It’s called the Tesla Family Home but Elon Musk is nowhere to be seen
There’s a home for sale in Sydney with a sign: “The remarkable Tesla Family Home with Superb Enviro-sustainability.” It really got my attention! Had Elon Musk secretly moved to the neighbourhood? Was he selling Sydney real estate to raise money for the proposed billionaire’s tax? Imagine!
Residz Team 4 min read
There’s a home for sale in Sydney with a sign: “The remarkable Tesla Family Home with Superb Enviro-sustainability.” It really got my attention! Had Elon Musk, partner Grimes, and their toddler X Æ A-12 secretly moved to the neighbourhood? Was he selling Sydney real estate to raise money for the proposed billionaire’s tax?
Imagine!
But no, it’s not Chez Musk, it’s just his whopping battery that lives here. The six-bedder has a self-sufficient solar energy supply, complete with Tesla Powerwall. The agent asks us to imagine living in this prestigious home with its own power supply. So, I did get to imagining…..imagining for this blog what type of inclusions will be headliners into 2022 for those selling a home...and, what won’t add perceived value.
Solar power
Australia was ranked an embarrassing last place for its policy response to climate crisis, yet homeowners are rushing to solar. The CSIRO says Australia has the highest uptake of solar globally. One in four homes have solar panels on their roof. NSW has the best uptake, followed by Qld, then Victoria. There are more than 40,500 monthly searches for solar panels, 1000 searches per month for ‘solar installers near me’. Other popular searches include ‘off grid solar system’ (2400) and yes, the Tesla Powerwall (5400).
Induction cooking
With all that solar, you get excited homeowners running about looking for things they can plug in for little to no cost. So, induction cooktops are taking off big time. There were 22,000 searches for induction cooktops in October 2020. A year later and it’s up to 27,000 per month. By contrast, gas cooktops average less than half that volume, at 8100 per month. Google Trends shows the term “best induction cooktop Australia” rose 80% in search volume in the past year. Data shows Northern Territorians like searching for induction the most (less heat?), followed by ACT.
EV home charger
When Warren Buffett backs an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer you know EVs are about to boom, even here in low take-up Australia. His BYD brand coming in 2022 will be the cheapest EV on the market, says CarExpert. More than a dozen EV models will land next year and fast home chargers for them will be expected in high-end homes and apartment complexes. Searches for the term ‘EV home charging’ rose from 90 per month in Australia to 390 per month in the past year. ‘Home petrol bowser’, funnily enough, gets no searches.
Home theatre
All that binge-watching over lockdown is a tough habit to shake (who’s up for Selling Sunset peering into LA real estate for the super-rich?). So, a dedicated home theatre room is considered very lux these days (“vulgar” my grandmother might have chosen). The term home theatre is going strong, getting 2900 searches a month and you can add 1300 for home cinema in there too. Flat screen TV continues to be a popular search.
Bookcases and home libraries
Was it the inspiration of neatly-arranged bookcases that featured in the background of Zoom video calls? Or, that we were allowed into bookshops when most shops were shut during Covid lockdowns? Either way, we’re into bookcases right now. Aussies do more than 22,000 Google searches for bookcases per month, can you believe? Library shelving gets 480 searches - these are the serious bookworms who feel the need to show-off with floor-to-ceiling shelving. No mere bookcase for them, thank you.
Home gym
All that binge-watching, reading, and home cooking necessitates a place to work out. We realised during Covid that spending our money on sports and gym equipment made us feel better about ourselves. Property sellers don’t call it a spare room, it’s a home gym! Searches for home gyms went through the roof in the past year, jumping up from 18,000 searches per month in October 2020 to 33,000 per month in August 2021. With interstate borders opening up we obviously want to be beach-ready.
Home office
These days you’re not selling a house, you’re selling a Lifestyle! With a Sun-Drenched Home Office! A home office just a walk from the beach or near the shops and cafes will really attract the buyers in 2022. Searches for the term ‘home office’ rose to 8000 per month in August 2021, and ‘wifi booster’ to 14,800 per month. Post-Covid we will want flexibility and strong digital connections to feel really ‘at home’. A search on Residz.com will tell you what the internet connection is, and the maximum download and upload speeds, for every home in Australia. Future data points may well include the attributes covered in this article.
Granny flat
Such an old-fashioned name, such a modern marvel! Grannies will be lucky to ever set their foot in the door though, with rellies more interested in the opportunity to be an Airbnb or Stayz host and paying down the huge mortgage. Tens of thousands of us search ‘granny flat’ in Google every month, hoping we can turn our backyard into (an almost) passive income.
Portable things
Of course, many of us don’t have a home to sell, nor can we afford to buy one. During Covid the term ‘caravan for sale’ peaked at 201,000 searches per month, although it’s tailed off somewhat. A solid group of digital nomads, grey nomads, or holidaymakers are still out there searching terms like ‘portable induction cooktop’ (6000 p.m.), ‘portable solar panels’ (2900 p.m.), and ‘portable toilets’ (6600 p.m.), showing a keen appetite to move about (or a weird fascination with portable things). Ultimately, offering a home for sale with a caravan thrown in might be your best selling point in 2022!