Author: josh
When deciding between listing your property on Airbnb or opting for a traditional rental, it’s essential to weigh the pros and cons of each approach. Whether you’re looking for flexibility, a steady income, or less management hassle, both options come with unique benefits and challenges. In this Redfin article, we’ll explore the key factors to consider, helping you make an informed decision that aligns with your financial goals and lifestyle preferences. So, if you’re renting out your home in New Orleans or your beachfront condo in San Diego, there’s an option that works for you. Do you want a short-term…
Tatiana Schlossberg, an environmental journalist, author, and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, has died at 35 after a highly publicized battle with an aggressive form of blood cancer. Her family announced her death on Tuesday through the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, saying in a brief statement, “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts.” The message was signed by her husband, George Moran, their children, and her immediate and extended family. Schlossberg’s death comes just weeks after she publicly revealed in The New Yorker that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid…
Mortgage interest is the cost you pay to borrow money to buy a home. It’s calculated as a percentage of your loan balance and makes up a large portion of your monthly payment—especially in the early years of your mortgage. Over time, as you pay down what you owe, the amount of interest you pay each month gradually decreases. In this Redfin article, we’ll break down mortgage interest in plain language, including: What mortgage interest is and where it shows up in your payment How principal, interest, and amortization work together Why early payments are interest-heavy How to read an…
Dave:How will AI impact the economy? And what does it mean for investors in 2026? It’s a massive question that may define the next few years and beyond, and today we’re diving deep. Hey everyone. I’m Dave Meyer, housing market analyst and head of real estate investing at BiggerPockets. My guest today is Ben Miller, the CEO of Fundrise. Ben is a thought leader in the real estate and finance space, and he has a long track record of finding value and making deals work in many different investing markets. We had him on last December when he came onto…
Robots have long been seen as a bad bet for Silicon Valley investors — too complicated, capital-intensive and “boring, honestly,” says venture capitalist Modar Alaoui. But the commercial boom in artificial intelligence has lit a spark under long-simmering visions to build humanoid robots that can move their mechanical bodies like humans and do things that people do. Alaoui, founder of the Humanoids Summit, gathered more than 2,000 people this week, including top robotics engineers from Disney, Google and dozens of startups, to showcase their technology and debate what it will take to accelerate a nascent industry. Alaoui says many researchers now believe humanoids or…
13 housing trends that defined another slow year, including record-high house prices, falling mortgage rates, and a gridlocked market 2025 was a difficult year for the housing market. The affordability crisis continued. The spring and summer homebuying seasons hardly happened. The homeowner population dropped. Buyers remained out of reach, pushing sellers to offer concessions or price cuts. Add in political issues, including tariffs and a government shutdown, and consumers were dealt a difficult hand. Still, there were some positives. Wages increased faster than housing costs for the first time since 2016, and buyers grew more comfortable with 6% mortgage rates,…
In This Article From May through October 2025, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased their mortgage-backed securities (MBS) holdings by nearly one-third, reaching their highest level of holdings in nearly four years. The move renews the discussion around the future of the government-sponsored entities (GSEs) under the Trump administration. Why Expansion Matters Fannie and Freddie play a central role in the U.S. mortgage market, purchasing residential loans from lenders and either holding them or packaging them into mortgage-backed securities for sale to investors. Their retained portfolios represent the mortgages and MBSs they keep on their own balance sheets, rather than…
Louis Gerstner, who took over International Business Machines Corp. when it was on its deathbed and resuscitated it as a technology industry leader, died Saturday. He was 83. IBM chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna announced Gerstner’s death in an email sent Sunday to its employees, but didn’t provide a cause of death. Gerstner’s nine-year tenure as chairman and CEO of the company known as “Big Blue” is often used as a case study in corporate leadership. On April Fool’s Day, 1993, he became the first outsider to run IBM, which was facing a choice of bankruptcy or dismemberment after a period when it had…
Tech billionaires are making plans to bail on California ahead a possible ballot measure that would tax their assets to help pay for healthcare. Sources told the New York Times that venture capitalist Peter Thiel has explored spending more time outside California and opening an office for his Los Angeles-based personal investment firm, Thiel Capital, in another state. Meanwhile, Google cofounder Larry Page has discussed leaving the state by year’s end, sources told the Times, while three limited liability companies associated with him have filed documents to incorporate in Florida. The Thiel Foundation and Google parent Alphabet didn’t immediately respond to…
As markets reopened Friday after the Christmas holiday, U.S. stocks were little changed, but precious metals saw plenty of action. Silver prices jumped 9.6% to top $78 per ounce for the first time ever. Gold rose 1.3% to a fresh record of $4,561 per ounce, and platinum surged 10.5% to its own high, while palladium leapt 13%. So far this year, silver has spiked 169%, platinum has shot up 172%, and palladium has soared 124%—all easily beating gold’s year-to-date gain of 73% as well as Nvidia’s 42% pop and the S&P 500’s 18% advance. The latest rally came after the…