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☆ Insider Today: Amazon's secret search plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementThe retail giant is overhauling its search bar with ChatGPT-like features that'll act as a sort of concierge for customers, offering expert answers and product suggestions. Dubbed Project Nile, Amazon's top leaders, including CEO Andy Jassy, view the new search bar as a top priority. AdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, Amazon's overhauled search bar will arguably be the most impactful implementation of generative AI from Big Tech for US consumers thus far. insider intelligenceIn reading Eugene's piece, three follow-up questions immediately came to mind:How will Amazon sellers try and game the new search bar? However, Joseph Sirosh serves as VP of Amazon Search and Alexa Shopping, suggesting Alexa could get a much-needed boost from the new search bar.

Persons: —, Mike Blake, Alyssa Powell, Amazon's, Andy Jassy, Eugene Kim, Joseph Sirosh, Alexa, TikTok, Ben Sun, Anu Duggal, Susan Lyne, Josh Wolfe, Matt Harris, Jillian Williams, Melissa Kwan, Sergey Brin, Brin, Hugo Herrera, Sam Bankman, Fried, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, Reuters, Nile, Microsoft, Big Tech, Alexa, Amazon Search, Getty, Wall Street, BBG Ventures, Lux Capital, Apple, Bain Capital Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Prosecutors, BET, MLB, American League and National League, Houston Astros Locations: Atlanta, Sonoma , California, New York City, San Diego, London, New York

☆ Want to build a tiny home in your backyard? Here's how you can finance it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Backyard tiny homes, called ADUs, are becoming increasingly popular. AdvertisementAdvertisementBackyard tiny homes, called accessory dwelling units or ADUs, are becoming more popular as some state and local governments roll back zoning restrictions. That's because government-backed mortgage providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set the strict standard for all other mortgage lenders. Sometimes, when financing an ADU loan, programs like RCUs may consider the property's worth after the ADU is constructed when underwriting the loan. Clark and her husband moved into the main home, and Sandoval-Clark and her family live in the ADU.

Persons: —, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Freddie, Ryan O'Connell, you've, Peter Bohler, Suszi Lurie McFadden, O'Connell, RCU, RenoFi, it's, Katie Sandoval Clark, Marshall, Barbara Clark, Mother Barbara Clark, Katie Sandoval, Clark, Sandoval Organizations: Service, CAST, —, Denver Post, Redwood Credit Union, ADUs, Area Locations: California, — New York , California, Vermont, Denver , Colorado, Napa County , California

☆ These states will pay you to build a tiny home in your backyard
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Building backyard tiny homes can be expensive. There are three states that will help with the cost, by providing homeowners with grant money. These backyard homes, called accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, are small housing units that homeowners can build on their property. In California, where most backyard homes are being built, ADU building permits cost anywhere from $450 to $15,000 — even before construction starts, according to Backyard Unlimited, a company that builds ADUs. Insider reached out to all 50 states to learn which pay homeowners to build ADUs.

Persons: you've, there's, Joyce Higashi's ADU, Kelsey Neubauer, Vermonters Organizations: Service, Backyard, Department, California Housing Finance, California Housing Finance Agency New, AMI, York State's Homes, York State Homes, Community Renewal, Champlain Housing Trust, Community Development, Windsor Housing Trust, Vermont Housing, of Housing, Community Locations: Wall, Silicon, California, California Housing Finance Agency New York, Monroe , New York, Hudson, New York City, Onondaga County, Syracuse, York, Community Renewal Vermont, Burlington , Vermont, Vermont, Champlain, Western Vermont, Windham, Windsor

☆ Thinking of building an ADU in your backyard? Here are some pros and cons.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Backyard tiny homes are increasing in popularity, especially in California. If you're considering building a tiny home in your yard, here are some pros and cons to consider. San Jose homeowner and ADU advocate Joyce Higashi rents her backyard home to traveling nurses for $3,000 per month, she previously told Insider. Pro: Tiny homes can allow a child or elderly parent to remain nearbyAn ADU in Seattle. Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic, previously told Insider she ran into many challenges when building her ADU.

