Companies are making changes to protect workers from COVID-19 as they prepare for a return to the office. But beyond more attention to cleaning protocols and added divisions for social distance, companies also are considering additions, such as new tools for remote workers.

More than 80% of companies are reportedly considering a hybrid work model where employees will be able to split their time between the office and working remotely, according to a survey from KayoCloud, a real estate technology platform.

New modes of work will likely transform the design of many workspaces. For example, the need for personal desks may be replaced with “hoteling” workstations or “hot desks,” which can be used by whoever is at the office that day. Employees may have to reserve their “hot desk” for the day prior to just showing up.

“A year ago if I had interviewed people, they would have said they definitely need three file cabinets and a bookshelf,” Andrea Vanecko, a principal at NBBJ, an architecture firm, told The New York Times. “Now there’s a very different answer.”

Also, conference rooms could be replaced by Zoom rooms. A large screen on the wall might become a necessity for presentations or to allow remote co-workers or others to appear on video. Some closet-sized phone booths may be added and transformed into private stations for videoconferencing booths with built-in screens.

Holograms could also be coming to the workplace. Some companies are reportedly exploring the use of holographic representations of employees who plan to stay remote full-time. Devices that use 360-degree cameras, microphones, and speakers can be placed on a table or tripod to improve the sound and visibility of video conferencing and even possibly one day projecting a remote employee into an empty seat in the physical world as they join in the discussion virtually, The New York Times reports.

Whether they’re trying to get ahead of the competition or have concerns about COVID-19, more buyers are still choosing to purchase a home without ever stepping foot inside. Clients are relying on virtual tours or video walkthroughs from their real estate agent to help decide which home is right for them.

“I see virtual deals as a trend that will only grow,” Ryan Serhant, CEO of the luxury real estate brokerage Serhant and star of BRAVO’s “Million Dollar Listing New York,” writes for Forbes.com. Even prior to COVID-19, “people were already getting used to seeing homes through their phones and computer screens—not just in person.”

Over the past month, Serhant says he has sold four properties in South Florida for more than $10 million each without a single in-person showing. The deals occurred completely virtually. In July 2020, the real estate brokerage Redfin reported 45% of its consumers who purchased a home in the past year made an offer on a property without first seeing it in person.

Video walkthrough tours—like those offered by agents via FaceTime, Zoom, or Google Meet—may continue to grow in popularity, saving your clients a trip to view the home themselves. It also provides a competitive edge in markets with limited inventory, allowing clients to act more quickly. These video tours could also grow more common among those shopping for investment properties or house hunting due to job relocation in a different state.

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Real estate professionals have become virtual agents, Serhant notes. They’re leveraging technology in more ways to showcase homes virtually to make buyers feel more comfortable buying without having to step foot inside the home first. For example, house hunters are using Google Maps street view and exterior shots as well as HD and 3D listing photos, 360-degree, drag-and-move panoramic room tours, as well as full-house video tours to view homes.

With the added help of technology, real estate professionals are also able to stretch beyond just their local market to appeal more to buyers relocating from other markets and even those from other countries.

“We have clients who don’t live anywhere near us, and showing to out-of-state and foreign buyers over the phone has become increasingly common, pandemic or not,” Serhant writes for Forbes.com. “As agents, we are here to fill in any gaps that technology hasn’t closed; If my client can’t fly in from across the country to see a home, I can be there to see it for her and take her on a tour via FaceTime. If my client wants to buy a home in another country, I can make it happen virtually without requiring him to get on a plane or even leave his home. Serving foreign and out-of-state purchasers is easier than ever before because we can do it without any travel and minimal interruption to the client’s life.”

The flexible office giant WeWork is the latest real estate company to use a special purpose acquisition company to go public. The wave of real estate companies turning to SPACs is growing, such as with Cushman & Wakefield, RXR Realty, Simon Property Group, Tishman Speyer, Opendoor, and Matterport, among others.

SPACs, also often called “blank check” companies, are public entities formed to buy existing firms and take them public. SPACs offer startups a faster route to go public without the traditional risks of a traditional initial public offering. Their popularity is surging: SPAC IPOs have drawn $96.7 billion in 2021 so far—up from $83.3 billion in all of 2020. For comparison, in 2019, SPAC IPOs attracted $13.6 billion, according to data from SPAC Insider.

The SPAC wave has particularly taken off among proptech companies. For example, Latch, a keyless entry firm, recently used a SPAC transaction to go public, and the homeselling platform startup Knock also reportedly is considering using a SPAC merger to also go public soon.

“You’re seeing a lot of proptech SPACs created by real estate people,” Zach Aarons, CEO of MetaProp, a proptech-focused venture capital firm, told Commercial Property Executive. “You’re also seeing general SPACs buying proptech companies.”

This marks WeWork’s second attempt to go public. WeWork recently announced plans to merge with BowX Acquisition Corp, a SPAC formed by the management of venture capital fund Bow Capital, before announcing it would become a publicly listed company. The acquisition deal valued WeWork at about $9 billion. This deal is also estimated to provide WeWork about $1.3 billion of cash to help it grow, Commercial Property Executive reports.

WeWork manages 859 office locations across 152 cities worldwide. Real estate analysts have predicted growth in the need for co-working space as work adjusts to new setups in the post-pandemic world.

Read more: Co-Working Spaces May Soon See a Surge in Activity

A bridge loan may help your buyer fund their next home before completing the sale of their current home. Essentially, it’s a way to take out a loan against their current home to make a down payment on a new home. This temporary loan is helping some buyers be able to waive a contingency for the sale of a home in a bidding war for a home and help their offer stand out more to the seller.

