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Real estate goes virtual with contactless viewings, signings, and property…

Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Purchasing a home or renting an apartment can be a cumbersome process, exacerbated — and made less safe — by COVID-19. In-person showings and signings are difficult, if not impossible, to manage while maintaining social distancing guidelines. Syncing various schedules can also be a headache, especially for buyers and tenants with kids and inflexible jobs. And what about those last-minute questions that tend to pop up at 2 a.m.? However, some real estate and property management companies are making the homebuying, rental, and property management process a lot easier — and reducing the probability of contracting COVID-19 — through the use of a variety of virtual solutions.

Design for mental wellness

Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

Decades of case studies and research studies have demonstrated ways that interior design can improve mental healthcare environments. Design interventions such as altering space layouts, improving lighting and daylighting, modifying colors, and introducing natural elements have been found to reduce anxiety and aggression in some mental health patients, leading to more constructive therapies, less violence and less need for medications to control behavior, among other benefits. A natural next step is to employ similar interventions to support and improve mental wellness in order to prevent the onset of mental distress or illness.

Keep your distance, but maintain personal relationships

Lloyd Princeton Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

Just when it looked like remote working had hit its peak, employers are again facing the possibility of workplace closures as cases of the coronavirus surge throughout the country. Many businesses, though, including interior design, depend on teamwork and close personal interaction with customers for their success. While health and safety have to be a priority, they also need to have a strategy and protocols for meeting in person.

Survey: Firms fight to operate during COVID-19

Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The breadth and depth of the pandemic’s effects on private businesses has surfaced in new government data collected from July 20 through Sept. 30, 2020. In these numbers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics conveys how businesses big and small operated. Spoiler alert: the BLS data on employment, wages, job openings and terminations, employer-provided benefits, and safety and health paints a tough picture of firms fighting to stay afloat. Nationally, 52% of surveyed businesses, or 4.4 million, told their workers to avoid work (paid or not) for some time.

Outlook for remodeling industry in 2021 still fuzzy

Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

As previous indicators predicted, demand for professional remodeling services rebounded in the third quarter of the year. After experiencing negative growth in the first half of the year, the industry is now poised to end the year in the black with a modest increase in growth over last year. Whether it can sustain that positive growth next year, however, is at present uncertain. Remodelers are optimistic but are facing headwinds that could cause demand to slow.

Optimizing your business’ ability to pivot

Indiana Lee Business Management, Services & Risk Management

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, businesses and individuals alike. What makes it so unusual is that the impact has been universal. Every nation around the world has been impacted by COVID-19 and the economic uncertainty that followed. What has become clear is that companies need to be more agile and flexible than ever. You never know what challenges will come, and a business’s ability to pivot can mean the difference between success and failure. How do you optimize your company’s ability to stay competitive in challenging situations? Here are some tips you can use.

Luxury homebuyers changing faces, places

Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

More than any other factor in recent years, the coronavirus has changed how we live and where we choose to live. Up until this year, demographers have puzzled over why there was so little movement among the population. Now, individuals and families are relocating in large numbers and to places that a year ago would not have been top of mind. Especially in the case of higher-income households, this is causing profound shifts in the makeup of communities and the distribution of wealth.

High demand for homes is depleting inventories

Michael J. Berens Construction & Building Materials

Prospective homebuyers are facing a dwindling pool of choices as the supply of properties for sale has hit an all-time low. Sales activity remains brisk, with most homes selling in less than a month. Yet despite advantages for sellers, including historically low interest rates and escalating values, fewer owners are putting their homes on the market, and builders have not been able to keep up with the demand for new homes. The combination of low inventories and higher prices likely will cause the pace of sales to slacken in the coming months.

Skilled trades report highlights significant job opportunities

Terri Williams Construction & Building Materials

Millions of Americans have either lost or are concerned about losing their job during the pandemic, and businesses large and small have closed this year. However, skilled trades in home services is a small business sector that is actually experiencing a labor shortage. HomeAdvisor released a new skilled trades report that found skilled home trades businesses present an opportunity for entrepreneurship — and 71% of workers in this industry believe there is a job shortage. We spoke with Mischa Fisher, chief economist at HomeAdvisor, about the report.

Plan for 2021 looking on the bright side

Lloyd Princeton Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Mostly sunny with intermittent clouds and showers. That’s my forecast for 2021. It may seem overly optimistic at the moment, what with talk of more shutdowns in the weeks ahead and the standoff in Washington. I am confident, however, that this too shall pass, the ship will get righted, and we will enter calmer waters as the new year gets underway. Having gone through so many months of uncertainty and reversals this year, why should I expect the situation will improve in the next? Despite the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in many countries, we are making progress on preventing and treating the virus as well as on producing an effective and safe vaccine.

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