Q&A: Home Developer Sheds Light on How the Pandemic will Impact the Future of Real Estate
John McDonough, owner and founder of a Peninsula based construction company, MAC Construction, gives his perspective on how future home developments may be influenced by the pandemic. He has been in the home development field for over 20 years and primarily focuses on fixing and re-selling dilapidated homes in the Bay Area now. The interview was conducted over the phone and topics that were focused on included how contractors may rethink their approach when building new construction after COVID-19 as well as what particular features of residential properties may be more sought out for in the upcoming months and years.
Interviewer: So what is your take on how homes may look post-pandemic?
John: Well it’s tough to say for sure, but I think that there are several features in a home that buyers will be on the lookout for, which will basically influence what type of properties that developers will build.
Q: What type of features do you think homebuyers will want post-pandemic?
A: For starters I think more traditional floor-plans will be in big demand.
Q: I thought that open floor plans would be more preferred, because of modern home trends in the past?
A: That’s what I thought at first, but after talking to other developers in the area and doing some research online, I found out that many people are wanting more rooms in their homes rather having larger open spaces.
Q: Why do you think that is?
A: Well I think a couple of factors come into play, many people are working from home now so they are wanting a dedicated space for a home office as well as having more privacy within their home.
Q: That makes sense, I think that even after the pandemic many will continue to work from home too. Do you believe that there will be any changes to outdoor spaces in future home developments or will the focus primarily be on the interior of homes?
A: I definitely think that larger yard spaces will be a common feature. Before COVID-19, I was noticing that a lot of contractors were wanting to maximize the square footage of their house and did not mind having a larger home with a smaller yard. Although since the pandemic I think people are getting tired of staying inside and they will want bigger backyards to workout, run around and maybe even have an outdoor kitchen too.
Q: Speaking of outdoor kitchens, do you think indoor cooking areas will change at all in the near future?
A: Absolutely, I think that kitchens will become larger in size to accommodate for all the extra cooking a majority of people are doing now and I think pantries in any size will become standard for newer home builds.
Q: How will pantries fit in smaller sized homes?
A: Good question, well there are different styles of pantries that do not just include walk-in storage spaces. For example, a pantry can be as small as an extended cabinet and I’ve seen some clever designs where compact cabinets pull out for additional food storage, so there’s many ways to implement a pantry for different spaces.
Q: Very interesting, but how will contractors be able to expand the size of kitchens, since property lots will most likely stay the same?
A: My thoughts are that other rooms will have to decrease in size very slightly to make up for the larger cooking area, so perhaps new construction will have slightly smaller formal dining rooms and living rooms for example.
Q: Got it. Do you think that there will be any other new features in homes that will become more common in the near future?
A: Well I think that most new homes will probably have some type of smart technology throughout, which also is a good choice for better energy efficiency.
Q: How will smart technology in a home help it be more energy efficient?
A: For example if you have a smart thermostat, you can program it from your phone to change to specific temperatures inside throughout the day. Also you can install a new smart water heater that allows you to automatically adjust the temperature of the water in your home and can set it up so that it turns off when you’re not home.
Q: I think that will energy efficiency will be an attractive feature for homebuyers like you say, because with people staying home more now their utility bills will most likely increase. Do you have any other concluding thoughts on how the pandemic will impact real estate in the future?
A: With record low mortgage rates I believe that the demand for homes will be strong, so you can expect to see many new homes coming to the market and a great deal of them as we discussed may have the traditional style layouts with more rooms and will most likely feature home offices, big kitchens, energy efficiency and decent sized yards.