After all, some sellers who are juggling many offers for their home may be more likely to bypass offers that are contingent on the sale of a current house.

Bridge loans can differ in structure among lenders. Usually, a homeowner can use a portion of their bridge loan to pay off their current mortgage while using the rest as a down payment on a new home. Homeowners also may be able to use a bridge loan as a second mortgage to cover the down payment for their new house. The underwriting on bridge loans tends to be faster than traditional loans, financial experts note.

While bridge loans offer buyers a chance to make a contingency-free offer on a new home without selling their existing home, there are some caveats to consider. A bridge loan tends to have higher interest rates (HousingWire reports between 8.5% to 10.5%) and these loans only last between six months to a year. Also, the borrower will have to pay back the loan even if the home doesn’t sell during that time.

Home buyers may feel even more of a rush to lock in mortgage rates trying to get ahead of any further increases. Over the last month, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has moved above its sub-3% ultra-low averages to jumping this week to a 3.17% average.

“During the course of the pandemic, ‘home’ has become more important than ever,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “As a result, strong purchase demand continues—but buyers also outnumber the sellers. Since January, mortgage rates have increased half a percentage point from historic lows and home prices have risen, leaving potential homebuyers with less purchasing power. Unfortunately, this has disproportionately affected the low end of the market, where supply is the slimmest.”

Despite this week’s increase, rates still remain lower than a year earlier—when the pandemic had first hit the country. Also, expect mortgage rates to remain low near 3.3% in 2021, Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting at the National Association of REALTORS®, writes for the association’s Economists’ Outlook blog.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending March 25:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.17%, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 3.09% average. A year ago, 30-year rates averaged 3.50%.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.45%, with an average 0.6 point, increasing from last week’s 2.40% average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 2.92%.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.84%, with an average 0.2 point, increasing from last week’s 2.79% average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.34%.

Freddie Mac reports commitment rates along with average points to better reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage.

New in-ground residential pools saw a 21% uptick in 2020 compared to 2019. States like Arizona, Texas, and Florida saw permits rise by up to 30%, Janay Rickwalder, a spokesperson for the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, an industry research group, told The Escape Home.

“This is historic growth for the industry—the next closest period was in 1983 with 16% growth over a much smaller base,” Rickwalder says.

Hot tubs are also in demand, with some areas reporting a 400% uptick. Manufacturers are reporting a six-month wait to fulfill hot tub orders. On pools, Pool & Hot Tub Alliance members report they’re already contracted out with new orders to fulfill even into 2022.

Since the pandemic, real estate professionals are reporting pools have become a major selling point. Pools also have become one of the most popular keyword searches on real estate listing sites.

“The demand is there—a result of people realizing the quality of life and how having a swimming pool right outside their backyard really creates a vacation where you know you have total control,” Kelly McKelvey, spokesperson at Northeast Spa & Pool Association, told The Escape Home.

Pools can also make a difference for investor properties. For Airbnb, VRBO, and short-term rental properties, homes with pools may have the advantage. Sara Jennen, a real estate investor in Cabot, Ark., reports that she’s been able to charge about $200 more per night for her property with a pool than a comparable property that does not have one. Further, Jennen says she’s made around $20,000 more this year on her short-term rental and a portion of that premium she credits to having a pool.

A 2019 study conducted by LendingTree found that homes with swimming pools can be valued up to 54% higher than those without one. The median home with a pool was valued at $469,187, while the median home without a pool was valued at $305,152. The highest premium for a swimming pool was found in Memphis, according to the study. Read more: Pools May Add a Splash to Home Value

Buyers and sellers in the military have unique needs, and that may be why they prefer to work with a real estate professional who is more familiar with the issues service members face as they make housing decisions. Ninety-seven percent of active-duty service members and their spouses say it’s important to work with real estate professionals who have expertise working with active-duty military families, according to a new study from Realogy.

Ninety-three percent of survey respondents say the pandemic has made a permanent change of station even more challenging than it had been. Some of their top challenges relate to the time constraints in finding a new home, the logistics of the move, and deployments while adjusting to a new location.

Eighty-three percent of active-duty service members and their families reported not getting enough relocation assistance from the military. As such, they’re turning to real estate pros for guidance.

Become an Expert in Military Real Estate Affairs: The Military Relocation Professional Certification Course

Nearly half of the 250 survey respondents said they expected to relocate this year. They’re feeling bullish about homeownership, too: Over half—or 55%—of active-duty service members and spouses say they are more confident that they will be able to buy a home this year.

The 2021 Veteran Homebuyer Report, produced by Veterans United Home Loans based on a survey of about 1,000 vets, reported that 58% of vets say they plan to buy a home within the next five years. That could amount to 11.3 million potential veteran buyers, the report notes.

They’re appreciating digital tools for home buying: For example, the increase in virtual tours has proven useful for military members who must shop for homes remotely. Eighty-nine percent of active-duty service members and their spouses say they’ve chosen a new home without personally stepping inside it.

Realogy’s survey coincided with its announcement of a newly created Realogy Military Rewards with PCSgrades, a ratings and review platform created for military and veteran families to support relocations. Its new home buying and selling program pairs military and veteran families with experienced real estate professionals in working with service members from a Realogy brand, which includes Coldwell Banker, Century 21, among others. Realogy says the move is part of its commitment to increasing the number of military and veteran home buyers.