An event like a worldwide pandemic changes a lot of things in life. It’s changed how many people feel about healthcare and how we look after ourselves and others when unwell. It’s changed how we work and our understanding of work-from-home environments. It has also changed how people approach renting and the lifestyles of many renters. Whether it’s wanting company in your home, finding new ways to seek a new place to live, or figuring out how to navigate your economic situation and still find a home that feels right for you, many things work differently now. Let’s look at how we make our way through the rental industry in a post-COVID world.
1. How We Find Our Homes
In many parts of the world, the COVID pandemic meant almost completely losing any semblance of regular physical interactions around tasks like grocery shopping, grabbing a coffee, or visiting the home you might want to rent. We had to figure out new ways of getting things done in a hurry, and some of those solutions have become a part of our regular daily lives now that COVID has mostly left us.
Platforms like Renty.AI have taken a lot of the effort and stress out of looking for a new place to live. These AI-driven platforms use the information you input about your desired home size, location, and amenities to scour the options available and present you with a list of the best options. You no longer have to traipse between realtor offices and look at a few vague images before eventually seeing your potential new home in person; now, you can take a virtual reality tour of the property without getting out of bed! While some people do still desire an in-person look at a home, you do now have the option to handle your home search entirely online. You can now take less time away from work, family, and other responsibilities to find your new rental home.
2. Lifestyle Buildings
When COVID hit, most of us found our lifestyles radically altered. We could no longer take trips to the local pool to relax or to the gym for a workout. We didn’t want to venture too far from home or to new places, and meeting friends in a crowded bar for a catch-up was definitely a no-no. Though these restrictions are no longer in place, and most of us have returned to feeling safe in public spaces, the rental industry has developed a permanent solution to make your life much simpler and more convenient.
The rise of lifestyle buildings means you have all these things in the same building as your home or on the same block. A huge selling point for many new apartment complexes, in particular, is the inclusion of amenities like a pool and sundeck, an in-house gym or exercise area, a barbeque area, a clubhouse or entertainment room, often including a bar and coffee shop either in the same building or at least on the same block for ease of access. The inclusion of WiFi and a furnished apartment, if necessary, means that all you need to worry about is managing your calendar because everything you could ever need is right where you live. Living in a building like this is living a streamlined version of life that offers you more time and energy for the things that really matter.
3. Co-Living
When isolation struck the world unexpectedly, many people living alone went months without human contact. Human beings are communal creatures, and finding ourselves alone for so long changed the minds of a lot of dedicated solo renters. Connecting around work, hobbies, and all other things was taken away from us for a while. However, co-living offers us human connection permanently and in a safe and practical way.
Co-living is the practice of sharing large apartment spaces or homes between several renters, usually strangers. Usually, these renters are grouped by the rental company based on preferences and lifestyle similarities, making the co-living space a great place to live and grow as a person and a professional. In their rental agreements, many co-living spaces include cleaning services, furnishings, and other property-specific amenities. Living in this way offers a set of ready-made friends and housemates as well as a cost-effective way to gain access to a modern living space that provides the best of the best in terms of amenities and locations.
Wrap Up
Although COVID was challenging for many of us, it also made us adapt and change to a new way of life. We have found ways to streamline our approaches to finding rental homes and ways to get the most out of our lives with the lowest possible amount of effort. The rental industry is better, more conveniently accessible, and more enticing than ever.