In the olden days, only 2 options existed—(1) Hire a local candidate who already lived "in situ" or, (2) relocate a candidate, lock-stock-and-barrel. Now in the 21st century, there is yet a 3rd "commuting executive option" that's crept into the calculus.
Why? Executives can be in touch with their customers, teams and board directors wherever and whenever needed, with zero "downtime." This has been powered by ubiquity of technology--wifi in air and voice-activated mobile access on the roads. In addition, long-distance transportation has changed a great deal. The advent of "air taxis," and all-you-can-eat flat monthly commuter services mean you can have an executive that lives in Boston and commutes to NY, or in LA and commutes to San Francisco via Surf Air, Beacon or Rise.
It used to be that executives were usually of an age that they were married and had children, house, cars, and a more complicated (and expensive) lifestyle. Relocating an executive with all this in tow came at a pretty penny. Depending upon the distance an executive needs to relocate, $25,000 was probably the bare minimum, and 50K or 75K was more the norm with circumstances sometimes pushing relo costs to more than $100,000 for an executive who earned 150-300K as a salary. Large corporations were used to these price tags, and built it into "cost of ownership" calculations when executives used to stay for 10 or 20 years and often worked at a single company until it was time for the gold watch. However, smaller companies looking to top-grade their executive ranks to fortify for additional growth and expansion are often shocked at these costs. How could it cost that much? How much can a U-Haul cost, anyway they often ask? The reality is that in our modern age of larger houses with bigger square-footage, relocating a typical 3,000 square foot home's contents, plus car(s), and the optional cost of professional packers to safely bundle all these goods into a large moving van will often run $10,000 or more, and that's before the mileage costs then charged to haul those goods however far the relocating executive has to go. [Example: 300+ mile move from San Francisco to Los Angeles for 3 bedrooms home with no cars included and partial packing assistance is $5,000]
If all of these relocation costs seem too expensive, and you can't find the talent you need local to the business being built, what to do? Revisit paragraph 1 and seriously consider Option #3, what is fast becoming the "new normal" in today's virtual, Slack-powered, Skype video viewed, Google hang-out fueled economy where the beat never stops, no matter WHERE you are or what time zone you're in.