I spend almost nothing on clothes. According to Mint, I’ve spent $199.50 to clothe my family of five this year. They say the average U.S. household has spent $1258.62. That’s more than six times my spending.
It’s been years since I walked into a clothing store, tried on styles I liked and bought myself a new pair of jeans. That doesn’t mean I’m content to dress like a slob, or wear the same tried-and-true favorites season after season. I change up my wardrobe every few months with a huge shopping spree — from my friends’ closets.
The Clothing Swap
My friends and I hold clothing swaps at least once a season. We all clean out our closets of anything we don’t love that’s still in good condition. We get together and swap our cast-offs around. I’m a walking advertisement for the aphorism, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”
A clothing swap is a win on several fronts, For example, it decreases clutter in your closet, and gives you a chance to freshen up your wardrobe for free.
I find the selection at a clothing swap is better than I get in most thrift stores. My friends’ tastes in clothes are fairly similar to mine, so I don’t have to wade through rack after rack of 1970s polyester blouses to get to the good stuff. The last swap I was at had an entire business wardrobe of designer-label stuff in my size, a lot of it still with the tags on. I also picked up half a dozen cozy, long-sleeved t-shirts and a pair of great jeans.
I feel free to experiment with my wardrobe. If something fits well but is wildly different from my usual style, I can take it home and see if I like it. If it sits at the back of my closet for six months untouched, I can just return it next time I go to a swap. No harm, no foul. With clothing swap finds, I’ve expanded my staple wardrobe from simple jeans and t-shirts to include a lot more adventurous skirts and dresses.
Clothing swaps are great fun. I’d much rather spend a morning hanging out with a group of friends chatting and laughing while we play dress-up than spend hours trolling a mall for the right ensemble.
I’ve heard these events called “naked lady parties”, but men can play this game, too. I’ve hosted swaps that were just for the ladies and swaps that were co-ed. Do what works for you.
Swapping is simple
Here’s how to host a clothing swap:
Find a space. If you’re hosting a small event for your friends, your living room is probably ample. If you want to make it bigger, church basements and community centers are often open to this type of thing.
Decide who to invite. Do you want it to be all women, or co-ed? Just your close friends, or a big group? Will your swap have a theme, like a fancy dress swap or a mother-daughter swap?
Make your announcement. Giving people a few weeks notice before a clothing swap is a good idea. You want to give your guests time to gather up their unwanted duds, and make sure they have open space on their calendars.
Set rules for what can be swapped. Decide what you want people to bring, and what should go straight in the Goodwill bin. A good first rule is that everything be clean and in good condition. You may want to prohibit donations of used underthings. Some swaps also exclude kids’ clothing, athletic wear or winter gear, just because there’s so much of it and the appeal is so limited.
Gather your supplies. You’ll want a ready supply of trash bags for people to take clothes home in. Also handy: sharpie markers and masking tape for making labels. Full length mirrors are a huge bonus. You may also want to put out some light snacks and beverages, in a separate room from where the swap is happening.
Collect clothing. Encourage people to drop off their donations a few days in advance, so that you have time to set up and sort the loot before the event starts. This helps cut down on chaos. People will bring clothes as they arrive on the day of the swap; it’s human nature to do these things at the last minute. But you can get a head start by taking things early and having piles already going when your first guests arrive.
Set up the swap. To help people find what they want, sort clothes into based on type. You’ll want a separate heap for shirts, t-shirts, pants, sweaters, jackets, etc.
Donate the leftovers. When the swap is over, take the leftovers to Goodwill, Planet Aid, or the charity of your choice. It’s best to have a couple of dedicated volunteers on hand to help with this. The job can be overwhelming for one person.
The best reward to hosting a clothing swap? You get first dibs on everything that comes in as you sort through the donations.
Final Thoughts
The biggest risk is bedbugs. Bedbugs are a nightmare to live with and nearly impossible to get rid of. They love to travel in clothes, but can’t survive the heat of a dryer. If you’re hosting a clothing swap, make a very firm rule that everything brought into the house be freshly cleaned.
Hosting a clothing swap is a great way to slash your clothing budget to almost nothing, and it’s a fun way to spend time with your friends. It’s also a way to live green. We don’t usually think of clothes as recyclable in the same way a soda can is, but clothing makes up 5% of the municipal waste in New York City. That’s a lot of clothes going into landfills.
Swapping your unwanted stuff decreases your demand for new manufactured textiles, which can be a drain on natural resources. It also helps keep more clothes out of landfills.
Got any more tips on how to host a clothing swap? Leave ’em in the comments!
For more clothing tips, also see How to Stop Buying Clothes You Never Wear and Embracing the Thrift Store Ethic: 18 Top Tips for Buying Used Clothes. Also welcome Lifehacker readers! Photo by iwona_kellie.
If you feel like you fly the friendly skies more often than you sleep in your own apartment, then knowing the most convenient cities for a jet-setting frequent flyer is a must.
Find your perfect apartment now!
When the name of the game is making confident connections, finding a decent airport meal and amusing yourself during a delay, this list of best airport cities will help your trips fly by.
You might want to plant your apartment homebase in one of these cities with high-flying airport service.
Quick connections (the tablet/laptop version) These days, quick connections mean a lot more than catching your next flight. In our digital world, we’re working all the time. Finding power outlets, Wi-Fi and quick download times is key. The frontrunner in this category is the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, NC. Charlotte is the domestic hub for US Airways, and, according to Online MBA, a great airport for business travelers because it offers some of the fastest free Wi-Fi Internet connections around (an average of 12 megabits per second, for the technically-inclined).
North Carolina must have some serious service, as well, because the Raleigh-Durham International Airport boasted an average data rate that was nearly that impressive. When you are in the Raleigh–Durham area, this is the place to get hooked up. (And speaking of connections, Charlotte also ranked #2 for best connection flights!)
