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☆ After traveling in a van for 2 weeks, I saw how the lifestyle could be cheaper than my Denver life
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Monica Humphries | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

I wanted to explore the US, but I also wanted to see if van life was something I could do full-time. I quickly realized that these small costs — eating out, gas station snacks, souvenirs — are where van life can get expensive. AdvertisementSo finding a lifestyle like van life, which includes adventure and potential savings, sounds too good to be true. Monica Humphries/Business InsiderI experienced ways that living in a van could be cheaper than my lifestyle todayThere are hidden costs that come with van life. I'm not saying van life is necessarily cheaper than city living, but I am convinced it can be if I work at it.

Persons: —, ProMaster, I've, Apartments.com, Axios, It's, Brittany Newson, Monica Humphries, it'd, Zach Nelson, Joe's, Joshua, Ram, van, I'd, I'm Organizations: Service, Denver, Mercedes, Benz, Costco, Walmart Locations: Denver , Colorado, Denver, Southwest America, Plenty, San Fransico, Joshua Tree

☆ I've made simple changes in my life so that I can retire at 40 and move to the Philippines. There are 3 years left, and I'm on track.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The couple's tiny house and land as seen from above. AdvertisementI don't live in the Philippines full-time yet but the plan is for us to settle into a house that we build there eventually. Leading up to that, I decided to build a tiny house to see what the experience would be like. The exterior of the couple's tiny house. At that point, we'll live in the tiny house as we build our dream bungalow-style home on the main lot.

Persons: —, Brandon Turrell, I'd, it's, Arlene, I've, It's, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, Financial Independence, FIRE Locations: Washington, Philippines, Puyallup , Washington, Tacoma, It's, Southeast Asia, Leyte, Manila, Tanauan

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Real estate data firm CoStar Group is moving its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to northern Virginia, a move that will bring roughly 650 jobs to the state. The relocation is expected to result in 500 jobs moving from D.C., plus the creation of 150 new jobs. The move comes as the Legislature is considering a $2 billion deal to relocate the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals from their home in downtown to Washington to northern Virginia. Arlington County has successfully recruited numerous corporate headquarters in recent years, most famously landing the second Amazon headquarters in 2018. JBG Smith, the real estate company selling the office tower to CoStar, declined comment Wednesday.

Persons: Glenn Youngkin, JBG Smith Organizations: —, Washington , D.C, D.C, Washington Wizards, NHL's Washington Capitals, Virginia Gov, Arlington, Arlington County, Boeing, Nestle Locations: ARLINGTON, Va, Washington ,, Virginia, Rosslyn, Arlington County, Potomac, Washington, Richmond, Arlington, U.S

☆ A 27-year-old real-estate investor making up to $15,000 a month in revenue explains how to snag a multi-unit rental property below $200,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A sweet spotBerman said his bank preapproved him for a $275,000 mortgage, so he had a budget to stay within. He reviewed active property listings on Apartments.com and Zillow to see the rental rates and what was successfully rented in the previous 30 days. That's less than half the amount and a much more manageable payment, Berman noted. On the pricier property, your overall interest payments amount to about $538,000 versus $250,000 on the cheaper property. You end up with a larger mortgage payment, he said.

Persons: Cody Berman, Berman, Price, It's Locations: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode, Windham County , Connecticut

☆ Starboard says Rupert Murdoch's News Corp should break up
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jeff Smith, CEO and chief investment officer of Starboard Value, L.P., speaks at a panel discussion at the SALT conference in Las Vegas May 14, 2014. Smith's remarks at the 13D Monitor Active Passive Investor Summit came after Reuters revealed last week that Starboard had become a News Corp shareholder, a prelude to a potential shake-up at Murdoch's media empire. "We believe separate news and real estate assets could help unlock $7 billion or more in value," he added. Starboard, which has pushed for changes at companies ranging from Salesforce (CRM.N) to Darden Restaurants <DRI.N,> would struggle to shake up News Corp without Murdoch's consent. If News Corp separates its real estate assets, shareholders would benefit, Smith said.

