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☆ Our family loved living out of a converted van and bus so much that we started a business so others can share in the joys of #vanlife
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Jake and Gianna Bachowski spent years traveling the country and living on the road with their kids. The couple lived in a van when their oldest child was a baby and a bus when they had their second. As van and bus conversion experts, they help others do the same with their business Our Van Quest. Gianna: Before the van, we'd been trying to figure out how to spend more time together as a family. The Bachowskis' oldest child, Luna, sitting in the van her family lived in while traveling across the country.

☆ Gen Zers are taking over college cities — after they graduate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Gen Z is moving in droves to college towns after they get their degree. Alex Akmal and her partner, Alex, along Memorial Union Terrace on Lake Mendota. Gen Z bonds have been cemented even more because many young people are delaying marriage and having children, the center found. After her studies, she said she might move to Washington, D.C., an even larger Gen Z hangout with those offerings and more. For whatever reason they are coming to these cities, these Gen Zers are here to stay.

☆ It's much easier to buy a home in these 5 cities than it was last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It's a tough time to be a homebuyer: prices are high and mortgage rates are still relatively high. But in most US cities, it's actually gotten easier for buyers to negotiate prices and sales terms. Here are five cities from North Carolina to Hawaii where power has shifted to buyers the most. Those same relatively higher mortgage rates and property prices that still hover well above prepandemic levels, though, make it exceedingly hard for many Americans who want to buy a home to do so. Here are the five cities — from Hilo, Hawaii to Lebanon, New Hampshire — where buyers have gained the most power since last spring.

☆ An Ohio couple found a cheap laundromat on Craigslist. Now they're millionaires.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | Libertina Brandt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In 2010, Dave Menz was working at a telephone company when he decided to invest in a laundromat. Now he and his wife run four laundromats that brought in $1.8 million in revenue last year. It did for Dave Menz, a 46-year-old real-estate investor in Cincinnati, who calls himself the Laundromat Millionaire. The four laundromats Menz operates with his wife, Carla — along with their consulting business helping other laundromat owners get started and grow their businesses — have, indeed, made them rich. Courtesy of Dave and Carla MenzThat location, which opened in January 2011, became profitable within three weeks, Menz said.

☆ Gen Z isn't letting the economy keep them from living their most luxurious lives. They're just buying stuff secondhand instead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

About a third of Gen Z choose secondhand to afford higher-end brands, according to a ThredUp report. And even increasing economic uncertainty is not deterring their pursuit of the good life — they're just buying secondhand instead. About 30% of Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — are buying secondhand items to afford higher-end brands, according to an April 5 resale report by ThredUp, an online thrift store and resale platform. Moreover, 64% of the surveyed members of Gen Z look for an item secondhand before buying it new, up four percentage points from 2021, per ThredUp's report. And while Ricci wasn't specifically referencing her habits in relation to buying secondhand items, ThredUp's report states that more than 80% of Gen Z considered the resale value of apparel before making a purchase.

☆ Junk-filled garages are transformed into luxe apartments for $150,000 in just a few weeks — take a look inside
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The walls to divide the garages into separate rooms and other materials for the transformation are trucked to the garages to be installed. Symbihom materials sit on a truck to be transported from the factory to the garage to be converted. Rebecca MöllerWhile Möller waits for the building permits to start the conversion, she hooks up the utilities, like water and electricity, which are typically connected to the main house.

☆ Homebuyers who fled to Miami hoping to escape high taxes are in for a rude awakening
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New Yorkers moved to Miami in droves during the pandemic — fleeing high taxes in the Empire State. But property taxes in Miami were among the fastest rising in the US last year, a new report found. Overall, the South saw much higher property tax hikes than the Northeast, the data show. Florida's unique property tax lawsFor many people in Florida, this uptick came as a big surprise, Insider previously reported. So, even if their home values skyrocket as newcomers flock to the region, the higher tax bills may still be within their means.