Musical departures The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, TX, offers a unique experience that fits right in with the spirit of that city. Flyers are treated to live music from local artists on five stages peppered throughout the terminal. Clearly, Austin is working overtime to earn its claim as the Live Music Capital of the World. (You must have an airline ticket, by the way, to catch the tunes here.)
Best for stress (or lack of it) SeaTac, the Seattle/Tacoma airport, is considered top-notch, according to SmarterTravel.com, for its smooth on-site experience which won’t leave you feeling terminal. Security clearance is efficient and friendly here – and there’s plenty of Seattle’s Best and Starbucks coffees to keep you awake enough to make your next flight!
Dine & dash Frequent flyers know that convenient travel doesn’t always allow for delicious meals — unless eating a cold sandwich on your lap is your idea of luxury. Fortunately there are several major airport cities that cater to tenured travelers and provide the best dining this side of the security barricade.
A recent report in Gadling ranked the best airports in which to kill time, and Atlanta’s airport topped the list for best dining. Every concourse has a conveniently-located central food court, as well as eateries peppered between the gates. While Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport includes the standard fast food stops, it also features savory standouts like Cafe Intermezzo, One Flew South and Paschal’s Southern Cuisine. The Atlanta airport also topped the list for amenities, dining and best flight connections.
The Atlanta airport happens to be the central hub for Delta Airlines — just one reason this airport is THE busiest in the world!
En route entertainment You’ve charged your laptop, enjoyed a tasty meal and still have an hour to kill before your next flight. Not a problem if you are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. As you straddle the line between Minneapolis and St. Paul, you won’t struggle to find a delightful diversion. Gadling ranked this airport #2 for amenities. (Atlanta ranked #1, but we suspect it was for all that great food!)
When relaxing at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, what fun and comforts do they have in store for you? Why not check out Lucky Lindy’s Video Arcade or enjoy a first-class massage chair at the XpressSpa? You can shop at fifty different storefronts around the airport and the Mall. And there are plenty of dining options to tide you over for a long flight.
Fly the greener skies The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport scores high for its planet-friendly initiatives. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has invited the airport into the Green Power Leadership Club for its collaboration in getting electricity via renewable wind resources. This type of energy-saving – harnessing power from the wind — seems altogether appropriate for an airport!
Being a frequent flyer doesn’t mean you have to lead of life of frequent frustrations. Just make sure you plan a route through these top-notch airports, and you’ll be sitting pretty every time you travel. (And if you really fly a lot, living near one of these airports might be a good idea, too!)
Well, folks, this spring marks a major milestone in the housing market: Annual home list prices have gone negative for the first time in years. In other words, they are actually dropping nationally.
Looking at the country as a whole, sellers have priced their homes this May below where homes were priced just one year ago. That hasn’t happened in recent memory, especially after the past few years of unprecedented price hikes. But as mortgage interest rates shot up, buyers have been unable to afford the higher monthly housing payments.
Something had to give. And while today’s price dips are slight, there are no indications that overall prices will begin rising anytime soon.
So where are home prices falling the most? The data team at Realtor.com® found out. These are mostly places where prices shot up the most during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Western and Southern swaths of the country. In most of these places, there has been a lot of new construction helping to ease the housing shortage and taking the pressure off of prices to remain quite so high.
“Those markets that got the most juiced during the pandemic—where the prices really took off—are the markets where they’re now suffering the biggest declines because affordability has been the hardest there,” says Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics chief economist.
“The market is trying to adjust to the surge in mortgage rates and the collapse in affordability,” says Zandi. With mortgage rates hovering around 7%, he believes the price declines will continue in the near future.
“I’d be surprised if we don’t have this same conversation a year from now and prices aren’t another 3% or 4% lower than where they are today,” he adds.
For example, look at Boise, ID, No. 1 on our list, or Austin, TX, which came in at No. 2. Both were practically synonymous with the housing market’s pandemic price pump.
People who previously had to spend their nine-to-five in a big-city office building were turned into remote workers with more flexibility in where they could live. That led many people to leave more expensive cities like San Francisco and Seattle for smaller cities where they could get more space for their money.
The big caveat here is that there are still real estate markets around the country where prices are rising steadily. These are typically more affordable Midwestern markets that didn’t see the large upswings that other markets experienced during the pandemic.
To figure out where prices are falling the most, we looked at the median price per square foot in the 100 largest metropolitan areas. Then we compared median prices in May 2023 with May 2022.
We used price per square foot as the most reliable metric to track home price movement. This means in a few instances, overall home prices in a metro might be rising while the price per square foot is falling. Price per square foot is generally considered a better indicator of prices because it accounts for changes in the mix of homes for sale. For example, right now many larger, more expensive homes are sitting on the market without attracting buyers. Since those homes aren’t moving, it’s bringing up the overall price for these metros. But the price per square foot compares apples to apples and shows that in some of these markets, it’s actually cheaper to purchase a home now than a year earlier.
We looked at only one metro per state to ensure geographical diversity. Metros include the main city and surrounding towns, suburbs, and smaller urban areas.
Here’s where home prices are down the most.
Median listing price: $609,875 Median listing price per square foot: $282 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -7.8%
Boise has been one of the poster children for the run-up in home prices during the pandemic. The area saw a massive influx of residents and soaring demand over the past few years, especially from Californians. And it’s not hard to see why.
The city checks many of the standard quality-of-life boxes that people are seeking: Homes are larger than the national average, and there’s plenty of natural beauty and outdoor recreation.
Homes in the city, surrounded by mountains, used to be a bargain. Then the pandemic hit, and from March 2020 to May 2022, prices rose 63%. Now prices are coming back down to earth.