Persons: it's, Glenn Robinson, Robinson, Joyce Higashi, Eugene Chu, Peter Bohler, Cindy Loughridge, Seth Restaino, Redfin, Higashi, Selma Hepp, Abodu, George Beatty, Realtor.com Organizations: Service, National Association of Realtors ., California Housing Works, Pew Research Center, Terner Center, Housing Innovation, University of California, Villa Locations: California, Wall, Silicon, Sonoma ., National Association of Realtors . California, Redwood City , California, Jose, San Diego, Seattle, Bay, Sonoma, Golden, Berkeley, Philadelphia

☆ Why the US should be more excited about tiny homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

While there is a lot of interest in tiny homes, it's too early to measure their success. Tiny homes, generally defined as homes under 1,000 square feet — compared with the typical US home size of 2,500 square feet — are a growing market for those seeking affordability, community, and simplicity. Tiny homes — and accessory dwelling units, their slightly larger counterpart — are being eyed as a solution to the country's housing shortage. A tiny home designed and built by Colorado-based tiny home developer, Mitchcraft Tiny Homes. Tiny homes are "a spear point against the armor" to these restrictions, he added.

Persons: Katie Sandoval, Clark, Blue Wells, you've, Skylar Olsen, Zack Giffin, Giffin, Louise Beaumont, Getty, Rebecca Zisser, Muhammad Alameldin, Gavin Newsom, Joyce Higashi, Tiny, Newsom, Alameldin, It's, Barbara Clark, Sandoval Organizations: Service, Consumers, California, University of California, Housing Innovation, state's Department of Housing, Gov, Washington D.C Locations: California backyards, Wall, Silicon, Bay, Blue, South Carolina, New Hampshire, San Diego, Denver, Portland, Cities, Indianapolis, Austin, Colorado, California, ADUs, Jose, While California, —, Washington, Jersey, Sonoma .

☆ It's about to get easier for homeowners in Denver to build tiny homes in their backyards
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Denver's housing shortage has reached crisis proportions. When the law goes into place on Wednesday, homeowners will be allowed to build ADUs big enough to house a family. Courtesy of AboduSince 2018, more than 60,000 new units have been approved throughout the Golden State, which has an estimated housing shortage of 2 million. She also serves as the Director of Planning at the Denver Housing Authority. Keeping families togetherAlonso Carrillo-Muñoz, a Spanish-speaker, who has lived in the West Denver area for over 20 years, was a part of the WDRC's ADU pilot program, per WDRC.

Persons: —, They'll, Chris Herndon, Renee Martinez, Stone, WDRC, Alonso Carrillo, Jon Paciaroni, Miriam Carillo Organizations: Service, City, Denver, Golden State, West Denver Renaissance, Denver Housing Authority Locations: California, High City, City of Denver, Sonoma ., Golden, Denver, West Denver, Spanish, . Denver, FirstBank

☆ I built an ADU in my backyard that brings in $3,000 a month. Now I urge other California homeowners to do the same.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Joyce Higashi is a San Jose native who built an ADU in her backyard in 2020 for $230,000. She leases the unit out to traveling nurses for three months at a time and charges $3,000 per month. That's when I decided to put an ADU in my backyard — back before ADUs were even remotely popular in California. Courtesy of AboduThrough ADU builder Abodu, I had a 500-square foot one-bedroom ADU built in my backyard. Now, I rent the ADU out for $3,000 a month to traveling nurses for three months at a time.

☆ See how we use the $425,000 tiny home in our backyard for everything from overnight guests to an office to hosting our daughter's wedding
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Cindy Loughridge and her husband Seth Restaino bought a house in Sonoma, California in 2021. They opted to add more space via a $425,0000, two-bedroom ADU that took four months to complete. The couple explained how they chose and furnished the tiny home, used for guests, work, and parties. Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Loading Something is loading.

☆ This collection of minimalist homes with a California flair are built in a factory, trucked to their final location, and start at $1,680 per month — take a look inside
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Each Abodu has laminate flooring, with three different color options for buyers to choose from. The kitchen of a one-bedroom Abodu ADU in San Jose Courtesy of AboduThey also come with Bosch appliances including a dishwasher, refrigerator, oven, hood, and electric stove. Everything in this unit runs on electric. In the kitchen of this one-bedroom Abodu ADU in San Jose, the countertops are quartz and the cabinetry has a matte-black finish. The hanging lamps are an add-on called the hanging concrete pendant.

☆ This tiny home can be craned into your back yard to become a guest house, rental apartment or fitness studio – if you have $400,000 to spare
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-01 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Home designer Dwell has launched its first multipurpose backyard home. The company joined forces with Abodu and Norm Architects to build the 540-square-foot Dwell House. It can serve as a guesthouse, rental apartment, home office, pool house, or a fitness studio. Dwell has created the Dwell House, a 540-square-foot, one-bedroom ADU that fits in most backyards. It's constructed off-site and gives home owners additional space without the hassle of construction or moving.

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