Homework isn’t just for Children
As a Realtor, I always thought of myself as selling a home to a buyer or selling one’s existing home as a wonderful stepping stone for one to achieve their goals but more importantly realize their dreams. “Home” has always been one’s sanctuary, a place where you wake up and start your day after a restful night’s sleep and come home to in the evening to unwind, perhaps have family time and a delicious home-cooked meal and watch your favorite TV show. Covid-19 has changed this and perhaps forever. The real estate market is active and buyers and sellers are looking for more space to work from home
The families we are speaking with paint a very grim and often chaotic picture of what’s happening in their lives on a daily basis by working from home. For those who have kids at home, the “work-life balance” idea has been completely thrown out the window. Friends of ours, are currently juggling a 14-month-old and working from home. The 14-month old who has on her own decided naps are no longer a necessary part of her schedule, so getting any work done during the day for these new parents is virtually impossible. We’ve all heard the crying baby or barking dog during our very “productive” Zoom calls. Others tell us they are failing miserably at the “homeschooling” they are supposed to be doing but just cannot bring themselves to include that role along with everything else they are expected to achieve each and every day.
It used to be somewhat of a secret, even a luxury to be able to work from home, but now employers all across the country now understand that their company’s employees may be just as productive if not more so if they work from home. Just the other day the Boston Globe published an article saying that several Massachusetts companies are telling their employees not to return to the office until at least January 2021. The employers that are saying this clearly are not seeing is what goes on at home. And thus far schools cannot find a completely safe way to reopen, so many are creating a hybrid model of back to school that consists of not all students returning to the classroom on the same day.
How long will we be in the Covid-19 no one knows for sure. But what I do know is that the longer we are being told, and its clearly for safety reasons, that we’re better off working from home, the more we’ll be hearing from our buyers, sellers, friends and family that they have just about had it and for their own sanity need to get out their homes and back to work. We’ll be better off to leave the home-work to the children.
Stay strong, be well and stay safe.
Pam Damnit
