Hal Cranmer has had a wild past. Born in India, he’s lived all over the world and started his working life as an Air Force Special Operations and Commercial airline pilot. After 9/11 brought him down from the clouds, he entered the corporate world and rose to the level of running a $36M machining plant. Yet from 2006 on, he caught the passion for real estate investing. He flipped a bunch of houses in Minneapolis and still owns several multifamily rentals there. Lately, he is into assisted living, and owns 5 assisted living homes in the Phoenix area. He loves to follow real estate trends, both locally and nationally.
As an ongoing contributor to Mogul’s “Market News Updates,” Mr. Cranmer provides us with his own unique, lively and thought-provoking commentary on the timely industry news and events of today that are impacting our industry. And be sure to check out our other super-helpful. For now, enjoy...
Growing up, we’ve been taught that “sharing is caring.” We don’t mind sharing car rides, clothes, books, phones, food and even houses with our family and friends.
No matter how normal it seems, do you actually know how “sharing” impacts businesses – specifically real estate?
A recent survey found that “co-living” is the newest trend in the industry.
IKEA’s Space 10, a “future living” innovation lab conducted the survey to know more about how people would want to live in 2030. They asked over 7,000 people from 147 countries all over the world.
This survey – called the One Shared House 2030 – was originally intended to be a playful research project. They collaborated with Anton & Irene, a New York-based firm, with the hopes that they would be able to know exactly how people would want to live decades from now.
What Do People Want in the Future?
They found out that in terms of living spaces and communities, “co-living” or collaborative living spaces are definitely on the rise.
Co-living is similar to coworking spaces, except it pertains to domestic living spaces. Apparently, according to various publishers, this trend has been evolving. Shareable, a peer-to-peer economy magazine, says that “co-living networks” have been showing up all over the world since 2013.
French magazine, OuiShare, caught up on people’s pressing desires to have a collaborative society. However, they pointed out that co-living isn’t a new trend. In fact, it’s been around for quite some time. It was actually the norm up until the early 20th century.
Other than that, co-living may also be a viable solution to the increasing problems of this technologically advanced era – the lack of connection and empathy for other people.
The New Yorker also noted this trend in their May 2016 issue and dubbed it as “flexible, community-driven housing.” They also said that co-living is similar to dorms but for grown-ups.
Co-Living Startups, Anyone?
Dozens of co-living startups have been emerging, such as WeWork’s WeLive. These companies are set up for success as they promise to provide citizens with more housing options for far lesser costs.
And in today’s housing shortage, co-living may be a popular solution.
The findings of IKEA’s attempt to understand how people want to live in the future weren’t shocking at all. Especially to the people who know all about the sharing of economy and how it impacts today’s lifestyle trends.
The One Shared House says that by the year 2030, the earth will have a population of 8.4 billion and 70% of us will be living in urban areas.
How Exactly Do People Want to Live?
The survey also garnered results on how people want to live in the future. And these pretty juicy details will definitely be of great help to real estate investors:
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People want to limit social interaction. That sounds kind of weird when we verbalize it, but truth be told, we value our own personal space. The survey says that people would opt to live in communities of 4-10 people with different backgrounds and ages.
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People prefer to help clean up than to sit down and have dinner. Talk about limiting social interaction! They’d rather share workspaces, utilities, internet and gardens than share bathrooms and bedrooms with other housemates.
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People would rather live with pets than with teens or babies. The ideal neighborhood would be singles or couples without children.
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People want to set principles in shared areas. The reason why people are open to the idea of co-living is that they want to benefit from social connections. However, they would want their living spaces to be guided by a set of principles, such as establishing rules or voting on new members, and the like.
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People are mostly concerned about the lack of privacy. However, the senior respondents are more concerned about cleanliness or having to deal with arguments and misunderstandings.
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People prefer to design their own rooms. People who agree to co-live have one simple request – the freedom to design their own private quarters.
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People want to live with housemates who are tidy, honest and considerate. Having these characteristics were on top of the list when it comes to who people most would likely want to live with. While being funny and handy were the ones at the bottom.
Your Thoughts?
How would co-living affect your real estate endeavors? Are you personally in favor of living with other people? Spare no detail in the comments below.
Hal Cranmer
Hal Cranmer has had a wild past. Born in India, he’s lived all over the world and started his working life as an Air Force Special Operations and Commercial airline pilot. After 9/11 brought him down from the clouds, he entered the corporate world and rose to the level of running a $36M machining plant. Yet from 2006 on, he caught the passion for real estate investing. He flipped a bunch of houses in Minneapolis and still owns several multifamily rentals there. Lately, he is into assisted living, and owns 5 assisted living homes in the Phoenix area. He loves to follow real estate trends, both locally and nationally.