“It’s the entry-level homes where we’re losing value,” says Boise real estate agent Rob Inman, with Boise’s Best Real Estate Keller Williams, “those homes that people got into for $400,000 to $500,000.”
That reality is rough for buyers who bought at the peak, Inman says, especially first-time buyers. The one consolation, he says, is the low interest rate they probably have on the mortgage.
But for buyers still looking for a home on the more affordable end of the spectrum in Boise, there’s a lot more to choose from now.
“Now, you can actually find stuff between $350,000 and $425,000, right in that entry-level price point,” he says. “There’s even new construction.”
Austin, TX
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Median listing price: $583,751 Median listing price per square foot: $276 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -7.7%
When it comes to pandemic hot spots, you can’t mention Boise without bringing up Austin, too. This cultural hub and capital of the Lone Star State has attracted hordes of tech companies and homebuyers leading to a surge in prices.
During the pandemic, the price per square foot for a home in the Austin metro rose around 75% from February 2020 to May 2022. The median home list price, not standardized for size, went from about $364,000 to almost $630,000. Pandemic price growth in Austin outpaced all others on the list.
Higher mortgage rates have cooled off buyers’ ability to purchase at the same price point. Right now, a relatively new, one-bedroom condo in East Austin is being listed for $420,000, with a recent $5,000 price reduction.
Median listing price: $366,075 Median listing price per square foot: $225 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -7.3%
Myrtle Beach, nestled in the center of South Carolina’s “Grand Strand” shoreline, is a popular and affordable summer destination. The city, named after the abundant wax myrtle tree in the area, was recently named one of the nation’s most affordable golf towns by Realtor.com.
With its beaches, boardwalk and amusement parks, and plenty of golf courses, it’s another spot where prices rose over the past few years and are now coming down.
Some of that is due to the abundance of new construction in the area. With so many homes to choose from, buyers aren’t under as much pressure to bid them up.
Homes in Myrtle Beach are relatively small, so if buyers aren’t looking for a colossal home, the actual median price on homes there is 15% to 20% less than the national median. This remodeled three-bedroom, two-bathroom house is on the market for $284,900 after a $15,000 price cut.
Phoenix, AZ
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Median listing price: $529,450 Median listing price per square foot: $274 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -5.6%
During the COVID-19 pandemic, home prices in Phoenix got as hot as a sweltering Sonoran summer, and just as the monsoons mark the end of the season, raised interest rates have come like a cold downpour on the market. After more than 50% pandemic-era appreciation here, the median price per square foot is down more than 5%.
But the housing boom in Phoenix—as well as the subsequent correction—is nothing new for the Valley of the Sun. Phoenix was one of the markets with the biggest swing up and down during the late 2000s housing bubble and crash.
Part of the reason why is that Phoenix has the capacity for so much growth. Without a real winter to speak of, home construction can go on year-round. And the only thing surrounding Phoenix is more land, so developers can continue to build outward.
“Developers can keep sprawling,” says local real estate agent Angela MacDonald. “Without the new homes, we wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand for people moving here.”
Even with the price decline, sellers still have a bit of an edge in the market. There are still many buyers and not as many homes to go around.
Median listing price: $549,900 Median listing price per square foot: $305 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -4.7%
Florida was another red-hot real estate market during the pandemic. As more folks could work remotely, many migrated to the Sunshine State with its low taxes, reasonable cost of living, and year-round warm temperatures.
Part of the reason Sarasota, about an hour south of Tampa on the southwestern coast of Florida, made our list is because it’s also one of the places in the U.S. where the number of homes for sale has risen the most.
Sarasota homes are also spending longer on the market, with the median listing on the market for nearly eight weeks. Homes were selling in about half of that time a year ago.
This midcentury three-bedroom home near downtown Sarasota has undergone a price reduction bringing it down to $499,000.
Salt Lake City, UT
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Median listing price: $635,000 Median listing price per square foot: $247 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -4.0%
Salt Lake City is another area that’s grown in popularity over the past few years and attracted more tech companies and workers. That led prices to rise—until recently.
“Buyers are holding back a little when it comes to waiving contingencies or inspections,” says Lory Hendry, a real estate agent at Windermere Real Estate in Salt Lake City, ”
That’s in contrast to the frenzy of the pandemic, when fast sales were often sealed without those protections.
Salt Lake City has the biggest homes of any metro on our list. So buyers looking for more home for their money might want to give the city a hard look. Surprisingly, it’s the higher end of the market, the larger, more luxurious homes, where high demand is still leading to quick sales and competition among buyers.
“Anything in that $1 million to $2 million price point is going pretty quickly,” says Hendry.
For people looking for a bit more of a bargain, the Ogden metro, just north of Salt Lake City, is a little less expensive and was recently featured on our list of places where the number of homes for sale is growing the most right now. The number of listings in the Ogden area has roughly tripled over the past year.
Median listing price: $238,250 Median listing price per square foot: $152 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -3.9%
Venturing outside of the West and South, the “Steel City” is the only Northeastern spot on our list.
Pittsburgh stands out on our list as a place with some of the smaller homes, with a median home size around 1,600 square feet. Combined with a price per square foot that’s about one-third less expensive than the national median, this means the price of a Pittsburgh home is quite a bit lower than in most other places.
This anchor of the Steel Belt didn’t see the same kind of pandemic-era price appreciation as others on the list. However, the overall housing slowdown seems to have pulled down prices anyway.
Buyers looking in the area can find a three-bedroom home in the South Side Flats neighborhood for $285,000. It recently underwent a $10,000 price reduction.
Winstone-Salem, NC
(Kruck20/iStock)
Median listing price: $345,899 Median listing price per square foot: $148 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -3.6%
For the previous few metros on our list, there’s a quirk to how home price data is affected by the mix of homes for sale. The anomaly is the most pronounced in the Winston-Salem metro. While the median list price per square foot has dropped, overall prices in the metro are rising.
