Housing News
Rentenna launches Green Score for every NYC apartment
Already scoring apartments for dozens of metrics, Rentenna has added a Green Score for every apartment, so renters know how close they are to parks and farmers markets.
Rentenna launches new Green Score
Most New Yorkers are idealists by nature, and many are on the quest for the perfect bistro, the most amazing new underground band, the best little park to have a picnic, and so on. Rentenna is known for giving a score to every single apartment in NYC, but now they’ve added Green Scores and a Green Heat Map, visualizing the tree density per city block, and all of the farmers markets in the city and major parks. The Green Score is now on every single apartment building page and tells renters the closest parks and farmers markets.
The company states, “Data driven rental site Rentenna ranks apartments on a 0-100 score based on tens of factors (price, transit, amenities, etc..) and now our brand new “Green Score” based on proximity to public parks and farmers markets. The Green Map takes it a step further by incorporating the tree density per block so renters can find that beautiful tree-lined street they always wanted.”
Making New Yorkers’ NPR, public park, organic food dreams come true
On their blog, Rentenna asks, “You know those crisp New York mornings when you roll out of bed, take a stroll down your densely tree-lined block, stop in at the nearby farmers market for some farm-fresh goat cheese and a jug of locally made cider, and then lay out a blanket in the closest public park so you can pig out on all that free-range, organic goodness before letting a well-earned food coma — and the sweet rhythms of public radio programming — take you away to lullaby land?”
“Oh no?” Rentenna follows up.
Then, they cleverly assert that the new Green Heatmap (pictured at the top of the page) highlights the density on each block to help renters find apartments within several of the “green-blessed” NYC neighborhoods, making their public park, NPR, organic food dreams come true.
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
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Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
…Click here to continue reading this story…
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