Happy Friday, friends! These last few days Maverick has worked on graduating his vocal range from a medium pitched, high volume yell to something more refined. He has managed some sounds that even resemble, “Dadada” which Scott loves. The other day we were prompting him to say something ‘Mama’ when Maven chimed in: “Mavy, say ‘Maven’. Say ‘Maven’.” We were so shocked to hear her call herself anything other than ‘Mimi’ and it was so clear. She was so proud to be part of the conversation and our family seems to get older and grow faster by the minute 😭.
Nearly every day, Compass’s Leonard Steinberg puts together a handful of real estate news bits that are always so interesting I have to share some of my favorites of the week. To receive these every day from Leonard, please click [_here](mailto:ls@compass.com “”) and include your full name and email address to get on his mailing list.
* Nearly all (93%) respondents of those in a recent survey associate home with a safe space, followed by a place of comfort (91%) and a place of relaxation (87%). Are you messaging all three boldly? (Marketwatch)
* Elon Musk – who has revolutionized and accelerated the global march to widespread use of electric cars as an alternative to fossil fuels fueled by solar power – is planning to build an entire town about 35 miles outside of Austin, Texas: Musk and his top executives want his Austin-area employees to be able to live in new homes with below-market rents. Under Texas law, a town needs at least 201 residents before it can apply to incorporate. (WSJ)
* Renters may be familiar with paying additional costs on top of rent, including “pet rent,” trash fees, amenity fees and more. But with rental prices up substantially since the start of the pandemic and a record share of tenants spending more than 30% of their income on housing, there’s a growing desire to curtail extra costs. Now lawmakers in Idaho are considering a bill that would keep rental fees “reasonable,” a Colorado legislator wants to ban pet deposits and pet rent, and a bill in Rhode Island would prohibit rental-application fees. So if your pet destroys an apartment, the landlord would be obliged to pay for that? Hmmmmm….
* U.S. scientists say they have produced the first commercially accessible material that eliminates the loss of energy as electricity moves along a wire, a breakthrough that could mean longer-lasting batteries, more-efficient power grids and improved high-speed trains. (WSJ)
* habitableliving.com allows you to type in an address and see how a property may be exposed to fire, floor, drought and heat risk…… these days evaluating risk can impact longterm valuation as well as monthly costs as it relates to potential repairs and insurance costs.
* What do you do if you are a newly minted BILLIONAIRE? Buy a swell home in Beverly Hills! Yup, that’s what the recent powerball winner did with his winnings……new wealth is created every day, some more than others….. And this newly minted billionaire paid LOTS of taxes…..
* Profitable American corporations in 2018 collectively paid an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.3% on their 2018 income, about half the 21% statutory tax rate.
* Austin is the fastest-growing city for millionaires, according to the 2023 Wealth Report by Henley & Partners. Between 2012 and 2022, the number of millionaires calling Austin home more than doubled to 30,500. A ‘millionaire growth rate’ of 102% puts Austin at the top of the list. (KXAN)
* New York, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Miami are the 5 cities with the most ultra high net worth primary or secondary homeowners. New York City had over 21,714, 36% more than #2, London! 70% of the TOP 20 cities were located in the US. San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, San Jose, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Atlanta, Denver, and Phoenix all made the TOP 20. New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisoc and Naples had the most secondary homes. (Wealth-X)