This is due to shifting buyer preference. As mortgage rates rose and buyer budgets shrunk, many buyers shied away from larger, more expensive homes. That left these properties on the market as the cheaper, smaller homes were more quickly scooped up. The bigger homes have been pulling up overall prices for the metro even though local real estate costs less than it did a year ago.
If you were to compare the median home list price in Winston-Salem with Pittsburgh, you’d see that the Winston-Salem price is about $100,000 more. But the median home listing in Winston-Salem is more than 500 square feet larger. So buyers get more space for their money.
A nearly 100-year-old, three-bedroom home about 10 minutes south of downtown Winston-Salem is listed now for $220,000, after a $9,000 price reduction.
Median listing price: $662,875 Median listing price per square foot: $340 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -3.4%
Sacramento, California’s capital city, may be the most expensive of any on our list, with homes priced around 50% higher than the national average. But for California, Sacramento is cheap! The state’s median list price per square foot is more than 30% higher.
The city became a popular alternative to the pricier San Francisco Bay Area during the pandemic as buyers sought out more space for less money. But as companies have been calling workers back to their offices, the area isn’t as hot as it was during the pandemic. There has also been plenty of new construction in the area.
A two-bedroom townhome near downtown Sacramento can be picked up for a little under $500,000 right now.
Chicago, IL
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Median listing price: $376,000 Median listing price per square foot: $205 Change in year-over-year price per square foot: -1.1%
The real estate market in the “Windy City” is really a tale of two cities, says Compass real estate agent Amy Duong Kim.
Chicago’s dense downtown should be thought of as one market, she says. The suburbs on the periphery, where about two-thirds of the metro residents live, should be thought of as another.
“In River North and Gold Coast and the other downtown neighborhoods, they were hit the hardest during COVID,” Duong Kim says. “Unfortunately, they haven’t bounced back yet.”
The listing data backs up her point about the two different markets of Chicago. Where the larger metro area is showing a 1.1% decline in price per square foot, the city of Chicago at the center of the metro is showing the list price per square foot is down just a little more than 4%.
This two-bedroom, one-bathroom condo in downtown Chicago is on the market for $299,000.
Whether you’re jonesing for an epic Antarctic holiday or an extended weekend in the Bahamas, cruises can be a good way to let someone else take the reins for your vacation. But planning a cruise can be confusing, especially when there are several types of cruises, destinations and price points.
When planning a cruise, you’ll want to consider a variety factors, especially if you’re dealing with limited time or a tight budget.
Let’s look at how to plan a cruise, from your budget to booking, and what to expect along the way.
1. Establish a budget
The first step in planning a cruise is deciding how much money you want to spend. Costs for a cruise will vary based on a number of things, including:
Cruise line.
Destination.
Cruise length.
Room type.
Number of guests.
Onboard spending.
Offshore excursions.
If price is top-of-mind, consider a budget-friendly cruise line. These cruise lines tend to be less glamorous, and you’ll likely be paying for more optional add-ons, such as drink packages and excursions. But you’ll still find plenty of activities to keep you entertained, no matter who you’re cruising with.
You may find deals for as little as $40 per person per night, not including gratuities or any onboard spending. For example, we found a deal for a four-night cruise from Long Beach, Calif., to Ensenada, Mexico, for $169 per person on Carnival.
On the high end, you’re looking at costs as high as $90,000 per person — though these cruises tend to be much longer (nearly six months!) or feature exotic destinations and itineraries.
For example, a 168-night cruise on luxury cruise line Regent Seven Seas — with dozens of stops in ports around the globe — costs more than $97,000 per person.
Of course, your budget will likely fall somewhere in between these low- and high-end examples. The bottom line is that it’s important to plan for a cruise that fits your budget. With such a wide variety of options, odds are you’ll find a price point that’s comfortable for you.
2. Decide on cruise length
Once you’ve decided how much money you’re willing to spend, you’ll need to see how much vacation time you have available.
If you live far from a port, be sure to factor in the time it takes to get to and from the departure city. Add that to the length of the cruise, and that’s how many vacation days you’ll need.
To optimize your time off, you’ll probably want to try to leave from the closest port possible. If you’re on the East Coast, for example, leaving from Miami would require far less travel time than leaving from L.A.
If you’re taking a week-long vacation, a five-night cruise would give you the time to arrive in the port city the day before departure and then return home without feeling rushed.
3. Choose a destination
How can you plan for a cruise without giving some thought to the destination? The cruise industry is worth more than 7 billion dollars and includes routes all over the world.
If the number of destinations seems a little overwhelming, remember that you’ve already narrowed down your options by establishing your budget and cruise length.
Many search engines will allow you to look for cruises using these parameters — in addition to helpful filters like departure port and desired departure date.
Your cruise dates will likely affect your destination options. For example, if you want to depart in February, you likely won’t find any cruises going to Alaska. And booking a Caribbean cruise during hurricane season might result in a rerouted itinerary — or even a canceled cruise — if a hurricane forms in the Atlantic.
4. Compare cruise lines
Different cruise lines cater to different clientele. Some are geared toward those who want to travel in luxury, while others are designed for spring-breakers or families.
If you’re looking forward to a quiet getaway in the Caribbean but choose a Carnival cruise in the middle of April (i.e. prime college spring break time), you may not have much fun when the pool party gets going.
Do some research on the demographics each cruise line attracts. For a family-friendly cruise, sailing with Disney or Royal Caribbean might be a good choice. Those looking for a calm, adult-only atmosphere may want to choose an itinerary on Viking Cruises.