Persons: Jeff Smith, Rick Wilking, Rupert, Smith's, Smith, REA, Murdoch, Lachlan, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Sharon Singleton, David Gregorio Our Organizations: SkyBridge, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, 13D, Investor, Reuters, News Corp, Dow Jones, Street, Darden, Corp, Svea, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas

☆ Exclusive: Activist hedge fund Starboard eyes Rupert Murdoch's News Corp -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The fund's plans and the size of its stake in News Corp could not be learned. News Corp declined to comment and Starboard did not respond to a request for comment. Starboard, which has pushed for changes at companies ranging from Salesforce (CRM.N) to Darden Restaurants (DRI.N), would struggle to shake up News Corp without Murdoch's consent. Irenic did succeed in drumming up investor opposition to Murdoch's proposed merger with his other company Fox Corp (FOXA.O), forcing him to abandon the plan. Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, Bing Guan, Jeffrey Smith, Rupert Murdoch's, Smith, Murdoch, Dow Jones, Irenic, Murdoch's, Lachlan, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Greg Roumeliotis, David Gregorio Our Organizations: News Corporation, News Corp, Fox, REUTERS, 13D, Investment, New York Times Co, Darden, Corp, Irenic Capital Management, Wall Street, Fox Corp, Reuters, Svea, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S

☆ OpenAI's GPTBot and other AI web crawlers are being blocked by even more companies now
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Unique, high quality data, mainly scraped from the web, is vital to the performance of AI models. AdvertisementAdvertisementMore and more companies are trying to avoid having their data freely scraped and saved by web crawlers working for the benefit of AI models. Last month, OpenAI last revealed its own crawler, GPTBot, saying it would respect robots.txt, a decades-old method through which a website can tell a web crawler to ignore it. Many more companies are now also blocking CCBot, a web crawler used by Common Crawl. AdvertisementAdvertisementSee below for a full list of the biggest websites now blocking GPTBot and CCBot as of Sept. 22:Blocking GPTBotamazon.comquora.comnytimes.comtheguardian.comshutterstock.comwikihow.comcnn.comsciencedirect.comusatoday.comhealthline.comstackexchange.comalamy.comscribd.comwebmd.combusinessinsider.comdictionary.comreuters.comwashingtonpost.commedicalnewstoday.comnpr.orgcbsnews.comgoodhousekeeping.comamazon.co.uktumblr.comlatimes.cominsider.comglassdoor.comvocabulary.cominvestopedia.comslideshare.netamazon.decosmopolitan.comnbcnews.comindiamart.comstackoverflow.comhindustantimes.combloomberg.comcnbc.compeople.comtvtropes.orgamazon.invimeo.comverywellhealth.comikea.comespn.comindianexpress.comthesaurus.compbs.org123rf.comwattpad.comvariety.comtoday.compopsugar.comthespruce.comuol.com.bramazon.frgeeksforgeeks.orgelle.comeconomictimes.compcmag.comtheverge.comallrecipes.comthoughtco.comrollingstone.comwired.comnextdoor.comhollywoodreporter.comabc.net.auew.comamazon.canews18.comwomenshealthmag.comrateyourmusic.comamazon.co.jptechradar.comairbnb.comndtv.comlifewire.comtomsguide.comvulture.comeverydayhealth.compolygon.comtheconversation.comesquire.comprnewswire.combillboard.commenshealth.commetro.co.ukcountryliving.commashable.comgamesradar.comthehindu.comtimesofindia.comdeadline.comharpersbazaar.commedscape.comnymag.comrefinery29.comradiotimes.comcbssports.comtandfonline.comtheatlantic.comtrulia.comamazon.espinterest.esnationalgeographic.combhg.comeater.comsouthernliving.comhealthgrades.comvice.compicclick.combustle.comnewyorker.comeonline.comdigitalspy.comopentable.compinterest.dethepioneerwoman.comcaranddriver.combyrdie.comlivemint.commedicinenet.comteacherspayteachers.comcookpad.comthespruceeats.combizjournals.compagesjaunes.frliputan6.comdelish.commasterclass.comarchiveofourown.orgvox.comrealsimple.comaarp.orgfrancetvinfo.frpinterest.frkumparan.comtheathletic.comtravelandleisure.comvogue.comlivescience.comapartments.commarketwatch.comglamour.comamazon.itcinemablend.comthrillist.comamazon.com.brpinterest.co.ukangi.comalamy.esusmagazine.comdistractify.combbcgoodfood.comjagran.commercadolibre.com.mxandroidauthority.comcity-data.comfoodandwine.comhellomagazine.comamazon.com.augq.comingles.comamarujala.comieee.orgprevention.comstern.dekbb.comedmunds.commarthastewart.compcgamer.comjustanswer.comhealth.com20minutes.frfortune.comhomes.comscientificamerican.compopularmechanics.comverywellfit.comvanityfair.comchicagotribune.comverywellmind.comhousebeautiful.comcntraveler.comallure.comspanishdict.comneverbounce.comanswers.commoneycontrol.comarchitecturaldigest.comslate.comlonelyplanet.cominverse.comcorriere.itactu.frself.comtripsavvy.cominstyle.comeatingwell.comsuperuser.comwelt.despiegel.dewomansday.comseventeen.comhbr.orgoprahdaily.comautotrader.combonappetit.comsueddeutsche.deseriouseats.comliveabout.comseattletimes.comcoursera.orglivehindustan.comfrance24.comtownandcountrymag.comdotesports.comworldplaces.mefaz.netteenvogue.commotor1.comnj.comglamourmagazine.co.ukokdiario.combrides.comstylecaster.comalamyimages.frjagranjosh.comtheglobeandmail.comaxios.comfrancebleu.frtabelog.comthebalancemoney.comnydailynews.comsheknows.comnaomedical.comverywellfamily.comBlocking CCBot

