After COVID: How to prepare your home for a return to normality

While it’s true that COVID-19 is still spreading rapidly in various parts of the world, we are slowly approaching a return to normality. After all, vaccination efforts are progressing well in many countries, and fundamental shifts in how we live and work are likely to stick around as the cultivated protection takes effect.

The prospect of moving on from this blighted pandemic era raises some questions, though — such as how we can suitably prepare for the transition. Some of us have made huge changes in the last year, particularly when it comes to property management. Our homes have simultaneously served as our protectors and our prisons.

Because of this, we’re going to look at some tips for how you can get your home ready for a move away from the frustrations of COVID-19. Let’s get started.

Make a long-term decision about your home workspace

Even though you may have been working from home for more than a year, you may not have made any permanent changes in pursuit of remote-working comfort. It took a while for most people to accept that they’d be working remotely for longer than a month or two, and plenty just stuck with clumsy kitchen-table setups for the sake of ease.

Today, you should have a solid idea of what the future holds for your career. Will you be going back to an office most of the time? If so, you can clear away some home-office equipment and start thinking about how you’re going to use that space going forward. Or maybe you’ll be sticking with remote working indefinitely, in which case you should look for a long-term solution (perhaps through converting a spare bedroom into a dedicated office).

Insure your contents so you can travel safely

If your plan is to get away for some vacation time as soon as it’s safe to do so, you’re not alone. Having been cooped up for so long with uncertain prospects, plenty of people are excited to start travelling again. But when we all get back out into the world, our homes will once again become an attractive target for theft.

Taking out a suitable insurance policy will be key here. If you own your home, you’ll need insurance to cover the structure, yourself, and your contents. If you’re just renting your home, though, you’ll need to go for something called tenant insurance, which provides the coverage you need to keep you and your contents protected. You can make it easy for yourself by searching for an online insurance provider — like Duuo, for example — that enables you to get covered quickly.

In addition, you should think about upgrading your locks, hiding anything important and/or valuable, and keeping your neighbours informed of your plans so you can head off on vacation knowing they’ll look out for your space.

Ensure that you have space for guests

After so much solitude, don’t you want to spend time with friends and family members? If so, why not invite them to stay? They could take vacation time, or simply bring their laptops and work remotely for a spell — but only if you have the space to accommodate them. Your home office setup may be occupying space that would previously have served this purpose.

Whether it involves buying a sofa bed or simply clearing out some unnecessary clutter that’s been gathering for a long time, you should definitely make an effort to get your place ready to host guests again. This is another reason why purchasing tenant insurance is a smart idea. It will provide you with liability coverage, which protects you financially in the event that someone is injured while on your property.

Consider the prospect of housemates

Preparing for guests is one thing, but what if you might have someone new moving in? Activity has obviously been limited in the last year, with major life changes being delayed again and again. All of this has led to couples waiting to move in together and friends waiting to cohabitate. Maybe you’re in that position — in which case, this is the time to act.

If you plan to live with roommates, understand the implications of that arrangement on your tenant insurance coverage. Unfortunately, your roommate won’t automatically be covered under your tenant insurance policy and vice versa. To err on the side of caution, each of you should take out your own coverage or at the very least, inquire with your insurance provider about whether or not you can both be listed on the same policy.

We're grateful to our friends at Duuo for lending their tenant insurance expertise to the LowestRates.ca audience. Duuo is an on-demand insurance service based in Canada. It offers a range of easy and flexible coverage plans to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers in a modern world, with simple plans for tenants, events, short-term rental, and gig services.