5. Book your cruise
There are several different ways to book a cruise, including reserving directly with the cruise line, using an online travel agency or even working with a travel agent.
Each method has its advantages. Booking through an online agency can save you money. Compared to booking directly through the cruise line, though, it may not be as easy to make changes or cancel your reservation if something comes up. If you book through a travel agent, you have the advantage of being able to arrange your cruise and airfare at the same time.
It’s a good idea to compare cruises across all available platforms, because pricing and special add-ons vary. Last-minute cruises can get you serious discounts, as can stacking cash-back opportunities with shopping portals such as Rakuten.
6. Complete your documentation
Once you’ve booked your cruise, you’ll need to submit some documentation, such as an ID, a health declaration, and a credit card to keep on file.
Most of the time, you can also choose to pre-book activities and excursions, though this may depend on the cruise line you’re sailing with.
You’ll want to find out if you need a passport or any visas for your cruise — this will depend on where your cruise is departing from and where it will stop. Be sure to verify this soon after booking your cruise, as obtaining or renewing a passport can take time.
Planning a cruise recapped
Cruises can be an exciting way to visit multiple destinations in a single trip.
When planning a cruise, you’ll want to decide how much you’re willing to spend, where you want to go and the amount of time you have available.
Aside from that, consider what types of cruises you’d like to go on and the people you want to be around. Once everything is taken care of, all that’s left to do is enjoy!
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2023, including those best for:
There’s a growing divide in real estate, with some home shoppers fortunate enough to be able to buy newer and bigger homes, while others who have experienced job losses face losing their current home.
The U.S. unemployment rate grew to 8.4% in August, and many Americans have been left struggling to pay their mortgages or monthly rent. Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, says another 10 million jobs must be created to get the U.S. economy back to where it was before the coronavirus pandemic.
Moreover, a survey by the Census Bureau recently revealed that 42% of renters who earn less than $35,000 per year say they have only slight, or no confidence in their ability to pay September’s rent.
“The level of economic suffering for families is heartbreaking if we don’t figure out how to help unemployed Americans pay rent,” Sam Gilman, co-founder of the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, told USA Today. “Eviction leads to horrible consequences for families. It can lead to homelessness, kids not going to school, and is linked to deaths of despair.”
Gilman estimated that up to 40 million Americans are at risk of being evicted at the end of the year if nothing is done. He said that eviction and foreclosure moratoriums that extend to the end of the year could well be postponing the inevitable.
“We are only delaying this huge build-up in rental debt and the precursor to eviction,” Gilman said. “Once rent comes due after the holidays, the circumstances for millions of Americans likely will not have changed.”
The most recent eviction moratorium came into effect on Friday, and requires tenants to certify or testify under penalty of perjury that they’re doing everything that they can to pay. Some of the obstacles that preclude them from paying the rent include job losses or wage reductions, and medical expenses.
Meanwhile, as millions of renters worry about losing their homes, there are millions of buyers at the other end of the spectrum with secure, well paying jobs that are flooding the market. Indeed, the housing market has emerged as one of the main drivers of economic recovery, with 27,700 jobs added to the construction industry in recent months. In addition, the NAR has seen record levels of membership, Yun said.
Those with high-paying jobs are looking to take advantage of record low mortgage rates, and many are looking to upsize during the pandemic.
“There’s a fortunate group of Americans with a steady paycheck that didn’t go on a big vacation, but did end up buying new furniture, appliances, or are renovating,” Ted Rossman, an industry analyst at Bankrate, told USA Today.
Citing a recent survey, Bankrate said around 59% of homeowners in the U.S. have completed at least $500 worth of home upgrades this year, or are planning to do so before the end of the year.
Others, instead of sprucing up their existing home, or aiming for something new and bigger. With that, home prices have rapidly escalated as demand increases. Now, the median national price for an existing home has hit $304,100, the first time it’s ever surpassed $300,000, the NAR said.
The market well and truly belongs to sellers at present, Rossman told USA Today.
“There’s still a lot of interest in sellers getting top dollar for their homes and buyers getting more space. The work-from-home trend has legs even beyond the pandemic because many companies have found that workers can be productive from home and it saves them money on office space. That has big ripple effects for the housing market if work-from-home becomes more permanent,” Rossman said.
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
With the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday to discuss the federal funds rate, all eyes have been on May’s Consumer Price Index inflation data. After recording a 4.9% annual increase in April, the CPI rose just 4.0% year over year in May, before seasonal adjustment, according to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
This is the smallest 12-month increase since the year ending March 2021 and the 11th consecutive month of inflation declines.
The Fed has repeatedly stated that 2.0% is its target for the yearly inflation rate, though it’s unclear if the monetary policymakers will pursue the policy given the likelihood of a recession with further rate hikes.
Indexes that contributed to the annual increase in May were food (+6.7%), motor vehicle insurance (+17.1%), recreation (+4.5%), household furnishings and operations (+4.2%), and new vehicles (+4.7%).
Shelter, which is the largest category, also posted a sizable increase, rising 8.0% year over year (down from 8.1% in April) and accounting, yet again, for 60% of the total increase in the all items less food and energy index which was up 5.3% compared to May 2022.
But that shelter inflation figure is misleading. The BLS’s CPI metric lags asking rents because the CPI measures in-place rent, and because most renters see a change only once per year, the index lags significantly from asking rents on new leases. Peak rent inflation was between May 2022 and February 2023, but has declined in subsequent months and is expected to continue to do so.
“Inflation calmed down in May, and further deceleration looks likely in the upcoming months,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. “It also marks the first month in two years that wage growth outpaced consumer price inflation, improving the average standard of living. Moreover, low inflation means that the Federal Reserve should stop raising interest rates and possibly slash rates towards the year-end or early next year. The yield on the 10-year Treasury is responding positively with a rate decline to 3.7%. That normally means the 30-year mortgage rate is around 5.5% to 5.7%.”
