Buying a home 50 years from now could be quite different in a lot of ways. Just looking at a house built 50 years ago helps put this into perspective. Not only were home styles a lot different then, people couldn’t find or see houses online. Everything was done a lot slower and on a smaller scale.
Nowadays, it is fairly easy to see what you are buying in online photos and video tours. But, you still can’t really get a good feel for the home or the neighborhood without being there. Why not be there, virtually? Augmented reality has come such a long way that it is not crazy to think it will be within every industry in some way 50 years from now. Imagine being able to tour a house and walk around the neighborhood, just by putting on a headset. Maybe the ease of seeing how all of your furniture will fit into a home before having to actually move it will be possible. New technology could see its way into people’s lives in 50 years, making home buying a lot easier.
Speaking of easier, hopefully mass transit will see many improvements over the next 50 years. With systems that connect people across the country to transit systems within cities, people could become less picky about where to look for a home. For example, what if you could live on a ranch in Montana, and get to a meeting in New York in just a few hours via high-speed rail or a super-fast flight? With technology and transit getting better, in 50 years we will be able to actually spend time with people who live geographically far away. A more remote world with better transportation means you can really live anywhere.
Beyond hoping for better transit, the threat of global warming is making a lot of people take action. So, in 50 years could we see gardens with whole foods replacing lawns? Although people have been tending to lawns for decades, there’s a whole lot of value in land, especially in 50 years. Why not put it to good use? People are focused on health, whole foods, and eating healthier, and in 50 years, this could mean going back to our roots—but with the added advantage of new methods of growing and tending to our own food.
Another environmentally-friendly thing that could replace the lawns of today could be solar panels. We’re seeing solar panels being used on roofs, but if more things move to solar power, lawns could be a good way to get energy as well. Or, better yet, maybe they’ll develop a panel that collects as much energy but at a fraction of the size so it doesn’t take up a whole lawn or roof.