'Offices are in big trouble,' Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, told MarketWatch. Fundrise is betting on the assumption that more Americans will choose to live in suburbs, and not return to offices in big city centers.
Saving money and time on a long commute to work “means a lot,” she told MarketWatch. Simone has been working from home since 2019, when she decided that being the only employee at her office didn’t make sense, particularly given that she was just on Zoom ZM, -3.88% meetings all day with her team in California.
In Miller’s view, the coronavirus pandemic stimulated a larger cultural awakening that questioned the efficiency of working in-person in an office after nationwide lockdowns didn’t deter white-collar workers from continuing to work from home. It’s expensive to live in a city, particularly with a growing family, Miller explained. It’s also expensive to live in the city itself, given how rents are rising. Rents are reaching new record highs, according to Realtor.com’s June report.
And when things pop up, like an illness, or painful menstrual cramps, she doesn’t need to schedule time off from work. “When I was working my first job out of college, I used to bring my heating pads to my office and very discreetly use it at my desk, with a throw over it, so it wouldn’t be noticeable,” she recalled.
“Urban areas have rebounded tremendously from a demand and rent perspective and that’s not just New York City — that’s everywhere,” he said.