Also aiding in lower inflation figures in May was falling energy costs. For the third consecutive month, the energy index recorded a significant decrease, falling 11.7% compared to a year prior, with the gasoline index dropping 19.7% year over year.
“This is the most closely-watched inflation report in more than a year as the Federal Reserve gets set to meet later this week to decide whether sufficient improvement has been made on inflation to allow them to pause rate hikes,” Lisa Sturtevant, the chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a statement. “For months, home prices and rents have been declining, which would eventually lead to lower overall inflation. However, the housing market continues to show signs of resiliency and prices may have bottomed out across much of the country.”
Compared to April, the CPI recorded a smaller monthly increase, rising 0.1% in May, compared to 0.4% a month prior. Shelter, of course was a major contributor to the monthly increase, rising 0.6% month over month, as the indexes for rent and owner’s equivalent rent both rose 0.5% from April. Other components that contributed to the increase were food, which rose 0.2% month over month after remaining unchanged for two months, and used cars and trucks, which rose 3.2% compared to a month prior. The energy index, meanwhile, fell 3.6% from April, as all major energy component indexes fell.
Despite inflation remaining above the Fed’s target, industry experts believe the Fed will most likely make the decision to pause rate hikes at Wednesday’s meeting.
“We think the Federal Open Market Committee is likely to maintain its 2% target,” a Goldman Sachs’ economic research report read. “That said, if core PCE inflation falls to 2.5% this cycle, we doubt that the FOMC would have much appetite for any further hawkish policy moves that might risk causing a recession just to get the rest of the way to 2%.”
However, economists warn that a rebound in the housing market could complicate things for the Fed.
“The May inflation data and the data on home prices and rents could lead them to deliberate a June rate hike,” Sturtevant said.
[Editor’s note: Originally published on Go PropTech.]
First of all, it’s essential to understand the meaning of the term SPAC. SPAC is an abbreviation for a Special Purpose Acquisition Company. SPACs are publicly traded companies, and the purpose of their creation is to facilitate acquisitions and mergers with existing companies.
Although SPACs made an entry into the financial industry just a few years ago, there has been a meteoric rise in the SPAC investment vehicle. Among the primary reasons for this trend is that PropTech companies drive higher efficiencies in the real estate business, reduce friction, improve asset returns, and create greater transparency.
SPACs, also known as blank-check companies, are booming. According to a CNBC report, in 2020, 248 new SPACs were listed. That represents a four-fold increase, more than the 59 new companies created in 2019. In 2021, there are already 189 new SPACs that have been created to date. These figures reflect the growing popularity of SPACs.
Without any doubt, proptech startups are ideally positioned to be introduced to public markets. For many startups, the popularization of SPACs represents a unique opportunity to go public. In fact, in the last year, investors have invested over 83 billion dollars in blank-check companies.
PropTech startups including Fifth Wall, Soft Bank, and CBRE recently formed SPACs. SPACs raise money from investors, and once the company goes public, sponsors have to secure a merger within 24 months. Otherwise, the investors get their money back.
SPACs are already on the rise, but sponsors can take advantage of deals in this crowded marketplace. Moreover, in an environment with multiple SPACs, it isn’t easy to find merger partners at a reasonable price.
How SPACs Are Different from IPOs
SPACs have become popular in current market conditions for two reasons. The first is that they offer a quick path to public markets. The second is that they provide early access to retail investors. With SPACs, investors can expect higher returns without any significant downside. As a result, esteemed investors like Lance West, Scott Seligman, Brett White, and Howard Lutnick have recently opted to sponsor SPAC IPOs.
In today’s world, innovative technologies have disrupted the economic landscape in finance, real estate, healthcare, and genomics. If you’re looking for a secure way to find the returns you would typically only see in venture investment, SPACs might be a good option as they offer a lucrative ROI while limiting investor risk.
The innovative institutional structure of SPACs have allowed many forward-thinking companies to gain access to new streams of capital, with Aperture Acquisition Corp, BOA Acquisition Corp, CBRE Acquisition Holdings, and C&W Acquisition Corp all recently announcing SPAC IPOs.
Reasons Why PropTech SPACs Are On the Rise?
Undoubtedly, SPACs have gone mainstream, but people outside the investment community still don’t know much about them. SPACs are a perfect alternative to a traditional IPO, and they offer a viable alternative to private equity firms. Here are five reasons why SPACs are on the rise:
1. Access to Capital
Proptech startups can get access to capital without the debt service costs, covenant inherent in debt capital, and amortization. Moreover, SPACs provide permanent capital that helps management to focus on long-term value creation. It’s a different approach to private equity firms because you don’t have to contend with the risk of loss.
The real-estate market is capital intensive, and there is a win-win situation for both companies and SPAC sponsors.If the volume of SPACs increase as expected, investors will soon target smaller companies. This will afford advantages for shareholders because it will create options for greater liquidity.
2. Public Listing
Another reason why PropTech SPACs are on the rise is that they provide an easy path to public listing without pricing and market risks. Public equity companies offer non-cash currency for financing acquisitions and attractive compensation packages to employees.
We can expect lots of PropTech startups to go public much earlier than expected in 2021. By doing so, they will have a significant impact on the venture capital world.
3. No Unexpected Liabilities
SPACs haven’t conducted any material business and therefore have a clean balance sheet. Moreover, shareholders don’t face any liability even after the deal is closed.
According to some, they are the best way to make a company public, and many companies are turning to blank check models instead of the traditional IPO process. Many sponsors have raised their money by investing in SPACs. The main reason is that there are minimal, unexpected liabilities.