☆ See 5 homes — from tiny sheds to not-so-tiny domes — that you can buy on Amazon from $8,800
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon sells prefabricated homes on its site, from a two-story shingled dome to a cedar cabin. They cost between $1,000 and $100,000 and range from 150 square feet to 1,400 square feet. They buy homes on Amazon. The options for prefabricated and tiny homes on Amazon range from around $1,000 to $100,000 — and while some are no more than a backyard shed, others are pretty expansive two-bedroom units spanning 1,400 square feet. Here are the pricing, size, and need-to-know details about five units available on the site and what customers have to say about each.

☆ A couple bought a $7,200 school bus and turned it into their 'dream home' using cheap items off Facebook Marketplace and recycled materials — see inside
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Environmental educator Tanya Nestoruk and photographer Arya Touserkani converted a school bus into a tiny house on wheels, complete with a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a roof deck. Nestoruk and Touserkani's bus on a beach. Courtesy of Tanya Nestoruk and Arya Touserkani"Usually I work nine months on, and I have three months off. I've been addicted to that travel, work-hard, play-hard lifestyle," Nestoruk, the environmental educator, said. "We both lived in a van, but wanted more space, and so this checked that box off for us."

☆ The best cities for homebuyers in America, where houses are relatively cheap, cost of living is lower, and schools are good
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Neighborhood ranking site Niche has determined the best cities to buy a house in the US in 2023. Housing costs versus incomes, public school quality, and cost of living factored into the ranking. From on-the-map locales in Indiana to zip codes in Texas, neighborhood and school ranking site Niche has honed in on the best cities for homebuyers in 2023. Some of the factors it considered were income versus typical home values, cost of living, public school ranking, property tax, crime, and safety. Here are the 15 best cities to buy a home in America right now, according to Niche.

☆ I transform garages into upscale apartments so homeowners can rent them out and make passive income
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

So I designed a product that's modular — that can go inside a garage — and San Jose preapproved it. Then they are trucked to the site of the garage, along with the wall panels, and installed inside the garage. So far, I've built four units — with five more in the pipeline — throughout San Jose, San Mateo, and Mountain View. The floors are cork and bamboo, and there are solid-core barn doors inside the units. I really started doing this as a way to to solve a problem.

☆ Can tiny homes save California? 4 villages illustrate their potentials and pitfalls.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

While this is the first time the state is providing this many tiny homes directly, the solution is not a new phenomenon. Here is a list of some of the municipalities that have built tiny homes to solve this issue and how they have fared. Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSan Jose was quick to adopt tiny homes as temporary shelters, per the East Bay Times. It's set to send tiny homes to cities already constructed, eliminating much of the cost and process for local governments. It — like many cities in California — has turned to tiny homes as temporary shelters for people living on the streets.

Last year VCs invested $19.8 billion into these property-technology, or proptech, startups. We surveyed venture capitalists to identify the hottest proptech companies right now. Climatetech and AI-powered tools are major themes of the proptech industry in 2023, just as they are in the wider venture world. Insider asked more than 20 venture investors who focus on real-estate and construction technology to nominate the most exciting proptech startups in 2023. Here are the 26 buzziest proptech companies right now, presented in alphabetical order.

☆ These cozy tiny houses on wheels are meticulously handcrafted and cost as little as $175,000 — see inside
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Mitchcraft Tiny Homes has been building customized homes with floor plans under 400 square feet since 2015. Courtesy of Mitchcraft Tiny HomesIt takes them about four months to build a house. Mitch Holmes founded the company after he built his own tiny home. Holmes and his team have designed and built over 70 tiny homes in their Fort Collins, Colorado, shop. They're then trucked off to people around the US.