Persons: —, OpenAI, GPTbot, Conde Nast, Masterclass, Kelly, robots.txt, verywellhealth.com, indianexpress.com Organizations: Service, Amazon, Guardian, NPR, CBS News, CBS Sports, NBC News, CNBC, Yorker, Hearst, New York Times Locations: USA, Europe, Originality.ai, androidauthority.com

☆ It’s Cozy and Cheap, but Do You Want to Live in This Social Media Magnet?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Farah Nayeri | More About Farah Nayeri | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Our desire to be social with different people — including influencers and celebrities, or people who are living in a different place in a different way — can all play out on social media, because it feels like we are making a personal connection,” she said. “From the data that we have so far, there is no basis to say that social media have the ability to change behavior in that way,” he said. For people looking to live and work in big cities, the post-pandemic housing situation is dire. In Manhattan in June, the average rental price was $5,470, according to a report from the real-estate brokerage Douglas Elliman. Across the city, the average rent this month is $3,644, reports Apartments.com, a listing site.

Persons: ”, Pablo J, Douglas, Apartments.com Organizations: Northwestern University Locations: Manhattan, London

☆ Biden has a new plan to save renters from bogus apartment fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration is trying to crack down on hidden apartment rental fees. As part of the initiative, major rental platforms will show the total cost of units, not just the rent. As part of the Biden administration's ongoing initiative to crack down on junk fees, the White House has a new target: Rental fees. On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced a slew of new measures to help ensure that renters aren't burdened with surprise fees while trying to find a new place, or after they move in. Now, prospective renters will be able to see the total cost of an apartment when they peruse three major platforms — Zillow, Apartments.com, and AffordableHousing.com.