Moreover, companies can go public even during periods of higher volatility and market instability. SPACs offer significant downside protection. Therefore, there is always an opportunity to raise capital by using common shares instead of preferred shares.
If the investors don’t like the proposed acquisition of a SPAC, they can exercise redemption at any time. To many investors, SPAC offerings are preferable to an IPO.
4. Sponsor Expertise
Sponsor teams of SPACs are professional and experienced. They provide investors confidence and guidance throughout the SPAC process. A SPAC sponsor can be beneficial for improving the skills of the existing management team. When companies invest in SPACs, they don’t only raise money, but they also get a chance to train their key employees. The existing management team can learn new skills from sponsors and work more efficiently.
As SPACs have experts as operating executives, investors tend to favor teams working with SPACs. When companies invest in a SPAC business, they can get the help of these seasoned executives.
5. Flexible Control and Ownership
SPACs don’t necessarily replace the existing management team. That means a target company can undergo the entire SPAC process without changing ownership. Some investors feel that after investing in SPACs, they will lose control and ownership of the company, but that’s not the case. Instead, when a private company goes public, the control and ownership of the company can remain the same.
Due to the technological advancements in Real Estate, investors are taking more interest in PropTech SPACs. With multiple acquisitions and mergers in the PropTech space, the SPAC process in this sector is abundant.
Although it’s just the fifth month of 2021, we have seen a clear divide between those who have adopted PropTech trends and those left behind. SPACs have created a massive opportunity for investors in 2021. The benefits of SPACs have forced many industries, including real estate, to get involved.
According to The Real Deal, a large number of real estate players are focusing on Proptech due to the increasing amount of money flowing into blank check firms. Real estate tech companies that ignore these trends will likely miss an exciting opportunity. PropTech is a rapidly evolving field, and when used in conjunction with the SPAC business process, there is a winning combination worthy of exploration.
You never get a second chance at a first impression.
It is important that potential buyers get a great first impression when they come to your home for an open house or see your listing online. Factors like cleanliness, brightness, and furniture placement all make a big impact on the home’s overall appearance. Making buyers feel comfortable in a new space is key to selling a home. We asked our Facebook friends for their best tips for staging a home to sell.
Here are five tips for staging your home:
“Make sure all furniture is about one and a half inches from the wall, this creates the illusion of more space. Clear all personal pictures. If the front door is worn, paint it an interesting color that is inviting and make sure the path to the home is welcoming.” – Michael L.
“You hope that you will have a lot of people in short period of time, freedom of movement is essential.” – CENTURY 21 Ilford
“Good photos get action. Make sure the lights are on and that you are using a good camera. Don’t use your cell phone!” – Kristy W.
“Everything off the counters! Toilet seats down. Blinds all the way up to show off recently cleaned windows.” – Wayne F.
“Stage with smaller furniture to make rooms bigger and go with light colored furnishings unless the area dictates darker classy designs.” – Peter C.
Find more great tips on our Facebook post, and visit CENTURY21.com for more home selling advice.
Investing in forest land suitable for producing lumber can provide you income, diversification, inflation protection and more. Timber investing requires careful study of the industry, market and individual parcels, and it’s generally a long-term play, with years required to realize a profit. Timberland is also highly illiquid, so you might need a year or more to turn your asset into cash should you need it. Talk to a financial advisor to learn how investing in timber and other real assets can help you achieve your long-term objectives.
Timber Investment Basics
Investing in timber involves owning land that’s used to grow trees that can be processed into lumber. Timber, which is considered a real asset, is vital to the production of paper, utility poles and furniture, as well as the construction of homes and other buildings.
Timber sales are infrequent, as it can take decades for trees to grow large enough to be harvested. In fact, you may only make a handful of timber sales in your life as a timberland investor. Timber investors can generate income more regularly by selling seeds or renting land for livestock to graze on. Timberland can also be used for recreation.
More than 500 million acres of commercial timberland exist in the United States, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. An acre of timberland can cost from $1,500 to $2,000, with prices varying by location, road access and the type and maturity of trees. The value of timber also varies by tree variety, size and quality. According to TimberUpdate.com, which tracks prices and trends in the timber industry, prices can range from about $5 per ton for low-quality small trees to as much as nearly $50 per ton for mature, straight trees that can be sawn into knot-free boards for decorative uses.
Pros and Cons of Timber Investing
Timberland has a number of features that make it attractive to investors. These include:
Income from selling timber to sawmills
Inflation protection similar to other commodities
Diversification and risk management from owning an asset not correlated to stocks, bonds and other asset classes
Favorable capital gains tax treatment for most income
Appreciation as trees grow into more mature specimens that command higher prices
Sustainability, since trees generally benefit the environment
Owning timberland can also give you the opportunity to personally enjoy an investment. A section of timberland can even provide a site for building a second home or even a primary residence.
But owning timberland also may involve some or all of the following limits and risks:
Long time frames waiting for trees to be mature enough to harvest
Unpredictable prices when you sell trees due to commodity cycles
Time, money and attention required to plant and tend trees and maintain the property
Risk of fires, floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters
Low liquidity compared to most other investments can also be an issue. It can easily take a year or more to sell a parcel of timberland and turn your investment into cash.
Investing in Timber ETFs
Rather than directly buying timberland yourself, you can buy shares of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) focused on timber. These specialized ETFs invest in shares of companies that own or lease timberland and harvest the trees for lumber or other forest products. Buying shares of timber-focused ETFs allows you to get asset diversification, inflation protection and other timber investment benefits without the challenge and illiquidity of owning and managing the timberland yourself. You will also get additional diversification within the asset class because these ETFs own shares of a number of timber-related companies, reducing your exposure to weather, fire and other risks.
Timber ETFs include the iShares Global Timber & Forestry ETF and the Invesco MSCI Global Timber ETF.
