Wellness Real Estate with Sheila Alston

What is wellness real estate?

We hear a lot about wellness real estate lately. Sheila Alston knew nothing about it until she started thinking of ways to bring health and home together. After doing some research, she discovered that wellness real estate had already become a 134-billion dollar industry two years earlier!

The very first wellness lifestyle community was built near Atlanta, Georgia. It has been a great success, and people love living there!

I’m Marla, the Green Home Coach! I am super excited to introduce you to my guest, Sheila Alston, the creator of WellnessRE Magazine! She is joining me today to talk about wellness real estate and how to make the connection between a healthy home and a healthy life. Stay tuned for more!

Wellness real estate

Forward-thinking developers are building wellness-based communities and creating neighborhoods that support a healthy lifestyle. Rather than just building a suburban area with a community pool, they have been thinking more about the design. Wellness neighborhoods include green features and amenities centered around a community farm or some other aspect of wellness to benefit those living there and bring them together.

Growing in leaps and bounds

Wellness real estate has grown in leaps and bounds over the last two years. Last November, it was said to be worth 275 billion dollars!

How Sheila got into wellness real estate

When her kids went off to college Sheila became a real estate agent. She also got a health coaching certification, but being a health coach did not feel like her calling. She wanted to find a way to bring health and home together, so she researched wellness real estate and found that it sparked her interest.

WellnessRE Magazine

When Sheila got her real estate license, she wanted to stand out from the other real estate agents and provide value. She also wanted to educate people on creating a healthier home environment. So, she started a podcast to interview experts in the field. She met wellness architects, home biologists, and other businesspeople doing amazing things in the industry. After a few months, she decided to create a digital magazine as a tool to position herself differently within real estate, forge deeper connections with people, and help people live better in their homes.

Green homes versus wellness

Green homes have been around for some time, but many think that they focus only on energy efficiency. (note from Marla – This is a common misconception, yet certified green homes are built or remodeled holistically with many health and wellness benefits in addition to efficiencies.) Sheila understands that wellness is more than just green. It is about people living well and thriving in their homes.

Making the connection

Sheila went to the Integrated Institute of Nutrition (IIN) and learned that health and wellness are more than just diet and exercise. Toxins in your home environment could be detrimental to your health and manifest as chronic pain or discomfort. Yet many people fail to make the connection between their health and their homes.

Driving change

People- professionals, in particular, need to understand the “why”, the value, and the benefits of people living better in their homes. Both Sheila and I want to help people with solutions and drive change. Real estate professionals are in a perfect position to be change agents because they are at the intersection between people and their homes.

Helping people

Many real estate agents want to help people, but they end up sharing and educating on the transaction rather than sharing information about the home environment. Or helping people love their homes and feel more comfortable in them. Surrounding themselves with green and healthy home experts, and having a toolkit of healthy resources, is a good way for agents to help people live better and more comfortably in their homes.

Mindset

Real estate agents need to educate people about the benefits of homes because most people don’t really care about the features of a home, but they do care about the benefits. It will help if agents adopt a mindset of guiding people rather than trying to sell to them.

Healthy homes

Most people want healthier homes that are easier to maintain. Since Covid, more people are starting to understand that health and homes go hand-in-hand.

Home town or home base

Suzanne Shelton of the Shelton Group said homes had become hometowns instead of home bases during the pandemic. A hometown is where you find schools, stores, work, and play. During the lockdowns, all of that happened within our homes.

How well your home takes care of you 

It is vital to consider how well your home takes care of you.

A Wellness Kitchen

Many couples enjoy cooking together. A Wellness Kitchen is laid out and set up to have enough space for two people to cook comfortably together.

Where to start with making your home healthier 

Sheila recommends that people start by de-cluttering their homes. Clutter is overwhelming for the brain and nervous system. When a home is clean and tidy, it is a lot less stressful when walking into it or waking up in it. Another thing would be to regularly change the air filters on the ventilation system because clean air is vital in any home. It would also be helpful to install a water filtration system, so you always have good clean water to drink.

Color

Color is like medicine. Many people don’t realize how important it is to surround themselves with colors they enjoy. Use calming colors in calm spaces. Ask a color specialist if you need some help. Remember to use only use low or no VOC paint.

Sheila’s book

Sheila recently wrote a book to inspire real estate professionals to learn about wellness real estate. Her book will also help real estate professionals talk about wellness real estate more easily, and deepen their relationships with their clients. The book is intentionally short, so it is a quick read.

Upgrade

You can upgrade to a wellness house by adding spa amenities like an exercise room, an infrared sauna, a pool, or sports courts. Those amenities will help you lead a healthier lifestyle.

Have a great green day!

Links and resources:

Join WellnessRE Pro

WellnessRE Magazine

Sheila’s Book

The Wellness Real Estate Podcast

Sheila’s podcast Blooming – A Healthy Home by Design, and I got to be on!

Wellness Agents on Instagram

WellnessRE Magazine on Instagram