Persons: Biden, Joe Biden doesn't, Zillow Organizations: Service, White, Ticketmaster Locations: Wall, Silicon

It has already taken aim at meatpacking, ocean shipping and consumer junk fees. "We cannot accept bad mergers that lead to mass layoffs, higher prices and fewer options for workers and consumers," Biden said. Hannah Garden Monheit, the new director of Competition Council Policy at the National Economic Council, told Reuters the administration would "use all the tools that we have" to curb anti-competitive practices. [1/2]U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he convenes a meeting of the White House Competition Council in the State Dining room at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2023. Biden has repeatedly called for federal agencies, Congress and private companies to address surprise fees that can jack up consumers' cost by 20%.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, I've, Hannah, Monheit, Sean Heather, Evelyn Hockstein Morgan Harper, Harper, Elizabeth Warren, Andrea Shalal, Diane Bartz, Leah Douglas, Leslie Adler, Heather Timmons, Daniel Wallis, Diane Craft Organizations: White House Competition Council, WASHINGTON, White, Biden, House, Competition, National Economic Council, Reuters, U.S . Chamber of Commerce, Competition Council, REUTERS, Consumer Financial, Bureau, American Economic Liberties, Big Tech, Google, Democratic, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Agriculture, D.C, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington , U.S, Washington

☆ Biden administration unveils draft changes to US merger review guidelines
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Vertical mergers have historically received less attention from regulators and the courts, but Wednesday’s draft guidelines explicitly say that the US government may consider certain kinds of vertical mergers to be harmful to competition. Spurred by an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in 2021, Wednesday’s draft updates are the result of more than a year of development. (The new draft guidelines, a copy of which CNN reviewed, do not directly reference the consumer welfare standard.) And the Justice Department lost its appeal to block a multimillion-dollar merger between two major sugar producers in another closely watched case. “Unfortunately, things don’t always go our way,” Khan said in response to questions about whether the FTC has exceeded its authority.

Persons: —, ”, General Merrick Garland, Lina Khan, Jonathan Kanter, Joe Biden, Khan, Meta, Simon, Simon & Schuster, Kanter, “, don’t, ” Khan, Biden, Zillow Organizations: CNN, The Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, Wednesday, Justice Department, Activision Blizzard, FTC, “, DOJ, Microsoft, Activision, Department, Facebook, Nvidia, ARM, American Airlines, JetBlue, Penguin Random, Simon &, Agriculture

☆ Big landlords are barreling towards a 'reckoning.' But smaller ones are doing just fine.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Some big landlords are starting to feel the squeeze of stalled rents and increased operating expenses. The main difference between 'big' and 'small' landlords: the financingA key difference between smaller, mom-and-pop landlords and larger landlords is how they're financing deals. While small landlords are typically purchasing single-family homes or multi-family properties like duplexes and triplexes, which you can finance with residential debt, big landlords are buying apartment buildings and have to use commercial debt. With a residential loan, you can typically get a fixed interest rate, which will not change over the lifetime of the loan. "One of the reasons I invest in four units or less is you get 30-year fixed rate debt," he said.

☆ Woman puzzled by $200 pet fee — to have a fish — while apartment hunting in Kansas City; policy says 'no aggressive breeds' of fish are allowed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A St. Louis woman discovered a rather odd pet policy regarding fish while apartment hunting. According to the listing, a pet fish is allowed for a one-time fee of $200, and a monthly "pet rent" of $15, but there's strictly "no aggressive breeds" permitted. Her fellow TikTokers poked fun at the $200 fee for a fish and the restrictions against potentially aggressive fish breeds. Resource site Aquarium Source describes Oscar fish as aggressive bullies who "will attack and eat any vulnerable fish." Others shared their own stories of being charged hundreds for one fish as part of a pet policy.

☆ News Corp plans to sell real estate giant Move Inc, valued at $1.4 billion, to CoStar as Rupert Murdoch shelves proposed merger of News Corp and Fox
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

News Corp is in talks to sell Move Inc, the operator of listings site Realtor.com, to CoStar. The news comes as executive chairman Rupert Murdoch shelves a News Corp merger with Fox. News Corp is planning to sell Move Inc., the California-based operator of Realtor.com and other real estate listings sites, to CoStar, a commercial real estate data and technology firm. One News Corp shareholder, Irenic Capital, had argued against the merger, suggesting that News Corp could benefit shareholders if it unlocked the value of its holdings including Dow Jones and the real estate assets. The balance is held by News Corp's digital real estate subsidiary REA.

