Remote work is something experienced by 90% of the workforce who have temporarily worked from home due to the pandemic. Suddenly, professionals who commute every day were setting up a real home office for the first time. Without an extra room, home offices often wound up wedged into a bedroom or occupying the kitchen table. With kids home from school at the same time, many families suddenly realized they wanted more space, extra rooms, and the ability to work remotely on a regular basis.
Even with workplaces reopening, remote work is here to stay. Some want to make the transition permanently and being able to work hybrid on-demand is a strength in today’s labor market. The one thing we all realized during the remote work stretch was that having a house that is remote-work ready will be important in the coming future. In fact, the remote work trend is changing the face of residential real estate.
How Remote Work is Changing Real Estate
Homebuyers today find themselves looking for features that would make good home office space, from extra bedrooms to high-speed internet access.
- An Extra Bedroom Per Professional
- Designed Office-Ready Space
- Classroom-Ready Open Plan
- Pre-Wired for Fiber Internet
Location is Now Flexible for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Since the dawn of time, we’ve chosen a home location based on distance from work. The commute length has defined lifestyles, neighborhoods, and school districts. But remote and hybrid work changes all that. When homebuyers don’t have to plan for a longer commute, they have the freedom to work further out from city centers and centralized office buildings. The suburban sprawl is likely to see an explosion in professional buyers who are able to take homes very far — even incommutable distances — from their employers and workplaces.
With remote work freeing many office-style workers from the commute, school districts and quality of life will become the most powerful forces pushing real estate population density.
Millennials in the Workforce and as Homeowners
The Millennial generation now ranges from 25 and 40 years old, the same range most people become their first homeowners and grow into their careers. Millennials have entered their phase in the workforce where they become leads, managers, and execs and in that time buy their first homes. This is the remote-work generation and the environment that Gen-Z is surrounded by while getting their first jobs.
Since the first Millennials hit the workforce, the Y2K generation has been changing the workforce with a new view on employer and work-life expectations. Now that they are transitioning from renting to homeownership, millennials are changing common expectations in real estate as well. Today’s trends in eco-friendly construction, zero-energy buildings, and tech lifestyle upgrades are all led by rising Millennial homeowners.
Finding the Right House to Live and Work Remotely
Has remote work changed your plans for house-hunting? Welcome to the workforce and real estate market of today. Remote work is now part of the new normal and the flexibility to work on remote or hybrid teams is a career plus for modern professionals. Here at Path and Post, we understand. We’ve been where you’ve been, remodeling spare rooms and realizing that a kitchen table is not as ergonomic as a well-designed desk.
Remote work is a likely part of your family’s future, so why not plan ahead? Here in the metro Atlanta market, there are many homes with extra rooms (from the days when small bedrooms and parlors were all the rage) that could be perfectly transformed into a home office for you, your spouse, or home learning for the kids. Get in touch with our Atlanta-based team and we’ll be your guide through finding a home that is your perfect fit for the long term.
