Job or new home: which would you choose?
With the Covid-19 vaccine rollout well underway, many of us are looking at a return to the office. But after more than a year of working remotely some Americans have moved farther away from their workplaces, and according to a survey from Realtor.com®, they are now less willing to commute into the office.
Realtor.com® senior economist George Ratiu says the ability to work remotely has empowered people to move further from crowded metro areas in search of more space and a lower cost of living, and people are really enjoying that newfound space, enough so that some aren’t willing to give it up anytime soon.
The survey of homeowners who purchased within the past twelve months found that about 60% are working from home and 62% prefer to be. Despite remote work being the clear preference for many, only 48% have been told by their employer they can continue to work remotely, one quarter have no definitive answer on whether or not they can remain fully remote indefinitely, and another quarter already have plans to return to the office later this year. That’s created a dilemma for new homeowners who are happy at home and are uncertain if and when their employer will want them back in the office.
Job versus home
When asked what they will do if their employer decides they must return to the jobsite:
- 48% of survey respondents said they’d try to arrange a flexible schedule that allows for some in-office work and some remote work
- Nearly a quarter said they will find a new job
- 30% said if asked, they would willingly return to the office
- 8% said they would sell their pandemic purchase in favor of a new home closer to work
Going the distance
As offices begin to reopen, those who are currently looking for a new home may have to start factoring commute time into their search. Despite the fact that 31% say they are less willing to commute farther for work, if asked to return to the workplace:
- Close to 40% would have to travel 30 minutes or more each way to their office
- 18% would have to commute more than 60 minutes each way, making the prospect of returning to a daily commute very unappealing.
Realtor.com® commute time filter
If you are in the market to buy, one way to help make sure you are only looking at homes within your desired commute time is to use the Realtor.com® commute time filter, designed to help you understand how long it might take to drive to and from work before pulling the trigger on a home purchase.
Just plug in an address, city, zip or neighborhood into Realtor.com® or the app, filter listings based on your desired home features like bedrooms, bathrooms or property type, and then enter a work or commute address into the Commute filter. Selecting a drive time (with or without traffic) filters listings that match your preferred commute time, anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes or more, and allows you to view the available homes on Realtor.com® that match your home search parameters and commuting distance.
See more at…https://www.realtor.com/homemade/job-or-new-home-which-would-you-choose/
P.C. census.gov