Ho, ho, home-innovation-based gift ideas!
It’s that time of year again! And let’s face it, 2022 has been a tough one. So, what do you gift to that special homeowner or renter on your list this year? A temporary respite from fretting over the cooling housing market, rising interest rates and inflation? Not likely. Instead, grab a glass of mulled wine and enjoy our list of resident-focused companies and products that are aiming to reduce the ever-increasing burden of living expenses. The ideas start from as low as $0 and some can even make you money! Regardless of your budget, this holiday-buying-guide-listicle is sure to get the neurons firing. Hopefully, they make for better holiday dinner conversation than divisive politics and pandemics. Enjoy.
For the renters on your list:
Save on electricity bills - Cottage continually automatically switches your electricity to the lowest in-market price and opens up the ability to purchase renewable power.
Cash-back and rewards for paying rent - whether via a specific credit card (Bilt), the same way they already pay (Pinata), or by using their existing credit/debit card (Chexy) there are now ways to make paying rent easy while generating heaps of rewards, discounts and positive credit for doing so - finally!
Some fun, space-saving furniture - free up space for that home office that they’re using 4+ times more than they used to with a piece of Ori or Bumblebee furniture that pulls right up into the ceiling.
Buy them a sports stadium - or maybe their childhood home? Well, at least the virtual plot of land where it’s based, plus a revenue stream for real-world traffic (from Superworld).
An entire community - Stand up a complete building-based, neighbour network through OneRoof and leave isolation and loneliness back in 2020 where it belongs. They’ll even pay you to set it up!
And for the homeowners:
Digital rights for their building - Darabase will ensure that any AR media that plans to get projected onto their building must first get the owner’s permission, and then, pay them.
Keep older family members comfortable despite changing needs - help them get the support, services and home modifications they need and be at their most comfortable for longer (Rose).
Reduce energy bills - Any of a vast array of energy efficiency retrofits that are now heavily subsidized by local and federal governments around the world, including appliances, insulation, doors and windows, novel heating and cooling technologies like geothermal and heat pumps, envelope sealing and much more (Pearl Certification, Sealed, Elephant Energy, Enersion).
Bring the family back together - get your kids to move back home (and not back INTO your home) after their dreams of homeownership get crushed - build a laneway house or ADU (Maxable, R-Hauz). Charging them a market rate is optional - it’s the holidays, sure, but remember all those years of piano lessons?
Raw materials for renovations - motivate them to get that renovation started by getting building materials like lumber, tile, paint, and basically, anything else, delivered directly to their door - baltic birch plywood is basically a gift certificate for new cabinetry and shelving (Toolbx)!
From our team to yours, we wish you and your family a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.
From your friends at GroundBreak Ventures