Remote work or working from home has swept across the world like a welcomed breeze of fresh air. What was always assumed to be possible was made mandatory for millions of people in 2020, and having seen the steady or improved performances and cut to costs, many US employers and employees seek to keep the good time rolling.
Even as offices have reopened to reinstate the state-of-play from pre-2020, people continue to work from home, and more employees are taking it upon themselves to demand remote work or some days of working from home. Reports from CNBC read that as many as one-third of the workforce continued to work from home to the end of 2021.
If you’re one of these empowered workers, you might be looking for a more suitable work environment, which for remote workers means moving house. As it’s still quite a new concept, here are some tips for what you need to look for in a new house if you intend to keep on working from home.
Always find the best deal for you
As you’d imagine, regardless of the type of house that you’re after or its location, you need to get the best deal for you on your mortgage. Speaking to one of the professional and fast-acting mortgage adviser agents at Trussle for free will give you an accurate view of how much you can borrow and will need to pay back each month.
It’s an important step and one that will underpin your finances for at least the term of its fixed rate. So, it’s always good to get a mortgage in principle (MIP) from the broker platform first. Without performing a hard credit check, the MIP will give you the ability to house hunt within your limits and quickly show sellers that you’re ready to act quickly.
Look for that ideal home office space
There’s a fine line between a good home office and a bad home office, as going too small makes it uncomfortable, while going too big – unless two members of your household work remotely – will just seem like a waste of a room. Ideally, you find a house with plenty of big rooms bar one distinctly smaller one which can become useful as an office.
As a rule of thumb, a dedicated home office space should measure between 8x10ft and 14x18ft, per TipsThatWork, but the larger end of that scale will be excessive for most desk workers. The smaller size offers plenty of space for a desk, a bit of wheeling around, a few units, and for the door to open, making it an ideal use for a room that’s too small to be a bedroom.
Check the local broadband situation
The United States has a pretty serious broadband access issue, with so many counties across almost all states showing minimal percentages of their populations using broadband speed. So, be sure to use the interactive map of internet usage in the US from The Verge as either the internet there is too expensive for most, or it isn’t available at half-decent speeds in the area.
Follow these tips and get yourself the ideal home office for your remote work living.