more expensive, and more challenging, for all parties.

Whether you're looking to hire a new GM, Finance Wizard, Parts Pro or Master Tech, if you want an elite performer, you will likely need to bring in someone from a different market. Today’s relocations are more complex and significantly more work than relocations of the past. Some candidates love to move and do it often. But most of the candidates we work with, and especially their loved ones, feel the weight of this life decision. Relocating can have a major impact on cost of living, housing options, quality of life, lifestyle, and proximity to supportive family and close friends.

The Mortgage Rate Reality

For years, relocation was a go-to strategy for our clients who wanted fresh high-impact talent from a neighboring state or different region. But with current mortgage interest rates sitting well above what many homeowners locked in just a few years ago, we’re seeing a new kind of hesitation. Candidates who bought homes in 2020 or 2021 with a 3% mortgage are understandably reluctant to leave that for a 6.75% replacement — even if the new job sounds like a dream come true.

The math just doesn’t make sense for many families, especially if they’re moving to a more expensive housing market. And even if they’re moving to a more affordable area, the cost to replace their current home with something similar can feel like a downgrade, not an upgrade.

It's Not Just About the Money — Except When It Is

As recruiters in the powersports industry, we’re spending more time than ever coaching candidates through this dilemma. Compensation expectations have become increasingly rigid, especially when a candidate is facing a major life disruption like a move across the country. Some are laser-focused on a specific salary number, and if the math doesn’t meet their expectations right out of the gate, they’re quick to pass—without thoroughly weighing the long-term benefits.

On the flip side, many dealership clients are still comparing candidates strictly by the numbers, without factoring in the cost-of-living disparity. A salary that makes perfect sense in Texas will not stretch the same way in California. Or vice versa: someone coming from a coastal market might be open to a pay cut if it comes with a better house, shorter commute, and lower stress.

The Lifestyle Factor

This is where the conversation gets interesting — and where top-performing Dealerships can set themselves apart. It’s not just about how much you’re offering, but what that offer means in terms of quality of life.

What can your community offer that others can’t? Less congestion? Lower crime? Bigger yards? A better school district? Space for a granny flat or a garage big enough for all the bikes and a side-by-side? When we can help candidates picture a better life, they’re far more likely to lean in and consider the move.

And sometimes it’s not about moving up the pay scale — it’s about moving up in life. We’ve placed candidates who gladly took lateral compensation because they were able to afford their first home, shave 45 minutes off their daily commute, or get their kids into better schools.

Strategy for Dealerships on the Hunt for Top Talent: Lead with Awareness

If you’re hiring from outside your market, know your numbers. Understand how your area stacks up in terms of cost of living, home prices, and taxes. If you partner with ACTION Recruiting, we will build a narrative that tells the story. We paint a complete picture for our candidates that represents the whole opportunity: Professional Growth, Targeted Earnings, Future Upward Mobility, Compensation, Benefits, Dealership Culture and the opportunity to create a particular lifestyle — because compensation alone won’t seal most of the deals.

Here are a few things you can do to increase your odds of success:

• Be flexible with total compensation when bringing someone in from a higher-cost market.

• Highlight the lifestyle perks — riding terrain, housing opportunities, work-life balance, and community vibe.

• Support relocation creatively — even modest relocation help (or temporary housing) can reduce a major mental barrier.

• Educate your internal team — especially those involved in interviewing — on why this topic matters more than ever.

Our Role as Recruiters

At ACTION Recruiting, we’re having more nuanced, personal conversations than ever before. We're helping people not just make a career move — but a life move. And that takes more than a job description and a salary range. It takes insight, empathy, and a lot of research.

If you’re thinking about expanding your search radius or hiring outside your market, make sure your hiring strategy or recruiter, accounts for what’s happening outside the Dealership — because that’s where most of the friction (and the opportunity) resides.

Interested in discussing your staffing needs?  Please visit our new client portal on our website here: https://action-recruiting.com/client-inquiry/.

NPDA Dealer Members receive a $1,000 credit torward their next placement from ACTION Recruiting, an NPDA Platinum Partner.

Contact Jan at Jan@ACTION-Recruiting.com.