Or Goldschmidt moved eight times over his first five years in New York City. “Every move was the same: expensive, stressful, and exhausting,” he recalls. That’s why he founded Roomrs. “I wanted a platform where the pain points—furnishing, utilities, roommates—were already solved so all you had to do was show up.”

Roomrs, PadSplit, and other platforms are cashing in on co-living, a roommate setup with a few sanity-saving upgrades:

• Lease terms are as short as a week (on PadSplit) or three months (on Roomrs) but can extend beyond 12 months. The flexibility is a huge plus for tenants who aren’t sure how long they plan to stay put.
• Rooms typically come pre-furnished and rent for up to half the usual rate.
• No space goes to waste: Three bedrooms are transformed into nine bedrooms as living rooms and garages are repurposed. And yes, extra bathrooms are often added to keep the shower line moving.

Co-living may have claustrophobic Big Brother vibes, but it can be a lifeline for the 22.4 million Americans who can’t afford rent (defined as spending more than 30% of your income on housing). Bill Atkinson, a math teacher in Austin, TX, was living in his car before he found a room on PadSplit in an apartment with people just like him: “middle-aged professionals who don’t make enough to afford a traditional apartment.”

For investors: Co-living properties can generate 30%–50% higher rental income than traditional rentals, says Jonah Platovsky of The Coliving Concierge, which helps investors find areas ripe for co-living (hotspots include Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Denver, and Kansas City, MO).

It’s been a game changer for Emanuel “E” Premate, who was “losing money” on a short-term rental near Jacksonville, FL. “Short-term rentals used to be moneymakers, but the market has slowed significantly,” Premate says. So he “pad hacked” his three-bedroom property into five units and listed it on PadSplit, where it now generates $5,000 to $5,750 per month.

A solution to America’s housing shortage? Given that the US is short about 4.7 million homes, co-living could be a quick-and-dirty way to bridge that gap.

“You either have to build more or convert existing homes into serving more people,” Platovsky points out. “Plenty are building more, but that’s expensive and takes time. A huge other niche can be filled by converting.” Still, he admits, “Just like Uber and Airbnb convinced people that it wasn’t weird to get in someone’s car or house, there’s probably some education needed around, ‘All right, it’s not weird to live with random people.’ It will take time. But if the market is there, it will happen.”

Fall market, spring rush? Think autumn is real estate’s slow season? Think again. A dip in mortgage rates has sparked a late-blooming home-shopping frenzy, according to Zillow. Find out which markets are heating up the most.

The biggest savings in six years: Redfin found that the typical home sold for 1.4% less than its list price, the most significant September discount since 2019. Still, 25.3% of homes sold for over asking. Find where your city stands here.

Cloudy with a chance of rate cuts: Here’s where economists and analysts anticipate rates will go over the next five years, and what could throw a wrench into the works.

America’s most expensive zip code: 94027 in Atherton, CA, has dominated for a decade, but just got dethroned by a new top dog.

Foreclosures are rising, up by 20% from a year ago, according to ATTOM. And the states with the highest rates may surprise you.

Need to sell a home fast? Here’s the feature that matters most.

The new housing boom is in… Tivoli, NY. With just over 1,000 residents in around 600 homes, the Dutchess County village is sleepy now, but wealthy New Yorkers are snapping up investment properties here. Why? Their kids are to blame.

What a difference a year can make: Two childhood best friends managed to go from zero to 24 rentals in just 12 months. All it took was a carriage house and a little creative financing.

Autumn leaf-peeping season is Airbnb gold. But a cabin in Vermont doesn’t hold a candle to River Forest Lookout in Blue Ridge, GA. You’ll be even more impressed once you hear how the property’s host, Mark Derenthal, built this solar-powered, off-the-grid tower with no background in construction.

Q: What inspired you to build this tower? “I wanted to build a treehouse, but decided on a lookout tower because if there’s a bad storm, I could lose my investment. A lookout tower is designed to withstand storms. The tower is made of a crane mast; the living quarters are two shipping containers. It runs on solar plus propane for cooking and hot water.”

Q: Do you have any background in building? “Not at all. I’m a landscaper with a few rental properties. But most builders wouldn’t touch this—it was too unusual—so I had to do it myself. I just figured it out as I went along. My nephews and father, a retired engineer, came to assist.”

Q: What were the main challenges? “Getting the county to give me a permit. They fought me tooth and nail for over a year, even though it met all their codes. It took six years to plan and get the components together, then two years to build, and it was completed in 2023. Originally, I planned more towers, but I don’t know if I have the energy left for that!”

Q: What did it cost to build? “Financially, it wasn’t a winner. I sold four single-family rentals to fund it, which would be worth $2 to $2.5 million now. But the satisfaction of building something unique has been rewarding. So many people have reached out saying it was one of the most amazing experiences they’ve ever had.”

We won’t leaf you hanging—click here to check out more photos of this property.

“The tip of the iceberg” now describes the hottest trend in luxury homes—where over-the-top amenities (bar, spa, full-on water park) are stashed underground.

Iceberg homes first splashed onto the scene in London in the early 2000s, when homeowners boxed in by building codes realized the only way to expand was to dig down. Not just a basement, but a full-on Batcave. The trend spread as a discreet way for the wealthy to flaunt their fortunes—without rubbing their neighbors’ noses in it. Iceberg homes are, by nature, tough to spot, but Taylor Swift’s fiancé, Travis Kelce, is rumored to have one hiding beneath his Leawood, KS, home. The football star’s recent renovation reportedly includes a mega-man-cave-basement with a golf simulator.

Major caveat: Building down is more challenging than building up and can cause the house above to collapse (like this London mansion did in 2020). Burrower beware.