Bottom Line
Timberland investments offer a way to diversify your portfolio with real assets that can produce both income and capital gains. But buying and owning timberland requires an in-depth knowledge of the industry and significant time and attention. Timberland is also a long-term play, often requiring years or decades to generate a profit.
Investing Tips
A financial advisor can help you evaluate alternative approaches to achieving diversification, inflation protection and other benefits of owning timberland. If you don’t have a financial advisor yet, finding one doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors in your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
SmartAsset’s Investment Return & Growth Calculator takes a lot of the guesswork out of forecasting how your investment will perform over time. Enter the amount of your initial investment, the timing and amount of any additional contributions, your anticipated rate of return and the number of years you plan to let the investment grow. The calculator will give you an estimate of how much your portfolio will be worth, assuming all those factors play out as planned.
Mark Henricks
Mark Henricks has reported on personal finance, investing, retirement, entrepreneurship and other topics for more than 30 years. His freelance byline has appeared on CNBC.com and in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and other leading publications. Mark has written books including, “Not Just A Living: The Complete Guide to Creating a Business That Gives You A Life.” His favorite reporting is the kind that helps ordinary people increase their personal wealth and life satisfaction. A graduate of the University of Texas journalism program, he lives in Austin, Texas. In his spare time he enjoys reading, volunteering, performing in an acoustic music duo, whitewater kayaking, wilderness backpacking and competing in triathlons.
The reason why life insurance premiums can be so high will depend on a person’s health.
High or Higher Life Insurance Premiums can be determined by the severity of the health issue and what steps that policy seekers are using to address the issue.
When underwriters see that a person has had long-term health issue with no signs of improvement then there will be higher premium cost since there would be the potential risk of that policyholder succumbing to any debilitating disease. The higher risk that you pose to the insurance company, the higher your rates are going to be.
Getting Discourage By High Priced Life Insurance
Many people have to pay higher premiums ore sometimes are turned away because of health issues that show no signs of abating or being managed. If you’ve been rejected for a life insurance policy, or you’ve been quoted rates that you can’t afford, don’t worry, there are other affordable options.
Life insurance should be a crucial part in any family budget, especially those with bad health conditions. No family should be left in debt and poverty if something happens to the head of the household.
On top of grief, families with no life insurance will have to suffer the extra burden of keeping up with bills and debts, and that is something that no one should have to go through.
This is why life insurance is very important, and many are frustrated because they have to pay High or Higher Life Insurance premiums or are sometimes outright denied. If someone’s health has deteriorated throughout the years then that is another factor that life insurance companies consider and may potentially lead to High or Higher Life Insurance Premiums.
Even if you end up with higher premiums than you thought you would, it’s important that you have life insurance coverage. Every year there are countless stories of families that suddenly lost a loved one. While there were going through this difficult time, the debts will be piling up.
Life Insurance Ratings
There are four categories that policyholders fall into when getting life insurance. The categories are preferred, preferred plus and standard/substandard. The goal should be to get into the preferred plus which is the highest ranking that will ensure lower premiums.
Those with poor health show no signs of improving will most likely fall into the substandard category, which will mean higher insurance rates. They will review every area in your life when deciding which category that you fall under.
They will look for any pre-existing health conditions, diseases, or chronic illnesses. This is going to be a huge factor in calculating your premiums, but it’s not going to be the only factor.
They are also going to look at factors like your weight, family history, tobacco usage, alcohol consumption, hobbies, basic medical information and even your age. Purchasing life insurance at 20 can be a big difference in premium rates from someone purchasing life insurance at 50 years old.
If you choose a traditional medically underwritten plan, after you complete the paperwork for the policy, they will do a simple medical exam. There ways to avoid paying higher premiums by choosing the best life insurance company for your particular condition.
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High Risk Health Conditions
For those that have chronic illnesses that are showing no signs of improvement can hold off on getting a life insurance policy and take proactive measures to improve health. If seeing a doctor, find better ways to improve health. Follow the full set of instructions and tips from the doctor.
If a doctor tells a policy seeker to exercise and eat healthier foods then take that advice to heart and start setting a daily exercise routine and buy the foods that will address health issues. Look into organic foods and take vitamin supplements that will address any ailment.
There are great supplements that will improve health for diabetics and those with heart conditions. Always do research and check with a doctor to see if a vitamin supplement is worth taking. Both diabetics and anyone with cardiovascular conditions are going to be considered “high risk”, which means you’re going to pay more every year for your life insurance. Policy seekers can also set goals to improve their health in a year.
As long as life insurance companies see that a person with a bad health condition is improving then the chances are more likely that a recipient will receive a favorable premium. A person can have the same type of diabetes, but the one who has a history of managing their blood sugar levels will be the one who will avoid High or Higher life Insurance Premiums and still buy affordable life insurance for diabetics. If you’re an applicant with diabetes, spend several months getting your glucose levels under control using treatments, diet, and exercise. It can have a huge impact on your health as well as your monthly premiums.
Getting the Best Rates
There are several tips that you can use to get lower life insurance rates. Nobody wants to pay more than they have to, especially when it comes to life insurance. If you have a health problem that is causing your insurance rates to go up, follow your doctors orders and manage it properly, but you should also focus on other parts of your health.
As we mentioned, they will look at your weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. All of these can cause your insurance rates to go up, fortunately, they are pretty easy to improve. A regular diet, exercise, and losing a few pounds can have drastic results on your premiums.
You need a company who has experience working with people like you. Some companies and agents have more experience or are more favorable towards certain high-risk categories. It’s vital that you find the perfect company and agent to help you get through the medically underwriting without paying through the roof for your coverage.
Before you pick the company, you need to do some looking around. Each company gives different prices. You deserve to have quality life insurance that doesn’t break your bank every month.