Please “like” https://www.facebook.com/PeterTaoProperties to see my latest SF Peninsula real estate updates and latest listings.

Shelter-in-place (“SIP”) started mid-March which has been challenging for everyone. While walking my dog daily, I have spent more time reflecting and observing. As the world hopefully gets closer to a vaccine, there are a handful of by-products of SIP that I hope will remain in some form post-pandemic: 

Old School Fun – Children are playing in the streets during the day and playing board games with their families in evening. I used to rarely see kids playing outside in the neighborhood given all the pre-scheduled activities. I am that cranky old guy lamenting about how I grew up riding bikes with friends and playing football/basketball/street hockey/ultimate frisbee, and whatever crazy games we made up. 

Less Traffic – Highway 101, San Mateo/Bay/Golden Gate/Dumbarton bridges and main local roads had gotten progressively worse since ten years ago. In the high technology-centric SF Bay, we were already leaders in remote work, but hopeful that more employees can work from home more regularly. Check out my good friend Ken’s company blog post on the “Future of Work” (https://e-m-marketing.com/2015/03/17/the-future-of-work-looks-bright-4-trends-to-cheer-about-infographic) 

Home Projects – My house is the most organized it has ever been. I have a) purged a dozen boxes of useless items in the garage and created a workout/yoga/game room, b) organized my drawers, closet and kitchen pantry, c) done more gardening, and g) done some interior painting while upgrading some design features in house.

Healthier Living and Yoga – Not eating out at restaurants has allowed for more nutritious meals at home. My BBQing game has ramped up a notch. During the 1st month of SIP, my lower back was in worse pain due to sitting for longer periods of time. I finally started yoga following Youtube videos; this has been a game changer as pain has significantly dissipated. I now own a yoga mat.

Basketball Shot – The kids and I have been practicing and playing a lot of basketball at our house. We’ve been regularly doing sets of 50 3 pointers and I’m now shooting 60-75%. I really miss playing pick-up basketball with my Bay Club friends. I hope my newfound shot and healthier back translates to on court performance.

Catching up with Friends and Clients – Zoom calling with out of town friends more frequently has been a primary source of meaningful social interaction. I have also gotten quite a numb of calls from friends/clients wanting to get my thoughts on various aspects of real estate such as remodelling, adding an ADU, possibly buying bigger property, investing or just seeing how the market is doing. SIP has really highlighted one’s home living conditions given both a remote work and distant school learning situation. I will have a separate blog post from a real estate perspective shortly based on my recent listings.

Anything you would add to your list post-pandemic?

Please “like” https://www.facebook.com/PeterTaoProperties to see my latest SF Peninsula real estate updates and latest listings.