[Thilak29]

I have been working in Bangalore for 13+ years. The onset of Covid has changed many things in my life like it did for most of us.

I have built a home in a remote village, few years ago and had no plans to invest in real estate in IT city. Its been 4 months since work from home at native has begun and my rented apartment is locked with our household items. I've been promptly paying rent without any stay. My current employer is hinting that, working remotely is here to stay and even if office reopens they would expect less than 50% of people to work out of office space. My son is still a kindergartner and wife is keen to pursue her teaching/research interests in a University nearby.

I've given a lot of thought on next steps and here are some I could think of.

- Relocate: Arrange a packer and mover - move all the items and leave no footprint in Bangalore. I realize many furniture and appliances would consume space and are of less utility value due to presence of similar ones at native home. Same is true for car too, I have two of them , these days they are hardly clocking miles.

- Scale down : Our apartment has a vacant Studio format, store most of my household items there (and move any excess to a relative's home nearby) and vacate the current apartment. This would cut down the rent burden significantly and leave a footprint there. If and when normalcy returns, I can use this rented space to stay, while I am in city for work/office visits.

- Store : I have come across warehouse services options who store household items on the outskirts of Bangalore. Naturally these services are in good demand.
I should move my belongings to one such warehouses, pay monthly fee and wait to decide on shifting them to native place. I understand the fee is fraction of what we have known to pay as rent in this expensive city.

It would be helpful if fellow members can weigh in and suggest inputs, especially into aspects where I possibly paid little attention, as you see.
I know friends (and friends of friends) who relocated out of city after the outbreak. We may also have fellow members in this forum who are currently in similar dilemma or went through it, if so do share.

[Mods- I did look up for any previous threads on similar topic but found none]

[ajmat]

You have three plans

Frankly, it looks a bit like either Plan 1 or Plan 1+Plan2. Plan 3 is merely an enabler!

Originally Posted by Thilak29

I have been working in Bangalore for 13+ years. The onset of Covid has changed many things in my life like it did for most of us.

I have built a home in a remote village, few years ago and had no plans to invest in real estate in IT city.

Makes no point if your >10 year horizon is not to live in Bangalore.

Its been 4 months since work from home at native has begun and my rented apartment is locked with our household items. I've been promptly paying rent without any stay. My current employer is hinting that, working remotely is here to stay and even if office reopens they would expect less than 50% of people to work out of office space. My son is still a kindergartner and wife is keen to pursue her teaching/research interests in a University nearby.

Your family's interest centres around what you need to consider. Is there a place near your native where your wife can work and are there good schooling facilities for your son. Those two reasons could see you ending up in Bangalore. You also need to confirm that working remotely is the new normal. This could change again 3 years post COVID

Relocate: I realize many furniture and appliances would consume space and are of less utility value due to presence of similar ones at native home. Same is true for car too, I have two of them , these days they are hardly clocking miles.

If you are assured that you need only work remotely and families career/education aspirations are aligned, I would suggest you relocate. Your surplus stuff might yield better value when sold in a remote area as less supply. Car - sell both and get one nice one!

- Scale down : Our apartment has a vacant Studio format, store most of my household items there (and move any excess to a relative's home nearby) and vacate the current apartment. This would cut down the rent burden significantly and leave a footprint there. If and when normalcy returns, I can use this rented space to stay, while I am in city for work/office visits.

Am a bit confused, I am assuming that you already own a studio apartment but rent a larger one. Assuming your family are now well settled at your native place, it may be worth moving necessary items to the studio apartment and visiting from time to time especially if you need to visit head office and spend face time there. That would help in your career. Again your family can come over for a change while you work from office.

Store
I should move my belongings to one such warehouses, pay monthly fee and wait to decide on shifting them to native place. I understand the fee is fraction of what we have known to pay as rent in this expensive city.

This would make the best sense till you decide if either plan 1 or 2 or plan 1 and 2 workable.

[rdst_1]

Even if you continue working from home, do you not want to continue living in Bangalore? When we moved to our village in 2015,even we had 2 sets of furniture. However, we had already planned to extend our house and it took us a few years to complete the extension. So we had to store the furniture in the meantime and we rented a local warehouse/shop in the village for that. It was very very cheap just costing us 1k a month to store our stuff.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

It would be helpful if fellow members can weigh in and suggest inputs, especially into aspects where I possibly paid little attention, as you see.

The current situation is temporary and it is difficult to predict how things may pan out. And more importantly, is it even possible for you to visit Bangalore and sell the stuff or move to a different house/storage? I'd say maintain the status quo till the year-end at least.

There is also the big question of your employer continuing with long term WFH once the situation returns to normal. If not, you may be forced to return to Bangalore in order to keep your job. Based on your current rent, you need to calculate if the money and hassle is worth it if you end up setting up a home in Bangalore again in less than a year's time.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

My current employer is hinting that, working remotely is here to stay and even if office reopens they would expect less than 50% of people to work out of office space.

This to me is the important part. Is this on a permanent basis? 'Cos unless it is, it doesn't make any sense in thinking about medium to long term plans. Even if your employer offered, aren't you stuck with it in a sense.

[Thilak29]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Is this on a permanent basis? 'Cos unless it is, it doesn't make any sense in thinking about medium to long term plans. Even if your employer offered, aren't you stuck with it in a sense.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

There is also the big question of your employer continuing with long term WFH once the situation returns to normal. If not, you may be forced to return to Bangalore in order to keep your job. Based on your current rent, you need to calculate if the money and hassle is worth it if you end up setting up a home in Bangalore again in less than a year's time.

I am convinced that working from home is here to stay, business have seen increased productivity and reduced costs. In my case, the employer who had plans to move into new facility is already planning cut down of space by 40%. Its difficult to answer if I would be stuck with this employer but in general most seem to have embraced this policy so even if I switch working remotely arrangement should be OK with necessary adaptations. Thanks for inputs.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

The current situation is temporary and it is difficult to predict how things may pan out. And more importantly, is it even possible for you to visit Bangalore and sell the stuff or move to a different house/storage? I'd say maintain the status quo till the year-end at least.

True. Very difficult to predict but if i go by leading indicators, working remotely may outlive the pandemic. As on today, there is a movement restriction and I may not be able to visit Bangalore (is it safe ? debatable). I dont intend to sell - either store them and move them.Thanks for inputs.

Originally Posted by rdst_1

Even if you continue working from home, do you not want to continue living in Bangalore?

I want to maintain a thin foot print possibly 1 out 4 weeks in a month. I know the benefits of working from office. Thanks for inputs.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Makes no point if your >10 year horizon is not to live in Bangalore.
Your family's interest centres around what you need to consider. You also need to confirm that working remotely is the new normal.

Wife should be able to build a career and yes there are excellent schools around. We never had intentions to 'settle' down in Bangalore.
I believe WFH may outlive Covid in some form or shape.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Am a bit confused, I am assuming that you already own a studio apartment but rent a larger one. That would help in your career. Again your family can come over for a change while you work from office.
.

A correction: I don't own the apartment.This studio is part of our apartment complex which is vacant at the moment and I am in good terms with landlord as I have spent most part of my life in Bangalore in his apartment. Moving my stuff into apartment will help me leave some footprint in Bangalore and I am clearly sold to the idea that face time and connections help in learning and growth. Thanks for inputs AjMat.