Sorting out new reality in real estate

Every time I strap on a mask, I wonder how much longer we’ll have to do it.  How many times have you gone back to the car to retrieve a mask to go in a store? Even after this pandemic is over, I wonder if some people will still choose to wear one?   

There’s been a lot of talk about the new normal.  My brother is a physician in Buffalo, and he says the coronavirus has finally forced tele-medicine into the mainstream. He’s doing just as many appointments from his computer camera as he is in his office.  He says it was available for years—but it took a pandemic to force mainstream usage.  

Safe to say, we’ll also see less business travel and more video conferencing since more of us are comfortable with the technology.

Make no mistake, there are some things that have changed in our society in the past half year that may never be the same again–and that’s not all bad. Sometimes we’ve been forced into finding more efficient ways to do what we never questioned before.

A New Reality for Real Estate

A colleague of mine at Coldwell Banker pointed out an article in Florida Realtors magazine that I found fascinating and wanted to share bits and pieces with you here in my monthly column:

*The shifting to remote work has had a trickle-down effect in so many ways: Less office space is needed, floor plans will shift to less open and more individualized areas. (I also wonder about the impact on adjacent downtown restaurants when there are fewer employees coming to work? Less gas? Less car insurance? Amazing trickle down.)

*An expected trend toward domestic manufacturing and purchasing will cause a demand for more warehouses.  In fact, with more people buying online, the need for big box stores could fade—and many of those facilities could become warehouses.

*It’s no longer just pizzas being delivered. Experts predict the growth of grocery deliveries will continue.

*Expect to see more touchless technologies—including voice-activated elevator buttons, bathroom doors and faucets/soap/paper towels.  (Am I the only one who is often challenged around the sink? Does anybody else sometimes struggle to activate the water and/or soap?)

So there you have it—the tip of the iceberg for what could be coming our way and/or is here to stay in our new world. 

Has anyone seen my mask?

Ray Collins is a Sarasota Realtor with Coldwell Banker.  His background as a TV news anchor/reporter has given him an ability to narrate and produce professional videos and circulate his marketing tools to a vast network.  For more information, check out his website or write to him at ray.collins@floridamoves.com

Photo courtesy of Ray Collins