During the pandemic, many people went on sheltering in place. Gone are the days when people only used their homes to rest, relax, and bond with their families. They started using their homes for work, learning, and recreation. Since we began spending more time at home, this gave us more reasons to want and inevitably needed to improve our living space.
Motivations for Pandemic Home Improvements
Modern homeowners have different motivations for improving their houses. During the COVID-19 crisis, homeowners were motivated to improve their homes for several reasons. The common ones are as follows.
Increase Home Value
Many things can impact the value of a property. Improving its aesthetics and ensuring the house is in great shape are some ways to get the job done. Even if many homeowners initially wanted to skip home improvements, many are enticed to make the investment so that they can sell the house faster for a better price.
The crisis made people rethink their housing. Those who were tired of renting quickly took the opportunity to buy houses while mortgage rates were at an all-time low. They made safe and private housing a safer option since living in a building along with many tenants proved to be a significant risk for them during the pandemic.
Many homeowners took this opportunity to improve their homes and sell. They can put their house on the market for a much better price during the pandemic. In turn, they can make a profit and even use the extra cash to upsize or downsize their home, start a business, and do other personal endeavors.
Most homeowners turned to home improvement projects that have the highest return on investment. This includes a kitchen remodeling project, home additions, and energy-efficient projects. Others turned to projects that helped them boost curb appeal.
Make Their Living Space Pandemic-friendly
Some homeowners learned the hard way that their living space is not optimized for pandemic living. They don’t have enough space to keep the family engaged and ensure every member’s comfort and convenience. They need to make improvements to ensure everyone can accomplish specific tasks like learning, working, and keeping up with their health goals while sheltering in place.
So, they turned to home improvement projects. Some homeowners made space to make learning, working, and working out from home possible. Others invested in projects that enabled them to finally pursue their passion, such as recreational activities they always wanted to try or their own home-based business.
Welcome Boomerang Members in the Family
Some homeowners are also improving their homes for the sake of boomerang family members. Some adult kids are moving back to their parent’s homes during the pandemic. After losing their jobs, they made the decision to look after their senior parents aging in place or to reduce their expenses.
There are also millennial homeowners improving their houses to better accommodate their senior parents. When you have aging parents living with you, it becomes necessary to improve the house to accommodate their special needs. One might need to have wider hallways, have handrails installed, or even turn an extra room downstairs into your parent’s bedroom.
With more family members living with you, this made improving the house a priority. Aside from home additions, some invested in home renovations to ensure all members have enough space and privacy while living under one roof. This is dependent on the needs of every family member.
Homeowner Fears When Renovating/Improving Homes
Despite the large numbers of homeowners improving their houses during the pandemic, many have fears associated with the renovation. For one, they are afraid their budget might not be enough to complete the renovation. This made deciding between a DIY home improvement or not a difficult decision.
Homeowners also fear making the investment only to be disappointed with the results. They heard of many home improvement disaster stories from real homeowners. This made new homeowners rethink their decision to push through with their home improvement.
Another home improvement fear common among homeowners is that the project takes longer than expected. When turning to DIY projects, the amount of time it takes to finish the project will depend on one’s budget, time availability, and skills. Even those who plan on hiring contractors fear the project will take too long to finish.
This list goes to show that homeowners have varying reasons for choosing to invest in home improvements in the middle of the crisis. One can also have different fears about making the investment. The key is to dedicate enough time planning the improvement, prioritizing the right projects, and finding the right partners to increase your chances of home improvement success.