With COVID-19 cases on the rise in many urban centers such as New York City, many young families and professionals are looking to move to the suburbs. I’ve been wanting to get a realtor on the podcast to speak about this trend, among other things, in this interesting time we are all living in. I’m so excited to be chatting with and introducing you to Susan Isaak, an accomplished agent with Houlihan Lawrence working out of their Greenwich office. Susan focuses on working with young families relocating to the suburbs, which makes her an ideal person to share her perspectives on what it looks like to buy or rent a new home right now.

Susan has been named a Top 100 Agent and a Greater Greenwich Top Producer by The Real Deal and is a recipient of the Houlihan Lawrence Platinum Award. Her success comes from being dedicated to her client’s needs and working tirelessly on their behalf. She is a full-time agent with a deep knowledge of the market. Always putting clients first, her goal is to make the entire process a positive one.

In this episode Susan discusses the growing number of people working from home and how this is affecting the real estate market, what features buyers are asking for in homes more now than ever, some common challenges people will face when moving from the city (and how to overcome them), and so much more.

Right now our homes are even more of a focal point in our lives than usual, and Susan shares some fantastic advice on how to approach making the decision of where to live by looking at yourself first, before even looking at that very first home listing.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• The shifts in trends Susan has seen since the pandemic, and some surprising data compared to this time last year

• How the amount of people working from home is impacted her local real estate market

• A pivot she has noticed in the rental market and the ways and why I feel that everyone is “upping their real estate game”

• What people are doing to be isolated, but still enjoy the outdoors during the pandemic

• Challenges that buyers will face, but may not initially consider when considering a move from the city to the suburbs

• How Susan is saving her clients time and energy before going to look at multiple properties

• Some steps buyers can take so that they don’t feel trapped by the new expenses of owning a home in the suburbs

• Whether or not she believes kitchens are still a high priority for buyers, why open floor plans are no longer as popular as they once were, and so much more