☆ Millennials are now the 'roommate generation' after being squeezed out of homeownership by high housing costs, said Redfin CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman warns that millennials could become the 'roommate generation' due to high housing costs. Millennial homebuyers may find reprieve in the Midwest or quickly-deflating markets like Boise or Salt Lake City. "We have a whole group of Americans who can't afford homes, and that's happening right as Millennials are coming of homebuying age," Kelman said. One reason is that homes in these markets are typically selling for under their list price. Meanwhile, 59% of homes in Chicago are selling for under their asking price as of October 2022 compared to 45.5% of homes selling for under ask across the US.

☆ Imagine you just worked a 111-hour week. That's what many workers in 4 US cities would have to do to afford rent.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

To afford a "fair market" one bedroom in NYC, minimum wage workers would need to put in 111 hours a week, a study found. They'd have to work even more to afford rent in Dallas, San Jose, or Chicago. When looking at affordability for minimum wage workers, the United Way researchers say that even a fair-market price is out of reach based on their current rate of pay. Instead of paying sky-high rent prices, minimum wage workers are cramming into tighter living arrangements, going homeless, or far exceeding the recommended portion of one's income they should spend on rent. Until this month, the minimum wage for New York home aides was $15 an hour, but got a bump to $17 an hour.

☆ Blackstone, Apollo brace for deteriorating commercial real estate market that one analyst says could lose 30% of its value
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Year-over-year price growth has already slowed for commercial properties, signaling souring outlooks that could reduce values by 20 to 30%, the strategists wrote in a report. Executives at the Bisnow event pointed to high rents on multifamily properties, though growth is softening. Yardi"If this doesn't clear the market, then I don't know what does," Marcus said of her multifamily properties, which she described as large and relatively new. Andrew Holm, a cohead of US investments at Ares, the owner of more than $50 billion in commercial real estate, is hunkered down for the long haul, however. At the Bisnow event, he was so bearish on commercial real estate that he struggled to name a single sector that might be attractive over the next six months.

☆ The 20 most expensive US cities for renters and how much money you need to make to afford to live there
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Jason Lalljee | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Researchers at Apartment Guide published a list of the US cities with the most expensive rents. Assuming renters pay under 30% of their income for housing, the list also includes the salaries needed to afford those rents. New York City topped the list, with Boston and west coast cities rounding out the rest of the top 10. Out of the 10 most expensive cities, eight require twice the annual median income to keep rent costs at 30%, the researchers found. Below is a list of the top 20 most expensive cities in the US:

Rents fell 0.1% in August, snapping a 20-month streak of increases, according to Apartments.com. Prices fell in 27 of the 40 cities tracked by the firm, signaling the recent price surge is broadly easing. Rents fell 0.1% through August across the US's biggest metropolitan areas, according to new data published by Apartments.com. Average rents fell 1.1% last month in Nashville, marking the largest one-month decline across the 40 cities tracked by Apartments.com. But as rental demand wanes, Americans may soon encounter a more affordable rental market.

☆ A 23-year-old entrepreneur netted over $750,000 in 2021 by renting out properties he doesn't own. Here's how he got started.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-13 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

By 2021 — three years into his rental-arbitrage career — he told Insider he had more than 50 properties nationwide. He told Insider that at the time, he had $8,000 in cash saved from his server job in high school and his internship. He told Insider he received about $12,000 a month (netting a $4,000 profit a month) from this deal. By the time 2021 rolled around, Cheung told Insider he was able to pick up several units in one building in exchange for one to two months of free rent. He told Insider his nightly rates run between $101 to $223 on average.

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