Home sellers listing their homes face a pandemic-related dilemma – whether to hide or remove all evidence of home offices and COVID-era changes, or face buyers who may be too distracted by the detritus of quarantine to notice all the good stuff.
Many homeowners made adjustments during the pandemic that include family rooms and spare bedrooms that have been converted to offices, bidets bought during toilet paper shortages, extra appliances like deep freezers, and gym equipment, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Families in the Chicago area are now questioning whether to take down work from home setups, and risk having to put them back up if another stay at home order is issued.
“Fast-forward to now — do we have to take apart these desks and make the space look like what it was?” Randi Ralph, a homeowner about to list her home with her husband, said to the Tribune. “Because of the nature of the world right now, do we keep the desks there in case we go back to e-learning, or take them down, even though it would be a lot of work if we had to put them back up?”
According to the Tribune, an April report by construction equipment firm Bid-on-Equipment said that 89 percent of homeowners have done some home improvement projects since early 2020 when Covid hit. In Illinois, homeowners’ top focus was bathroom renovations.
Other research shows that homeowners aren’t sure if those renovations add long-term value to their homes. Realtors and industry experts have also seen a rise in Accessory Dwelling Units on property, which are typically small spaces that allow for a home office should a house not have spare space.
While many pandemic-era amenities are more permanent, realtors recommend removing any major appliances you plan to take with you before showing the house. Items like deep freezers and gym equipment should go in storage.
Much to the frustration of homeowners, realtors recommend returning the house to pre-pandemic condition if possible.That also includes making sure any home offices are restored to bedrooms, especially in the case of filling out a listing sheet, since buyers typically search by number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
[Chicago Tribune] — Miranda Davis
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