The American homecoming

Sooner or later, you might join the millions of Americans who remodel or renovate their homes each year. The reasons for home remodeling are as varied as the projects homeowners undertake. For services like home improvement projects, maintenance and emergency work done, cost has always been uncertain and difficult to assess.

Home improvement was up 12% and continued to deliver strong performance throughout the pandemic leading up to the March selling period. Roughly half of all households doing home improvement projects do some DIY work and then also hire a professional contractor to do additional work. This tendency does vary by age however, with those 55 and older around 50% more likely to strictly hire a pro than those between the ages of 25 and 34.

The top three projects of 2020 were interior painting, bathroom remodels and new flooring, according to HomeAdvisor’s 2020 State of Home Spending report, which noted that 35% of households that completed an improvement project undertook some type of interior painting, while 31% completed a bathroom remodel and 26% installed new flooring.

Interior painting, at an average cost of $2,007, is the third lowest cost project, after installing home office networking and smart home devices. However, unlike networking and smart home devices, interior painting can have a massive visual impact on your home. The sweet spot of affordability plus a large visual impact is likely also what drives the relative popularity of flooring ($4,680 and third most popular project), landscaping ($2,389 and fourth most popular project) and exterior painting ($3,291 and sixth most popular project).

Of course, not all high popularity projects with high visual impact are what we would typically think of as cheap. Bathroom remodels were the second most popular project with a significantly higher average cost of $13,401. Similarly, kitchen remodels were the fifth most popular project with a much higher average cost of $35,317.

Out-of-the-box solutions

From she sheds and granny pods to pop-up office spaces and modular multi-story homes, shipping containers turned modular buildings are popping up all over the globe. Containers and prefab modular building products appeal to many for affordability, space-saving qualities, less environmental impact and expansion potential. Pandemic restrictions have paved the way to prefab and modular construction to accommodate remote workers who need either an isolated workspace in the backyard or a quick home extension.

Home has shifted from a passive place to dwell in to an active space to host everything. With significant limitations on where we can or can’t venture, people have started to put all their energy into where they are. Home improvement projects have seen a huge surge and 70% of Americans have completed home improvement projects during the pandemic.

It is no surprise that demands for home offices have drastically increased with 44% of people working at home full time and many schools functioning via remote learning. In response, real-estate professionals are incorporating notes around ideal backdrops, lighting, and potential for extra rooms to fashion the perfect home office (or ‘Zoom room’).

Generation Next

Both Millennials and Gen-Z are seeing the home as a refuge, as many have felt stressed by issues such as climate change, the 2008 recession, student debt, and now Covid-19. With a strong majority of Millennials and Gen-Z having the goal of owning a home, how they use that home will be of interest to markets in many product categories. This will include heightened demand for: fully-equipped home offices, home fitness space and equipment, private outdoor space, well-equipped kitchens and play space for children.

Covid has led to 80% of young people self-quarantining and 83% reporting that their home has provided them with comfort during the pandemic. 71% indicate that they enjoy being able to spend additional time at home. The ‘comfort’ element of the home is making young consumers more likely to indicate they want to engage in DIY home improvements. 64% of young consumers say they are more interested in home improvement than before Covid.

TMP’s role

Here at TMP, we help make connections. We help home improvement manufacturers get together and engage with their customers; we get the local dealer and customer together. We help with lead generation, lead distribution and appointment setting when it comes to home improvement, home services, and home warrantees.

We understand the industry, have more than 30 years of experience and utilize digital tech such as mobile apps and speed-to-market techniques and this gives us an edge compared to our competitors. We go the extra mile to make sure that the customers get the best deal and service, ultimately resulting in happy clients.