☆ We run a senior-living center and are building a tiny home village so dozens of our employees can afford to live where they work
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Maggie and John Randolph are building affordable housing in their Southern New Hampshire community. Now, they are going beyond that and building affordable housing for the community. The cool thing is those tiny homes will allow us to go well beyond our staff needs — we'll be able to start to support the community. John and Maggie Randolph in front of one of their tiny homes. If we don't build affordable housing, we're going to lose a lot of high school graduates and college graduates.

☆ One of the youngest people in the world to 3D print a house became a CTO at 22. Here's how she did it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kristen Henry is the 24-year-old chief technology officer of 3D printed home company Sq4d. Falling for 3D printingIn her second semester, Henry found her calling in a 3D printing class called See It, Change It, Make It. A 3D print of Yale's campus that Henry made in her first 3D printing class. Henry went on to design a small-scale concrete 3D printer with a colleague for her senior year design project. Compared with traditional building methods, "3D printed houses are fireproof and waterproof and much stronger."

☆ A tiny-home village with $1,000-a-month rents will allow teachers and firefighters to afford to live in the community they serve
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A lack of homes in Dover, New Hampshire has pushed prices up and made housing unaffordable for many. They are building 44 tiny homes that will cost between $1,000 and $1,200 a month to rent. They shouldn't have to live an hour away and then come serve you every day and then drive home." "A lot of affordable-housing projects are killed because of overhead costs," Maggie Randolph told the Concord Monitor. In Colorado, for example, ski towns like Breckenridge — where the ultrawealthy flocked to amid the pandemic — have gotten so expensive that the government is building housing that its snowplow workers can actually afford.

☆ 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.

☆ A CEO bought the 'Princess Diaries' mansion his daughter loved. See inside the San Francisco villa they're now selling for $8.9 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The seller, the former CEO of Just Desserts Michael Mendes, purchased the home in 2009. The entryway to the mansion Open HomesHe told the Wall Street Journal that his daughter, who was 7 at the time of the purchase, was a fan of the movie. "It was a bit unfortunate because we were trying to negotiate a good price," Mendes said.

☆ 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.

☆ Take a look inside this sleek 3D-printed home that starts at under $300,000 and took just a few weeks to build
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Every 3D printed home is customizable. To give an idea on how different the designs can be, here is a photo of another SQ4D home — much different from its Riverhead project. This is a model house that SQ4D printed in Calverton. Courtesy of SQ4D

☆ Looking to move to a mountain town? Here are 6 cities from Alaska to Tennessee with scenic peaks and homes you just might be able to afford.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

States known for their mountains had the biggest net inflows of residents in 2022, MoveBuddha says. Here are six cities in these states where housing costs are below or close to the national median. A new study found more than half of the most popular states where people sought new digs in 2022 were known for their mountain towns and cities. "It's no secret that mountain towns were sanctuaries during the pandemic," MoveBuddha researchers wrote in their report. With that in mind, Insider compiled a list of mountain cities in these states where housing costs were mostly below the national median of $359,000.

☆ 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.

☆ Inside California's tiny-home takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

For the state with the most dire housing shortage, the move could be a game changer — eventually. As the US grapples with a massive housing shortage, one possible solution is playing out in California right now — and the state may have struck gold. Oregon, Maine, and Nebraska, as well as cities like Miami, have enacted laws similar to California's. There's been opposition to ADUs from homeowners worried about the density of their neighborhoods and sometimes the aesthetics of the structures. Ultimately, the housing shortage could be alleviated, she said.

☆ Railroad workers union says workplace conditions such as long hours and lack of sick days will only lead to more tragedies like the Ohio derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Various rail workers unions blame working conditions for the Ohio derailment, per The Guardian. Staff shortages and no paid sick days will lead to more disasters, union leaders said. This comes two months after Congress halted a railroad workers strike. Railroad Workers United, and others claim companies get away with short staffing, long hours and no paid sick days, jeopardizing safety protocol in the name of profit, the Guardian reported. Corners get cut and safety is compromised," Ron Kaminkow, Railroad Workers United secretary and Amtrak engineer told The Guardian.

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