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The Future of Real Estate

You'll understand my choice of photograph at the end of the blog.

Three decades or so ago I read THE POPCORN REPORT. The author: Faith Popcorn. She was called a futurist and I was interested in her thoughts about the future of real estate. (Note the unique title of this blog post?) While my prime interest at the time was what might be in store for the commercial real estate market, I read some extraordinary thoughts about real estate in general.

COVID-19 has had me thinking about how we can use our real estate, whether our homes or offices, our retail stores, our factories, in the safest ways. Today, let's focus on our homes. (After all, we should mostly be in them, right?)

Faith Popcorn's thirty-year old observations have been on my mind lately. As futurists should be, she was ahead of her time.

She used the word "cocooning" to describe how we might use our homes, and she was specific about why. I don't recall a pandemic being among her thoughts at the time but cocooning captured me then. The concept was simple. We would bring much to our home that we otherwise would have to leave our home to experience. And she said we would do it for fun. Today, we will do it for safety.

So, I have been thinking about how our wants and needs have been changed by the virus, and how cocooning might become a significant lifestyle choice for fun and for safety. When we make this greatest of investments, a home, let's consider our cocoon needs.

And I think about this in relation to all real estate today, residential or commercial, whether new or reconditioned. We should talk about it if you'd like because, having read of the concept thirty years ago, I have some seasoned thoughts.

Visit with Faith Popcorn. But if I am closer and easier to reach, don't hesitate to be in touch.

By the way, our weather here is stunning, at least for me. I have been sitting out in the fresh air and sun, socially distant, sipping an espresso, and writing to you. This life is good.

All the best.

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The author of this post is Tom Aposporos, a licensed real estate broker in both Florida and New York. In a business career of more than four decades, he also served as mayor of his home city, a commissioner in his adopted island city, and chaired a publicly-owned bank through a period of financial recovery. These experiences have enhanced his knowledge and have brought additional dimension to his real estate career.