If there's one thing a pandemic will do, is effect change. One of the biggest changes since the pandemic started was sending people home to work. Many Beaufort County home owners weren't ready for the transition, as they didn't have a proper home office set up. But now it seems that working from home is going to be a trend that will stay for good, even when the pandemic ends.

Working from home was a trend that was already picking up significant steam before the coronavirus pandemic. Now, as more people around the world work from home than ever before, it could be impacting everything, including real estate.

If you work from home and want a more permenant working space, or if you plan to sell your home in Beaufort, it's a smart idea to create office space in your home.

COVID-19 and The Work-From-Home Shift

Forget about the pandemic for a moment (if you can). What are the benefits of working from home?

Working from home offers employees and their employers more flexibility, work-life balance, and reduced overhead for employers. In fact, it's estimated that, for example, 40% of all venture capital in Silicon Valley goes to landlords rather than product development. That's a huge amount of money that those companies can channel elsewhere (maybe to your next bonus?).

Many employers now doubt if they'll ever have employees work from the office, at least like before. So what does all this mean for real estate in Beaufort County?

For commercial real estate, the outcome of this shift in work location is not good. But for residential real estate in the Beaufort Area, it means that people can now live where they want, as long as they have access to high-speed internet. It also means that more home buyers will be looking for homes with office space.

Designing a Home Office

Whether you’re hoping to sell your home soon and you want to stage it to appeal to a buyer who wants an office or you’re setting up your own office, there are a few things to keep in mind.

The ideal location for a home office is a spare bedroom that's away from the main activities of your home. Buyers are often flexible with how space is used, and Millennial buyers, in general, are willing to be efficient and maximize their use of space. This means a guest room can serve multiple purposes as an office space and still be appealing.

If you don’t have any obvious space for a home office, you can get a little creative. For example, you can convert a closet.

Beyond the space itself, comfort and lighting are both critical to a good home office design. An ergonomic arrangement will help you stay productive and help avoid pain and injuries. For lighting, you should try to find a space with as much natural light as you can. Use a layered lighting concept with lamps and overhead light so you can create the appropriate ambiance when you need it.

While offices are reopening in some places, that doesn’t mean we’re so willing to give up the convenience of working from home. It’ll likely have a significant impact on real estate here in Beaufort County, from the locations where buyers are moving, to the list of priorities they use when selecting a new home.

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