Tag Archives: work from home

A new blog series on Covid’s impact on housing and mortgages

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The BBC Storyworks site in Canada has launched a 6-part series written by me about Covid-19 and the impact on housing and the mortgage industry. The articles will appear weekly, starting this week. Later articles will look at mortgage options, the investing experience following Covid, optimum investment strategies going forward and close with retirement strategies in the age of Covid.

The first article went up on Thursday and covers how the Work-from-Home phenomenon has impacted where we all live and work. You can find the full piece by clicking on the highlighted headline here: Rethinking Home Base. The series is sponsored by TD Bank.

Working from home is now mainstream, whether temporarily for those still employed, or as a more enduring shift to home-based self-employment. Many technology companies now let employees work from home: some until 2021, some permanently.

“Covid-19 shaped the real estate market during the second quarter in every possible way,” says Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal Lepage. Its latest housing survey showed home prices rising sharply, with supply struggling to keep up with a surge in demand: “As the reality of extended and potentially permanent work-from-home employment sunk in, people pondered both the location and size of their homes,” he said in a release on the survey, “Simply put, larger homes in smaller communities have become more fashionable.”

Many urban homeowners are selling their expensive city homes and swapping them for bigger places in the suburbs or cottage country. Not surprisingly, and as Reuters recently reported, there’s a severe glut of office space in New York City. Many REITs with heavy exposure to offices and malls have been hard hit.

Consumer spending patterns changing too

Covid has changed consumer spending patterns, with less eating out and reduced need for new clothes for the office. Meanwhile, cooped-up homeowners are landscaping back yards, and adding pools and decks. These home-based workers are upgrading computers and office equipment, upgrading smartphones, adding peripherals from Logitech or HP Inc., trekking to Home Depot to retrofit workspaces and ordering furniture online from RH or Wayfair. They stay in touch with customers through technologies like Zoom or Skype. They collaborate with remote co-workers through Slack or Microsoft Teams. They close deals with electronic signatures from firms like DocuSign, while medical professionals consult via telemedicine tools like Teladoc.

Cottage country booming

Cottage country is experiencing a massive sales boom. The story says veteran Collingwood realtor Karen Willison is swamped with business from urban refugees. Far from creating bargains, Covid has elevated home prices across the board, especially those with waterfront.

New retirees figure prominently: Pre-Covid some clients who thought they’d retire in two years are speeding up plans. We’ll look at this aspect more later in the series.

 

Tips for transitioning your employees to work from home

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By Shannon Hicks

For the Financial Independence Hub

For businesses to thrive, they must give importance to their employees. They are an essential part of any company because their competence is what drives growth.

As an employer, there are a number of practices that you can adopt to make your employees more efficient at their tasks, especially in these times when a worldwide health crisis is at hand and most employees are at home.

Working from home poses a lot of obstacles to employees. Hence, as an employer, it is important to motivate them to concentrate on their respective tasks. This way, even though the whole world and economies have been disrupted, your business is still able to generate high-quality outputs.

Here are some tips to transition your employees to working from home:

1.) Help them set up their workspace at home

The first problem that employees face when they start working from home is whether or not they have the hardware necessary to carry out their tasks. So, as an employer, it should be your first concern as well.

Thus, when transitioning your employees to work from home, ask them if they have the necessary equipment or hardware, such as a computer, for them to be able to perform their tasks. If they lack the essential implements, then, allow them to borrow those from the office. Let them take home the units they use at work; after all, no one would be using those. Of course, they need to return the devices once they resume working at the office.

Furthermore, allow your employees to download or install applications that your company will be using to communicate and manage tasks. Make it clear which tools and workforce management system will be utilized so they can have them installed on their respective devices as soon as possible.

For example, Slack can be used for communication purposes, while Zoom can be used for teleconferencing. Making this clear early on will allow your employees to familiarize themselves with the tools, so they would be efficient in using them as soon as they need to.

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2.) Be flexible in your working policies

Each employee will have a different setup at home. While some are living alone in their own apartments, some are with their families and may even have kids at home. Thus, it is understandable that when employees start working from home, they will have different schedules as to when they are best able to work.

So, when making policies for employees working from home, be understanding of their circumstances. For example, you may not need to set specific working hours; rather, keep them focused on finishing tasks before or on the deadline.

For better communication, you can schedule a weekly or bi-weekly teleconference, or you can also take advantage of a specific time when everyone is available. Thus, communication is always open and everyone can regularly give updates on their tasks.

3.) Keep communication lines open

Weekly teleconference or virtual meetings should not be the only time that managers and employees are able to talk and give updates. Continue Reading…